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 223: ‘Except Kerson didn’t seem to know all of the uses.’
‘Except Kerson didn’t seem to know all of the uses.’ That was something Anya was finding more and more of. Kerson was well trained. People looked at the list of who he studied under and what he knew and were impressed. While she could chalk it up to Tyrin being a small town, he used what he knew to great effect and Anya knew that other healers and herbalists often wrote to him asking for advice and often people would travel to consult with him.
He wasn’t just considered good, but one of the best. He only lived in Tyrin instead of one of the larger cities because his sister was there and having no children of his own he hoped to train his nephew once he came of age. Anya thought over the items Kerson would send her for and compared them with the books and their description.
Regonweed was a common enough item and its leaves were brewed to make a tea that eased the breathing during an illness. Anya knew that Kerson took the leaves and discarded the rest even though through her reading she now knew that the crushed steps emitted a sort of resin that could be used to draw infection out of a wound. There were many other examples of plants and minerals that Kerson would use a part of that the books claimed could do more if different parts were used in different ways.
Anya shook her head. Knowing such things would just be more proof that she hadn’t studied in the traditional matter. ‘And it doesn’t solve the problem of what use I would put the information to. ‘Well I can see what use it would be, just not how I would use it out there,’ Anya corrected. She could see how learning the different parts of herbs and plants and other bits of flora and fauna could be of assistance to her personally. She could keep herself healthy using many of the plants and their parts others discarded. But she couldn’t make her way with it.
Likewise she could see how something like the indoor agriculture would be helpful for keeping her fed whether she stayed here or journeyed elsewhere, but even if she learned how to build and operate such a thing, she couldn’t see anyone in Tyrin being happy about it. Those who grew things the traditional way would complain that she was interfering with their custom and no doubt destroy what she built. She couldn’t see them accepting it.
‘And that’s the thing,’ Anya realized. While she could see the value in what she learned here, she couldn’t see anywhere else accepting it. It would alter the way things were done. It would change things if the information was allowed to spread. Thinking of her neighbors in Tyrin, she knew more would lean on the side of keeping things the same than they would the side of change.
Shifting to the new quarters would not only commit her to being here longer, but it might commit her to staying permanently. Anya thought she might be willing to extend her stay longer, at least long enough to learn more and be able to take advantage of the systems in the older parts of the House, but she didn’t think she was willing to stay forever.
More than ever Anya wished she had someone to talk to. ‘I feel like I am going in circles,’ she thought. By the time she was ready for bed, Anya hadn’t reached any sort of concrete thought about anything, merely spinning herself in circles further. Anya crawled into bed and closed her eyes. Somehow she was not surprised to open them into a dream where she was once again standing outside of the temple.
Ten til Midnight 