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 247: “Tonight I will work with what I have and then get a good night’s sleep.”
“Tonight I will work with what I have and then get a good night’s sleep.” To Anya the thought sounded sensible and she was happy to snuggle down into her chair with the book while the fire burned merrily in the grate. Outside she could hear the wind moaning around the mountain tops and even though it was a lonely sound it made Anya smile.
It was the sound of the outside world and that, Anya realized she missed more than people. She paused in her reading as the thought hit her and she looked up, staring into the fire. Anya loved her family, and even knowing that not everything was what it seemed she missed them at least enough that she wanted to tell her sisters that she was well. In a way though, she didn’t miss them at all. When she was with the family she had a role. She was adept at finding many of the items they foraged for both on land and in the water. After her near drowning she avoided the deep waters but was still able to find plenty for the family both to eat and to sell without venturing that far into the deep.
When her mandatory schooling was complete, she continued the foraging and spent most of her time looking after her younger siblings. She knew at some point, when the oldest of the young ones was able to look after the smaller ones, she would go to work in the town laundry. Her pay would first go to secure an apprenticeship position for her younger brother and then to save up for a dowry for herself.
Anya frowned. She was useful at home and liked being useful but missed time on her own. She missed being able to do the things she wanted. She thought of the help that was hired once she was gone even though her younger sister was now older than she was when she was first given the task of watching the younger ones. As Anya watched the fire she realized she wasn’t just being useful, she was being used. While she expected there was a fair amount of that in every family just so that everyone could survive with everyone feeling used instead of useful once in a while, looking back Anya saw the beginning of a pattern.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked into the flickering flames. She thought about home, really thought about it. Had the others pulled their weight? Had they stepped in when she was gone to take up the slack? Had her duties been taken over?
“No,” she said. “Someone was hired in.”
She felt a muscle in her jaw clench and unclench. Anya felt a wash of anger and as though she was blinking her eyes clear she realized that while she did want her sisters to know she was ell, if given the chance to go back and resume her old life, she wouldn’t. She missed the routine of it and the ramblings through the woods. She missed the feeling of pride in using her efforts to provide for the family, but she didn’t miss the family.
“And now I am learning to provide for myself.” Anya looked from the fire back to the book. While she had no plans to stay here forever, she would stay here a while. Here is where she could build a routine and provide for herself. She would not be someone simply squirrelled away and hidden. Someone to be kept safe. She would keep herself safe. “And fed.”
Anya nodded. Outside the wind blew and she felt her anger fade. Here she had a little of the outside. She couldn’t go rambling through the woods, but there was a sheltered patio area outside of her sitting room doors. It was hidden from view and safe for her to venture into once the weather turned. It even had one of those large stone bowls Marta used to see images of the past and present.
Ten til Midnight 