The fifteen minute novel writing experiment is an 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 218: She frowned wondering how exactly the mountain fell to their enemies.
She frowned wondering how exactly the mountain fell to their enemies. The book she was currently reading didn’t say. It was written well before the fall and seemed to think that if an attack did arrive, there would be no way the mountain would fall given their internal food systems and fresh water supply.
The book concentrated on the ins and outs of the indoor agricultural system and the maintinence of the fresh water spring. There was a section dealing with proper waste removal to avoid contamination but as it mostly dealt with the placement of the disposal areas Anya didn’t worry too much about them. She simply marked where they were located. If and when she did relocate to the inner areas, she would be using what was there, not creating a new system.
While the book did explain the existing system it mostly compiled all of the knowledge to teach someone to install a new system in a new place. Reasons were given for the placement of every element as well as detailed instructions on use and maintenance.
As Anya flipped through the pages that didn’t much interest her, she wondered if the people who lived in the mountain were planning on setting up a second system. If they were planning to take what they did here and expand it to other places.
‘Because it sounds like a manual for setting it up elsewhere.’
While the history books she found told the event that happened, they didn’t really delve into the plans of the people moving through the events. She knew this was built as a stronghold.
‘But it was built as a just in case strong hold. A place to retreat to in case things got bad elsewhere,’ she realized. Anya turned the pages. ‘Maybe they didn’t plan on living here all the time. Maybe they planned on staying in the cities and coming here if they had to but just using it as storage.’
She had only seen the back areas of the mountain in her dreams, but even still coated in dust they looked different than the hidden spaces she now moved through. She knew the hidden spaces she now used were partially carved from the existing space in the mountains, but parts of them had been hastily altered when this mountain did become a last secure hiding place.
Anya glanced over at the large history book beside her bed. She was slowly working through it, reading a few pages each night before bed after she finished her lessons. It was slow going as the writer was fond of overly elaborate prose. Anya closed the book on the indoor gardens and set it aside. She set her empty mug down as well and stood up from her chair.
Somehow her mind felt too stuffed full of facts to sit and add more to them. There were facts and there were questions and he felt stuffed with both. Anya tried walking the length of her quarters. As a place to pace it was abysmal. The stretch was short and she had to avoid everyday objects. Suddenly, staying inside her quarters seemed impossible. They felt too confining to hemmed in. She had to move.
This was not a new sensation for her. It came on her periodically. She would pick up the basket and go into the woods for gathering. As she often came back with the choicest bits, no one seemed to mind. Now there was no forest. Still Anya reached for her cloak, wrapped it tight around herself and slipped into the corridors.
Ten til Midnight 