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 47: Anya slept deeply and dreamlessly for the rest of the night, waking only when dawn made the curtains glow with the first light.
Anya slept deeply and dreamlessly for the rest of the night, waking only when dawn made the curtains glow with the first light. When she woke, she felt slightly grungy from sleeping in her clothes. But as she felt much worse on the trail it was a feeling she could shake off. Harder to shake was the slight embarrassment at feeling she needed to sleep in her clothes in the first place.
‘These people have been nothing but kind,’ she reminded herself. Anya slipped out of her clothes, washed and redressed in the clothes she was given. ‘If it hadn’t been for the skulking man and the unexpected gift I wouldn’t have been so suspicious.’
It calmed her embarrassment at preparing for an attack in the night. ‘Perhaps I need to learn more about the Star,’ Anya thought as she braided her hair and tied it up onto her head for the day. Thus completing her redressing for the day, Anya picked up her basket of sewing supplies and joined the others. ‘If I knew more about them maybe I wouldn’t worry. I could check the books for mention.’
The books she currently had in her room, both he one she took from the library and the one the Matron left, both dealt with the Ancient Fesian Empire. ‘And both the place I was held and this place were part of it. Even if the Star came later, it would tell me about the place.’
As Anya received her breakfast and took what was becoming her usual place, Anya wondered again why the Star would send the book down. Was someone watching to see what book she took from the library even though the Matron left her to browse the shelves alone. Anya wondered. The wonder managed to knock much of the embarrassment of sleeping fully dressed from her mind. Clearly someone was paying attention. As she didn’t know who or why, it was best to be vigilant.
‘Besides I want to blend in, not stand out with extra attention.’ She still wasn’t sure what to do when The Star started seeing people. From the gathered conversations she knew that after the Star saw who she was going to see, most of the others went back to their homes.
The worry stayed with her through breakfast an the day that was the twin of the one before. The biggest difference was that Anya changed into her night dress before bed. At night she worked through the book the Star sent and when she tired of the ancient rituals, she shifted to the book she pulled from the library shelves so that she would be able to return it. The next morning began the same way and the days began to slip past. Anya still hadn’t figured out what she would do when her time here was over. In addition, even though she finished the library book, she still hadn’t figured out what significance the tower held.
Ten til Midnight 