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 224: Somehow she was not surprised to open them into a dream where she was once again standing outside of the temple.
Somehow she was not surprised to open them into a dream where she was once again standing outside of the temple. Anay blinked and looked out over the snow covered field. There were still people in the woods, she could tell that much, but tonight they seemed much further afield than they were before. She felt the weight of the temple like a steady presence at her back. Standing at the temple door, Anya knew the statue, Bendeasa or Bendis or whatever name she preferred, wanted her to come inside. Yet she was also certain she was being given a choice.
Those hunting her were not seeing her at the moment. Danger was near but she was not in immediate danger. She was being given the option of staying outside or of coming into the temple.
Gazing once more across the snow, Anya wondered if going in was such a wise choice. Looking away from the woods she could see other pathways leading away and to possible safety. She wondered if it might be better to take those. Looking at them reminded Anya of the questions and thoughts plaguing her in the day time. Thoughts about her future. Unwilling to let the same indecision stand in her dreams, Anya turned to face the temple and opened the door.
‘Besides there might be answers here,’ she thought. ‘And I can always leave.’
Anya walked in. The archways to either side still led to darkness. It was the sort of darkness Anya knew instinctively that she did not want to investigate. She continued forward until she was standing before the statue.
“So little one,” the statue said. “Have you found the place of safety? The place you could make into your home?”
“The quarters in the oldest part of the Mountain,” Anya said. She refrained from calling it the House of the Star as she knew the Star only claimed the front portion of the Moon’s house and had never walked in the deeper parts.
“Yes,” The Statue, Bendeasa replied. “There are all of the things you should need. And there is easy access to the children of the Star.”
“Access?” Anya thought. She remembered the winding path she took to get to the quarters from the space she was currently occupying. While hidden, the rooms she now used were adjacent to those Occupied by the others. By contrast the empty quarters she was shone felt far away.
“You are using a hidden door to reach the space where the others leave you supplies?” Bendeasa asked.
“Yes,” Anya replied.
“If you stand inside that door with your back to it and reach for the opposite wall there is another hidden door. It will take you down a short corridor that will end in a small kitchen space below your sleeping quarters. It is adjacent to the growing area. It will make meeting with them a short journey, shorter than you take now.”
“That would be handy,” Anya said.
“Indeed. Especially as it will take you some time to produce enough to fid yourself without their assistance. And indeed you will need supplies to start the process, they will assist you.”
“Yes,” Anya said.
“You are…Hesitant,” the statue said. There was no condemnation in the voice, merely curiosity.
Ten til Midnight 