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 103: In fact, James wasn’t sure he even liked the man very much.
In fact, James wasn’t sure he even liked the man very much. But that didn’t matter. Carson was charged with protecting him and he died doing it. The least he could do was find out why the death was ordered.
James opened the book to where he stopped and flipped his notebook to a clean page. At the moment his noes made the reading much slower than usual. In the course of normal reading this was the sort of thing he could blaze through in a night. The wording was designed for a wide audience and contained no technical or nonstandard words in the mix. It was easy to read and imparted no actual knowledge into his brain. He knew the information would never be on a test.
‘Except that it sort of is,’ James thought as he finally set his pen to the side and stretched his fingers. The thought of Cassie’s book being on anyone’s exam list made him smile slightly. Given the situation, the expression felt strange on his lips. The day was growing thin and he still had at least a third of the book to go.
‘So many words about nothing,’ he thought. Something tugged at his brain, but he ignored it. He knew there was some sort of pattern to it, but wanted the entire thing laid out before him first. Once he made it to the end of the book he would begin looking at the picture it showed him. If the back of his brain wanted to work on it, that was fine, but he would give it no conscious thought until then.
Feeling slightly paranoid, James closed the notebook and picked up both the closed book and the notebook. He stood up, feeling his body groan internally from the change of positions.
“I really need to learn to move around more when working,” he muttered to himself. James took the notebook and book to the bathroom and stowed the volumes in the linen closet under his newly purchased extra towels. When it was out of sight, he closed the door to the linen closet and then used the restroom. He washed his hands and realized that breakfast had long faded.
“And there is work tomorrow.” His limited amount of available work clothes meant laundry needed to be done as well as dinner to be prepared.
“And Monday’s lunch to be sorted as well,” James added. He dried his hands and then took all the towels in the bathroom with him as he opened the bathroom door. He moved to the laundry machine and added them. The used towels were already there. Figuring they would provide extra cover for the book and notebook, James decided to wash the linens first, and then move to his work clothing. He dumped the towels and wash cloth in, added the detergent and switched on the machine.
While it started he moved to the kitchen and pulled one of the few remaining frozen meals from the freezer. He slid it from its paper case, poked holes in the plastic with a fork and put it into the microwave.
Shopping for food again would soon be necessary. “I wonder how that would work,” James asked as he leaned on the counter. His eyes absently watched the frozen meal being slowly spun in the microwave’s heat. In the morning Tucker would follow him to the office and either wait outside or trust that no one would invade his office space. James assumed the agent would then follow him back home. The office was a relatively closed environment. He knew that there were clients, who came to have meetings, but they never came near his office and for the most part, the people in his office left the office to have meetings elsewhere. It left few people to watch. James couldn’t imagine Tucker following him through a grocery store.
Ten til Midnight 