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 181: The door was made of wood but the outside of it had thinner stones affixed to its surface.
The door was made of wood but the outside of it had thinner stones affixed to its surface. The stones made it blend in with the wall so that no one could tell it was there. It also was what made it very heavy. Anya stood beside the door and listened. She heard nothing beyond the door which wasn’t unusual. She was certain that between the thick wood and the stone she wouldn’t be able to hear anything going on the other side. Yet each time she used it, Anya couldn’t help but stop and listen before pushing it open.
She slipped the door open a crack and a cold gust of wind blew in. It was cold enough to sting and Anya felt her eyes watering. She tilted her head so her eyes weren’t directly in the path of the wind. She listened, her ear going numb from the icy breeze. She heard nothing but the wind. Anya looked up and pushed the door open slightly wider, this time looking out instead of listening even though her eyes still watered.
There was no one on the platform, but there was a bag half hidden under the lip of the stone basin. It was larger than the usual bag, making it much more obvious. There had been snow, but it was light and powdery and the wind blew most of it over the precipice and off of the platform. What remained was blown up in sparkling spirals. From experience, Anya knew the pretty glittering flakes would be blown into the floods of her cloak, slipping through the various pathways to sneak under the garments and reach her skin. However the wind kept there from being an obvious trail of footprints from the hidden door to the basin.
Knowing it wouldn’t get any easier, Anya pushed the door all the way open, stepped onto the open space and moved quickly towards the bag. The blowing snow was full of glittery sparks as the sun caught the ice crystals and she looked at her feet to keep from being blinded. Anya pulled the pack from its hiding place and clutched it to her stomach as she turned and scampered back into the hall.
She set it on the floor and pulled the door shut, fastening it tightly. She was certain it was part of the hidden spaces but didn’t want to take any chances. Anya sighed with relief at being inside out of the cold. She was not used to this kind of winter and had never realized it could get so cold. Anya picked up the pack and began to make her way back to her quarters, again trying to be as quiet as she could. She knew that Lord Mathis Man was not yet here, but her inner voice still urged caution.
Once safely inside her quarters with the door bolted, Anya allowed herself to relax. She set the pack in the center of the room. It was easily three times the size of the packs of provisions that Marta usually left for her. The parcels Marta usually placed contained generally a sausage, a loaf of bread and a small wheel of cheese. Occasionally a small jar of preserved fruit was added to the bundle. The bag it came in was large enough to contain the items but no bigger. Hidden under the stone basin the shadows were easily able to conceal its presence.
There was no hiding this pack.
‘Which was sort of the point,’ Anya thought remembering the conversation she overheard.
Ten til Midnight 