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 176: Anya felt the hollowness of her belly.
Anya felt the hollowness of her belly. “Yes I think that might be a good idea. I will see you when I have settled things,” she said.
Deran nodded. “Until then,” he said.
“Lecaros,” Anya said. Deran disappeared and the circles stopped glowing, once more disappearing into the floorboards. Anya felt hollow and tired. While she was certain that moving the circles took energy, she aslo felt that the constant vibrations of them as she moved them caused some of her weariness. Anya stepped back into the hallway and closed the door to the study behind her. She moved to her quarters and stepped inside. This door too she shut behind her. Anya moved to the fire and turned the banked embers into sparks, adding wood until it turned into a blaze. When she was no longer worried about it dying on her. She swung the kettle over it and reached for some sausage and cheese.
She felt much more hungry than she had before and allowed herself to eat more of the food she had stored than usual. Even if Marta did not leave extra food, Anya planned to retrieve more from the kitchens. ‘And I skipped breakfast,’ Anya thought, justifying her break in her own rationing.
Slowly the hollow feeling left her and she began to feel more like herself. As she nibbled her remaining portion Anya thought over her first real act of magic. ‘It was exciting, but exhausting,’ she realized. Anya realized that while she was eager to try, about half way through she was just as eager to be done with the task. She wondered if all spells would be like that. The ones she was reading about were less spells as words like Deran told her but more of an influence over aspects of the natural world.
In the books she was reading now there were spells, but they were designed to make herbs work more effectively so that creams and tonics could be of more use. If there were books on creating objects like those circles, Anya had yet to reach them.
‘And most of those spells have one or two words,’ she thought. ‘Of course I haven’t actually tried them.’ Many of the herbs mushrooms and other items needed were not available to her at the moment or if they were around they were stored in places she could not easily access.
Anya wondered if they too would take energy from her. She thought that might be the case as the energy to create magic had to come from somewhere. ‘It makes sense it would come from me.’
“Maybe smaller magics take less energy,; she thought.
Gradually the food filled her belly and the warmth dimmed the effects of the cold. Fed and warmed, Anya felt comfortable by the fire. She sipped her mug of tea and leaned back in the chair. She had a little time before she needed to check the stone basin for anything Marta might leave and she suspected that once she started lessons with Deran she would spend large amounts of time with the less and possibly miss Marta. She didn’t have plans to see the older woman but didn’t want to leave anything out for too long lest it become frozen. Because of the timing Anya felt justified in a little lounging by the fire for the moment.
Ten til Midnight 