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 137: His nose and face had already started to swell.
His nose and face had already started to swell. He glared at James but said nothing.
“It seemed like the thing to do,” James replied. He turned away and looked at Tucker. “I don’t suppose you know what happened to the real cable guy?”
Tucker frowned and looked at one of his colleagues. “Check the van,” he told one of them. The designated man nodded turned and went out to the cable van.
“So does this mean I will need to move again,” James asked.
“Not at the moment,” Tucker replied. “We’ll be watching and we’ll have a chat with this fellow about how he found you, but for now I think you are fine settling here.”
“He didn’t quite seem the same as the others,” James found himself saying. “A bit like an apprentice.”
Tucker nodded. “We’ll find out the details. But it seems as though the story we sent back held. He wasn’t sent by the company.”
“He only seemed to want Thomas,” James said. He found his fear oddly ebbing leaving him feeling hollowed out and a bit raw.
“Thomas rarely worked with a partner, but when he did they were usually inexperienced and disposable.”
James wasn’t certain how to respond to that so he nodded and watched as an unconscious man was taken out of the back of the cable van. He was taken to a waiting ambulance and dealt with. James wondered what his neighbors were making of all this. It was turning into quite a spectacle. There were no sirens but there were milling agents who looked official, flashing lights from the ambulance, an unconscious cable man, a bleeding faux cable man and it was just his first day in the neighborhood.
As James wondered what was going on he saw one of his neighbors emerge from the house next door. He looked over and walked towards James property. James could see the faces of others peering through one of the windows. He decided to walk over.
James crossed the yard and could practically feel Tucker’s eyes following him. To his surprise, the agent held back and allowed James to approach his neighbor without assistance.
“Well if I am going to live here, I need to talk to him on my own. Normal people don’t have conversational referees.”
“Looks like you’ve had yourself a bit of excitement,” his neighbor said.
“More than I planned actually,” James told him. “It seems someone though moving day was a good day to stage a robbery.”
“Really?” The man sounded relieved as his eyes scanned the yard. “Looks like you got the upper hand.”
“I hit him with the door,” James admitted.
“Nice,” the man said. “I’m Rick Evers.” The man said.
“James Ferris,” James replied. They shook hands. “I’m usually a quieter neighbor.”
Ten til Midnight 