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 51: She pulled back the curtains to admit the light that remained outside and turned to the shelves.
She pulled back the curtains to admit the light that remained outside and turned to the shelves. Anya turned away from the windows to face the shelves of books. Her slip of paper showing where the book she removed was supposed to go seemed to glow in the dim light, the unmarked paper bright in the still shadowy space.
Anya moved forward and took the slip of paper from the shelf. She placed the book she carried back where it belonged. Her main task complete Anya allowed her gaze to wander. Remembering how dark the library became as the light faded, Anya decided to move further back in the space to look at the more recessed sections of the library before returning to the front. She had the lamp from her room with her, but she would prefer if she didn’t have to use it.
Anya walked to the end of the row. The books were older here and while the tops of the low book cases containing framed maps were dusted, the lower shelves by the books had a line of dust in front of the volumes. Anya wondered if the dust was left on purpose so someone could see which volumes were moved or if it was just that little attention was paid to the space.
‘Given the slip of paper placed where a volume is removed I wouldn’t think it too hard to find what was being read anyway,’ Anya thought. She looked around at the main walls of the room. Their shelves stretched up and away, the tops already lost to darkness. She looked away somehow intimidated. She decided the low shelves were fine. Realizing that the sun was going to go down soon, Anya turned her attention to the shelves.
As she wondered if she should take a second volume and if so what she should take, Anya found her eyes drawn to one particular book on the shelf. It was low down, on the lowest shelf. It was a dark leather book, the leather dyed a dark green. On the spine was a gilded star. It was made up of straight lines of various lengths intersecting on a central point.
‘And this is the House of the Star’ Anya decided. She bent down and pulled the volume from the shelf. It wasn’t too thick and seemed quite light compared to the surrounding tomes. ‘I might be able to get through that in three days,’ she decided. Anya placed the slip of paper on the shelf and decided that was enough time in the library. She marched towards the front and remembered to close the drapes before exiting. She then quickly made her way back down to her room.
Even knowing that she had permission to enter and to borrow volumes, Anya felt as though she was doing something secret when visiting the library. ‘Perhaps it is because no one else is there,’ Anya thought. ‘Or perhaps it is because of the expense of the books.’
Anya knew that books were not cheap. The slim volume she held in her hand would cost more than she could earn in a year working in the laundry. She didn’t even want to think about the cost of the entire library itself. The expense would be staggering.
‘I wonder if it was here before or brought in with the Star when they returned to make this the Star’s House.’ Anya thought. She placed the book down and began to get ready for bed.
Ten til Midnight 