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 15: As she walked Anya wondered what such a large building housed.
As she walked Anya wondered what such a large building housed. Thoughts flittered through her head and helped her ignore the aches of her body. She was tired and knew that if she lay down she would be instantly asleep. But at the moment she didn’t want to lay down and go to sleep. The thought of finally being someplace indoors with other people was a big enticement. There was safety with other people. Or at least more than she had wondering around by herself. She thought that such a large building would surely mean that there were a large number of people. She would be less noticeable if there were others around.
In addition, Anya didn’t want to be caught sleeping by the road by the others in the building. Sleeping she was vulnerable and she had no illusions about everyone she met having her best interests at heart. She had been warned about strangers from the time she could walk and her older siblings delighted in telling tales of horror. She would ignore her tiredness for the moment and hopefully settle someplace safe soon.
As the building grew nearer, she realized it wasn’t exactly a building at all. When there was a slight rise in the land, Anya could see that the building was fitted into a gap in the mountains, blocking the pass with its bulk. It was still a large building, but it blended in with the mountains to either side. Anya heard stories of such things and even seen crude drawings on maps and as illustrations to stories, but there were no mountains near Tyrin and she had never seen such things in person.
‘Some of the merchants bring tales of mountains,’ she thought as she swallowed nervously. ‘If they’ve seen them then it is still possible I am not too far from home.’ Anya tried to quell her rising fear with logic. ‘And if it isn’t near Tyrin then the others might still expect me to go towards home making this safer for the moment.’ The thought did little to calm her fears of the unknown.
Anya’s steps drew her closer to the building. She saw no better option than approaching. It was midafternoon when she managed to reach the gate. Knowing that fear could make her want to hide, Anya moved to the bell pull and tugged on the cord before she could talk herself out of it. She heard the bell ring somewhere on the other side of the gate. Anya waited. The wood was thick and banded with stout metal so she heard no footsteps approaching. She jumped as a panel in the wall near the bell pull slid open. It was a small slid, barely big enough for a set of eyes and part of a nose to be visible.
“Hello,” the voice behind the wall said.
“Good afternoon to you,” Anya replied. She offered a small curtsy as she had seen some of the girls being trained as lady’s maids do. There was a chuckle in response from the other side of the wall.
“”You’ve no doubt come to join the sisters,” the man’s voice said. “Travelled a long way by the look of you. Hold on a moment lass, it’s only me by the gate today.”
The little panel slid shut and as Anya tried to decide who the sisters were and if she should claim to be joining them, she heard the heavy bolts being lifted from the other side of the gate.
Ten til Midnight 