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 161: When the boys were settled in their apprenticeships it was only Anya and her sister who foraged.
When the boys were settled in their apprenticeships it was only Anya and her sister who foraged. ‘And once they went to work in the laundry I did the bulk of the foraging, they only joined me on their days off. Although that stopped soon enough,’ she recalled.
Anya remembered the row when her sisters wanted to put the money the items their foraging brought in towards their dowries rather than towards saving for the youngest son’s apprenticeship. When their wishes were denied, her sisters slowly stopped foraging with her, spending their free time elsewhere. Less that went to the town for sale was brought in, but more was used to fill out the meals in the house.
‘But none of the younger ones joined me,’ Anya realized. She asked to begin taking the younger children with her when she foraged so they could learn to look for and so that the burden would not fall so heavily on her, but had been denied. Even though even the youngest was older than she was when she started, Anya was told they were not only too young to go but that it was inappropriate for them to learn such things.
Anya frowned as she slowly chewed the sausage. She let the spices and the fatty rightness fill her mouth drawing ever drop of flavor out of the morsel with her tongue and teeth before swallowing and reaching for another bite.
Growing up she never felt as though she and her sisters were treated any differently from her uncle and aunt’s other children, but studying it and seeing the changes now made her rethink what she knew. It was not a comfortable study. Thinking of the orb was not an easier study but Anya forced herself to do so. If the Matron’s sight was partially based on the orb and the orb no longer worked for her, then she suspected the matron would not be pleased. She remembered the Matron’s expression when she realized there were places in the House of the Star that the Matron couldn’t go while Anya could.
‘And Marta is a part of the House of the Star,’ Anya thought. The kettle began to boil and Anya left her meal to move forward and pour the boiling water into the teapot so the leaves could steep. While Marta was slipping her food and providing various items, including books she thought Anya should study, she was a part of the House of the Star. Anya didn’t know if there was an oath or not, but it would make Marta in some way beholden to the Matron.
‘So perhaps not telling her much would be a good idea,’ Anya decided. ‘It could put her in an awkward position.’
Thinking it over, Anya was glad she thought it through before going to Marta. She was also glad she found Deran. What she desperately needed was someone to talk to, someone to offer guidance. Anya knew she was no match for Lord Mathis and sitting in the hidden spaces of the House of the Star and reading the books she found wasn’t likely to make her capable of dealing with him. “Or whoever else is looking for me.”
Anya thought of spending the rest of her life hidden away in this space and shivered from more than cold. While she could stay here and learn and prepare for a new future, she could stay forever alone in the hidden spaces. ‘If Deran can show me how to use whatever abilities I might have, then maybe I could use them to find a place elsewhere.’
Ten til Midnight 