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 239: While not as exciting as James hoped diving would be, he found it fun.
While not as exciting as James hoped diving would be, he found it fun. He took a strange sort of enjoyment in the details and terminology. It was a bit like being granted an access pass to a world he always admired from afar.
The only jarring thought came from an overhead conversation by his two companions in the diving class. They were discussing a trip they planned to take, a trip that involved, if all went well in class, some actual scuba diving in the ocean. James had to admit, he felt a twinge of jealousy. Swimming in tropical waters with exotic fish and coral reefs sounded amazing.
‘Much more amazing than Pina Coladas,’ James thought. While James knew he could afford such a trip, he wasn’t certain if he was allowed to go, at least not at the moment. ‘No one ever discussed potential vacations with me.’
James drove back to the house, frowning in thought. At work he had a certain number of vacation days accruing as was standard. In this company if he didn’t take them, then he could use his allotted sick days as part of his vacation. He was lucky in that they wouldn’t expire at the end of the year but simply roll over into the following one. One of his coworkers was currently holding on to all of her leave days for a grand vacation at the end of the year. From what he gathered she had been saving the days for nearly two years. At the time he hadn’t thought much about it, but now with someone else talking of tropical diving adventures, James felt the pang of missing out.
He pulled into his driveway, his frown deepening as Tucker pulled into the drive behind him. He hadn’t realized he was being followed. They both got out of their cars and Tucker lifted an eyebrow at James expression.
“Now don’t tell me my presence is that hateful,” Tucker said.
James blinked and shook his head. “No, it isn’t you, I was just thinking,” James said. “Come on in.”
They walked to the house and James unlocked the door and held it wide, inviting Tucker inside. James followed and shut the door behind him. He didn’t bother locking it. If anyone burst in unexpectedly, he knew Tucker was armed. In addition, James found himself oddly nervous about being locked in a space with the agent. There was something off about him. James thought it might just be that he had a jb that often fell into violence, but he wasn’t sure.
“So what was it that had you thinking?” Tucker asked.
“Oh,” James said. “I started taking dive lessons since I always wanted to and now I have the time. Someone in the class was talking about a tropical vacation and I realized I didn’t know if I was allowed to take vacations.”
“Ah, so that’s what you were down in the old town district, I wondered.”
“Did you?”
“Well I didn’t see which shop you went into, just that you were down there,” Tucker said.
James frowned. “Were you following me?”
“I occasionally like to keep tabs,” Tucker said. “And with everything going on, I thought it a good idea to see where your typical activities took you.”
The thought didn’t make James feel any better, if anything it made a knot form in his belly and pull tight in his guts. “Something is going on?” Images of gunmen invading the office and of faux cable installers did a quick tango through his mind.
“Well people are still dead and Cassie is still missing,” Tucker replied.
Ten til Midnight 