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 75: She suspected it was so.
She suspected it was so. The women seemed happy to go and many of those left behind looked disappointed. The younger woman with her looked disappointed and Anya recalled what the lady said and suspected that either the girl would return home to her village and find a place there, or return and suffered several seasons more of disappointment before she was chosen to go with the robed ones.
As she watched them leave, Anya wondered if they too would be shown to stone basins of water with their paths laid out before them or if they would simply be told that a place had been found for them if they wished it. Somehow she doubted that everyone would be shown magical visions.
The thought made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, as though she had been singled out. He thought of her birthmark. While it was a ild curiosity when she was a child and the other children occasionally asked to see it, the interest quickly faded. Tucked under the cloth of her sleeve most forgot it was even there. It cause her no harm or benefit in the past, yet now it seemed a symbol of great portent, singling her out first for Lord Mathis and then for special treatment by the woman ho ran this place. It went from something she barely noticed to something that seemed central.
Anya wondered if it really was an accident of birth or if there was some actual meaning. ‘Me having it is nothing special. If several other people have it then it is something that might mean something,’ Anya decided as she finished her drink. As there was no talking and no working, with everyone focused on their own thoughts, the groups split as they left the dining hall, each wandering her own course. The two she was with split and rather than sit by herself and start off as she sorted through her thoughts, Anya decided to go back to the library.
She didn’t need a book to read as she had one she so recently picked out, but the talk of staying her and studying was a part of her thoughts and she assumed that her study would entail the books in the library. With nothing better to do, Anya went to the space. Slipping down the corridors when she thought no one was looking. Once in the library, Anya decided to let as much light in as possible and pulled not just one, but all of the curtains to the side flooding the space with light. She stepped away from the windows and looked around. The stray dust motes dancing through the air almost looked like fairy dust and as Anya thought of the magic of the night before, the thought made her smile.
Most of her interest had been taken up with the middle row of books as they were short and had the maps displayed on their tops. Knowing that as the light faded, the deeper recesses of the library would fall heavier into shadow, Anya decided to start her survey of the library in the darker sections and work her way back towards the light.
Decision made, she turned on her heel and marched towards the back of the library. ‘I’m going to be as dusty as I was last night,’ Anya realized as she reached the far corner. While the front of the space was dusted, it was a simple dusting, a flip of a feathered want to take off the worst accumulation from the shelves in front of the books. The further away from the windows she went the less of an effort was put in.
Anya found a ladder and wheeled it into place at the back of the library. It squealed harshly as she rolled it, but the squeals soon died down to soft squeaks as the wheels became accustomed to movement once again.
Ten til Midnight 