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…
Quick Note: I think that I started shifting between the names Toby and Carl for Gwen’s ex-boyfriend. I went back and unified it, he is officially Toby from here on out.
Day 8: ‘You know not to mention it,’ she told herself. ‘Stupid to bring it up now.’
‘You know not to mention it,’ she told herself. ‘Stupid to bring it up now.’ Gwen took a moment to pause and draw in a few deep breaths. She and Sharron had never seen eye to eye and Gwen knew if she wanted to get her dress back then she would have to come up with a reasonable argument.
‘Even though I was being reasonable.’ Gwen told herself. She thought showing up to prove she didn’t care was a reasonable argument. Hoping that Lisa would develop a wart on the end of her nose and a hunchback before the dance was the unreasonable part. ‘But I didn’t say that out loud.’
Feeling a little calmer, Gwen took a step in the direction of the kitchen. It was then that she heard the sound. Shhhecht. Shhhecht. Frowning Gwen hurried forwards. She didn’t know what the sound was but it didn’t sound good. Gwen gasped in horror as she saw her step mother taking a large pair of kitchen sheets to the dress. A section of cloth fell to the floor as Sharron hacked at the dress.
“What are you doing,” Gwen demanded. She felt her heart sink to the floor as another piece of fabric fell. Sharron set the scissors down and tossed the ruined dress on the kitchen island.
“There, now you can’t go to the dance. You can’t embarrass yourself or the family and you can’t ruin your best friend’s engagement.” Gwen stared at her Step-mother’s triumphant face.
“What is wrong with you?” Gwen demanded.
“On day you will see that I’m right.”
Gwen looked at Sharron and she felt something snap. “All I see is one cheater protecting another.” She said.
Sharron inhaled deeply, her eyes going wide. “You take that back.”
“No,” Gwen said. “It’s true.”
“You are a hateful child,” Sharron said.
“And you were seeing my father for two years before my mother even got sick,” Gwen said. The words that should not be spoken were free, floating through the air. Gwen looked her straight in the eyes, tearing her gaze away from the ruined dress. She said the three words Sharron never wanted to hear. “Everyone Knows it.”
Sharron clamped her teeth hard enough that the jaw muscles in her cheeks jumped. Her eyes narrowed and instead of firing back a comment she turned and stalked off. A moment later, Gwen heard the front door open and close.
Sharron was gone. Gwen looked back to the ruined dress. She picked up the scraps of cloth that fell to the floor and picked up the dress itself. She turned and carried everything back up to her bedroom. She lay the dress out on the bed to survey the damage.
Ten til Midnight 