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 84: There were a few who looked somewhat exasperated.
There were a few who looked somewhat exasperated. Anya suspected that they hoped to be chosen and weren’t certain why they weren’t. Anya let them wonder ins silence. It was not her place to explain anything to anyone.
‘Even if I could speak,’ She told herself.
As she walked she wondered if she would spend much of her time in lace making. She found the task pleasant and she liked the way her thoughts would untangle themselves as the delicate webbing of lace came together on her pillow. She was only part way through the piece she had been given the materials to create and had a great dislike for leaving anything unfinished.
As Anya moved from room to room idly thinking about lace, Anya realized there were several lines in the panels. Some rooms had many of them, some few. To her they looked a lot like the two studies she found. Most of them were regular lines placed in the wall and she suspected there were hidden panels like the one she found in the stairs that pushed open to reveal rooms or at least cupboard behind them.
‘There couldn’t be that many hidden rooms, could there?’ she asked herself. Again she could only wonder as there was no one to ask.
‘And I wonder if it is safe to ask when the silence breaks,’ Anya thought. If she admitted she knew about the secret rooms then someone might suspect her of being in the one in the library and she didn’t want to be thought of as a spy.
‘But that room was different,’ Anya thought. While it too was a study that door had a handle. ‘It was as abandoned, but not hidden, exactly.’
She continued her slow wandering and decided that if she was going to ask then she would just ask about the hidden room in the stair well. Remembering how dusty she was after finding it and how her water pitcher managed t get her only part way clean, Anya thought it might be best to refill the pitcher and have it ready for a good washing.
‘I can bring a pitcher up, fill the basin and then bring a second one up so I can have a thorough wash after dinner, or the drink that passes for dinner.’
It seemed as good a way to pass the time as any and Anya turned her steps towards the stairs. No one was doing any sort of needle work, but she doubted that the silence and contemplation included skipping bathing.
‘Even if I am including washing out my dress in the bathing,’ she decided. Anya knew she could send her clothing through the laundry but with the end of the gathering drawing near, she was reluctant to part with the warmer garments.
‘Let alone tell them how they got so dusty,’ she decided. ‘Besides, those working in the laundry might be taking a break for contemplation as well.’
Anya shook her head and wished she had a better set of rules to follow. ‘Still the Matron thinks that those of Dovish are overly concerned with bathing anyway.’
It seemed a strange comment to make and Anya turned it over as she retrieved her pitcher and went down to the well. The well was abandoned and Anya quickly refilled her pitcher. She took it back to her room, poured it into the basin and went back for another pitcher’s full.
Ten til Midnight 