Welcome to the Fifteen Minute Novel. Each morning I spend fifteen minutes writing on a singular story line. Each morning starts with the last line of the previous day. The goal is to get a (very) rough draft out of the simple story idea and to avoid letting the story idea languish in limbo forever, actually writing it out. This is the third year I have done this writing experiment and each year I learn just a little bit about myself and the way I write as well as creating a framework for the story. But without further ado…
Day 4: The phone was on the bed.
The phone was on the bed. Its screen was dark, waiting. She wondered if she should call someone. It felt like she should call someone. It felt as though it was some sort of emergency. She stared at the dark screen. She doubted this was a situation for emergency services. Gwen felt a bubble of amusement rise and for a moment stick in her throat. She coughed and it came out as a dry chuckle as she imagined the emergency response call.
‘Just take two aspirin and if your symptoms aren’t better in the morning see your doctor,’ she imagined and then shook her head.
‘We’ll dispatch a unit to your house right away,’ didn’t sound much better.
‘I imagine I’d just be yelled at for wasting their time.’ She thought. The amusement faded. Gwen felt tired as it departed. She lay back on her pillows and pulled the blanket over herself. She knew she should at least kick off her shoes but somehow she couldn’t muster the energy to do even that. Gwen closed her eyes. They felt heavy and gritty.
‘Sleep,’ she decided. That might be the remedy. Gwen closed her eyes and behind her lids she began to replay every event from the last year and a half. Every movie night out, every group gathering. The smaller dances and trips to the beach. She remember the long conversations about their future. Carl would work to take over his father’s business slowly learning the reigns and taking on more and more responsibility so that he could one day run it completely on his own. She planned to take accountancy classes at the local community college instead of trying for a university somewhere. She had always been good at math and the accountants classes would give her something that would help Carl in his business as well as let her work elsewhere. Later, she figured, when they had kids she could still do some work from home when the schedule allowed it.
Lisa was taking administration courses and planned to work as a receptionist at one of the local businesses. There were a lot of them here as many large companies kept their call enters and data management offices in town. People liked to say that paperwork was Westport’s main commodity. There were always both secretarial and accountancy positions available in town. Gwen and Lisa wouldn’t have all of their classes together but they would be on campus at the same time and had even talked about getting a small apartment together in town so they could live on their own before they got married. Lisa called it a test run so they could work out all the details of keeping everything running so their future husbands would think they were naturally perfect.
Gwen felt a tear seep out of the corner of her eye. It hit the side of her nose and ran down. It reached her nose and she inhaled at the rock time, sucking it in. She felt the tear burn through her nasal passage.
Ten til Midnight 