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 5: She felt the tear burn through her nasal passage.
She felt the tear burn through her nasal passage. It burned like acid and more tears came. Gwen rolled onto her back so they would spill down the sides of her face and not be inhaled. She felt that everything she had planned was washing away. She would not be living with Lisa in a small apartment on the edge of the community college. She would not have fun practicing going healthy recipes and learning the ins and outs of paying bills and she would not be marrying Carl. He would not be proposing at the dance, at least not to her.
‘If he was buying a ring it would have been for Lisa.’
Lisa would be marrying Carl. She would get an apartment with him and they would live together. Gwen felt the life she had planned slipping away. “Those extra classes seem pointless now,” she told herself. Her voice sounded thick, phlegmy and she cleared her throat.
Last year, knowing what her future held, she signed up for extra classes. Most of them were taken on nights and weekends at the community college. She made certain they were scheduled when Carl was occupied either with football or working with his father, wanting to surprise him. At graduation she would graduate with most of the preliminary classes she needed already taken care of. It would make her time at school shorter. She did it partial for Carl but also partially for Lisa. The program Lisa was going into was a shorter duration than hers, so she figured with the preliminaries done she would be able to be in college as long as Lisa was and leave at the same time.
Gwen had already told Lisa her plan. “I waited until I was certain I could handle the extra classes,” she recalled. “After the first semester.” Gwen blinked and propped herself up on her arms. Her tears starting to dry. She wiped at them as a thought hit her.
“Lisa was seeing Carl at the same time I told her of the classes.” Gwen sat up fully. “She never said anything to me even though she knew I was taking those classes.”
She blinked and looked at her phone. She wanted to call Lisa and ask her if she was already seeing Carl when Gwen told her about the classes. She reached for the phone but the thought fizzled as she touched the slick, cool glass. What did it matter?
“It doesn’t change things if she knew the day before she cheated or was already cheating with him when I told her.” Gwen let her hand fall away from the phone. The air vent’s kicked on wafting cool air through her room.
Ten til Midnight 