The fifteen minute novel writing experiment is a attempt to write a complete (and very rough) draft of a novel by writing for fifteen minutes each day. I have taken a timed writing from one of the daily prompts done in 2021, cleaned it up a little and used it as my jumping off point into a story. Each day I will take the last line of the story written the day before and use it as my sentence starter and write for fifteen minutes, growing the story as the year progresses.
Day 6: One of them was a cook who used the burn cream she habitually carried to soothe the pain of Anya’s burned fingers.
One of them was a cook who used the burn cream she habitually carried to soothe the pain of Anya’s burned fingers. Anya remembered being grateful for the cream and relieved to find the others in the wagon to be nice pleasant people. They were welcoming and many shared stories of their first time entering service. Fears were stilled and tensions eased. Anya still felt somewhat anxious at the start of a new life, but the fear was lessened by the conversation.
They traveled through the night but could see little. Around mid-day, the caravan came to a pause and all of them piled out. She was assigned to assist the cook who helped her with her burns and Anya helped to feed those in the caravan. The caravan did not rest long and after a short break and rest for the horses, everything was packed up and moved again. This time, Anya was in a different wagon. Someone was needed to see that the water barrel remained steady. One of the straps had broken and while someone would mend it during their next leg of travel, someone was needed now to keep it steady.
At the time, the task seemed assigned at random. She didn’t question it and saw no questions on the faces of any of the others. She followed the man to the wagon. He helped her up and showed her how to steady it. He patted her arm heavily and she felt a sting. She made a small sound and he smiled in apology.
“Sorry about that,” he said. “Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.” Anya opened her mouth to tell him that it was more of a bee sting, but he was already gone. The horses kicked up into motion and Anya was tugged along. This time there was no conversation to interest her and her ears died down. The loose water barrel barely shifted. The air in the wagon was warm and close. Anya found herself drifting off to sleep. She fought the sensation as long as she could, but in the end, sleep claimed her.
When she woke, her first thoughts were of the water barrel and her failure at the first task she was set. But there was no water barrel. There was no wagon. She was in the tower, locked in with the guard on the other side. Her windows let her see many views of the surrounding area. There was no sign of any wagon or caravan in any direction. There was a vast field of ruined stone in most directions. It was as though her tower stood in the center of a large castle or even a citadel.
There were a few other buildings still standing, but none as tall as her tower. She suspected her guard was staying in one of the smaller buildings and wondered if there were other prisoners somewhere in this vast ruined complex. Day after day she looked, but she saw no movement to indicate anyone else was around.
In all of her time at the tower, Anya was unable to learn why she was taken. She didn’t know who took her and she didn’t know what was going to happen.
‘And hopefully I won’t be around to find out,’ She decided. Anya may not have known their plans but she didn’t think anything that ended up well for her started with her abduction and imprisonment. “Hopefully it won’t end with my drowning,’ Anya thought. The water in the tunnel was now waist deep.
Ten til Midnight 