The Fifteen Minute Novel is a novel written fifteen minutes at a time with each week day’s section starting with the sentence from the previous day. At least it is attempting to be a novel. For now I am just aiming at one continuous story, worked on for fifteen minutes each day. Started Friday January 1st, 2021 (in case you want to search for the beginning. I can’t wait to see where it ends up. It could be good, or it could be a mess. We’ll have to see. For now, here is today’s fifteen minutes.
Day 61: James opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
James opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Even without seeing them he could sense more people moving about. Many of the doorways remained closed and as he walked to the employee lunch room, he found that there were corridors branching off to each side.
He pictured the low rectangle of the building and realized the corridors all formed a large T. The Elevator was at the center and when he stepped out of the elevator atrium he walked into the stem of the t. The door leading away from the office lobby continued in a straight line from the elevator, his office opening into the stem.
The restroom and lunch room were at the top of the stem and the two branches of the capitol letter T branched off in either direction. He was certain that there were other corridors branching back towards the center of the building so the design wasn’t a true letter T, but the part he needed to navigate at the moment was and knowing this made him feel better about the office layout.
‘At least I won’t get lost,’ he thought.
James stepped into the lunchroom and found it much bigger than he thought it would be. He suspected it would be a small space filled with a network copier and other office equipment where a table and a fridge were shoehorned in. Instead there was no office equipment, about twenty round tables and a kitchen area. The kitchen had a refrigerator, microwave and even an oven with a stove top.
‘Given the length of the counter it’s even bigger than the one in my apartment,’ he thought as he moved to the fridge. The kitchen area was a bright and pleasant space. It was placed along the outer wall of the building and featured an entire wall of large windows. The film on the windows preventing anyone from seeing inside made the world outside look like a smoky and gray place but there was enough light to make the room feel warm and welcoming. In fact the gray made it look like a refuge from a dark and unforgiving world.
James tugged the fridge door open and saw a few lunches already stashed on the shelves. Each lunch bag was unique. One was blue with purple stripes while another had a flower print. James slid his Green lunch bag onto one of the lower shelves. The door, he noticed held condiments, each labeled with someone’s name in black sharpie.
‘I guess I’m not the only one who likes to keep their mustard separate,’ he thought.
James closed the fridge door and turned away. In his belly he felt the first stirring of school day nerves. This was more of a lunch room than he expected and he wondered if, like school, there were tables claimed by various factions. As he walked back to his office he wondered if he needed to hang back and see who claimed what table before sitting down with his lunch. He doubted there were assigned spaces with the chess club taking one table and the football team taking another, but regardless of age, people always separated into groups. As he walked back to his office, he wondered where accountants fit in. Would he be sitting with Linda or were accountants part of a different group?
‘Of course I think I might be the only accountant,’ he reminded himself.
Ten til Midnight 