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 220: Anya found a door between the windows and before opening it peered through the glass to see what was on the other side.
Anya found a door between the windows and before opening it peered through the glass to see what was on the other side. To her surprise outside of the quarters was a small area that looked identical to the area where Marta left her bags of food and called visions into the stone basin of water. Anya could even see a stone basin off to the side.
As Anya looked out of the window she could tell it was a different angle from the platform Marta used. ‘The pattern of stones on the floor is different as well.’ Anya realized. “I suppose there must be several platforms like this through out the mountains.’
Deciding it was too cold to investigate further, Anya pulled back from the window. The chamber was a lovely one. It had access to fresh air and more space than the study she was currently using. It had a bath that could fill the tub with hot water. ‘There is even space for all the books I collected,’ Anya realized.
Food was the only issue. ‘And if I could get the system up and running then I could have most of that covered.’
The urge to walk left her. It usually did after she found what she was looking for, ewven if she didn’t know what she was looking for. Once she found the unexpected mushroom patch or field greens, the need to walk generally eased off. It was the same here.
‘Except I can’t put the room into a basket and take it with me,’ Anya thought. Even without taking the room with her, Anya felt it was time she started back to her quarters. With her excess time spent with the orb, her unexpected lesson with Deran and her wandering her, most of the day was worn away. Anya let herself out of the now clean and ready to occupy quarters and began to wind her way back through the hidden passages and into the areas where she was more familiar.
She returned to her quarters with her mind no less full than when she left. Her belly however was significantly emptier. She prepared her evening meal and after punching up the fire, she settled herself before it to eat. Not for the first time Anya wondered where the urge to walk came from. While she occasionally wondered, she never really questioned it as she always ended up finding something of value when she listened.
‘And I found something of value,’ Anya decided.
However it was also problematic. It was a place she could relocate and be free of anyone’s sight. It was deep enough in the mountain that no one would notice her. She could relocate and take Deran and the books with her. She would only need to travel back to the library and to the orb.
‘And I never asked Deran if the orb could be moved.’ If the orb could be moved she could settle it in the small atrium between the sleeping quarters and the food growing area. ‘Assuming I could also figure out the food growing area.’ It would take some study to work it out and she would need to find a way to gather the supplies for it. She was certain much of it could be found in one of the store rooms.
‘I would have to take a little at a time so it isn’t noticed and then start things slowly, learning while I still used Marta’s provisions.’ The problem was that if Anya started on that path, she knew it was a commitment to stay here for some time.
Ten til Midnight 