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 251: Those store rooms had people who used them.
Those store rooms had people who used them. Anya studied the activity. She would need to be careful not only to visit those store rooms when others weren’t in them, but to only take things that wouldn’t be noticed or in small enough amounts that it wouldn’t throw anyone’s use off. She didn’t want to cause a short fall for the others.
From what Anya had seen the mountain tended to have more supplies than it did occupants. She wondered if that was because the number of people had dropped off or because they simply had more resources available to them than they needed. From the conversations Anya overheard the House of the Star received donations from at least three separate kingdoms. While she knew it was the royal houses who sent those goods, there were also items sent as donations from city and town levels.
‘And there are also the items they sell,’ she reminded herself. While many of the everyday items that were given to those in need when they arrived at the house of the Star were made by other women seeking out the House of the star either for their own needs or in thangs for assistance given to others, items like the lace she created during her time in the House of the Star were taken and sold.
As Anya compiled her schedule of when to visit each of the store rooms, she thought of the lace and the supplies needed to make it. While she doubted what she took would cause shortfalls for the House of the Star, the fact remained she was taking items from their store. She was certain Marta would give her permission should she ask as Marta and the Matron provided for her needs.
‘And what I am taking now will ensure they need to send me less in the future,’ Anya reminded herself. The thought of taking without returning something didn’t sit well. ‘If I can make some of the lace and give it to them to sell back then I will feel better about taking the supplies,’ she decided.
Her thoughts about the orb caused her vision to shift to the store room where the items she needed to make the lace would be kept. It was accessible through a hidden door way and looked little used.
“I can work on the lace once I have finished my other tasks and use it to repay the supplies I took,” Anya decided. She took her hands away from the orb and her sight returned to normal. She looked to the fire. As loath as she was to bank it now that she had finally had a full day of warmth, Anya knew she had to. She wouldn’t risk a fire in her quarters and knew that her gathering of goods would take most of the day.
‘If not several days,’ She decided. ‘Plus I’ll need cookware if I am to stock the kitchen and begin making regular meals instead of living off of Marta’s rations. As the kitchen was on the floor below and the need for fire to warm her quarters was constant, Anya knew that until Spring arrived she would be using her sitting room to produce anything she needed. With the temperatures dropping so low in the night and remaining low throughout the day it was easier to use the heat from any cooking she might do to warm her quarters rather than allow them to grow cold while she cooked below.
Knowing the corridors would be cold, Anya put her cloak over her dress after she banked the fire and prepared to gather her supplies.
Ten til Midnight 