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 41: Gwen felt a lump rise into her throat.
Gwen felt a lump rise into her throat. For the past few days she felt lost and cast aside. When she left Westport she felt as though she was cutting ties with everything she had ever known. To hear that someone here wanted her, that she wasn’t just being thrown away made her feel better about coming. She nodded and Margaret left her.
‘I’m just tired,’ she thought.
Gwen moved to her bag and took out her toiletries case, her pajamas and a clean outfit for the following day. She spread the clothes for the morning out so they could air from their travel and took everything else into the bathroom.
The bathroom was large and featured not only a standing bathtub that looked more like a sculpture than a bathtub, but a separate shower and a long vanity. The vanity had a sink and then a section that was plain countertop with a stool tucked underneath so that she could have a place to do her hair and makeup.
The shower had two large showerheads, one angled from the wall and one descending straight from the ceiling for a rain like effect. There was also a speaker in the wall and Gwen saw a remote on the counter top.
‘I guess the bathroom comes with it’s own sound system,’ she thought.
In no mood to find a radio station or to lounge in the large tub, since she suspected she would just fall asleep in it, Gwen opene the glass enclosure to the shower and turned on the spray to warm up. As it did, she stripped down and took her travel sized bathing products into the shower.
‘Definitely need to replace them soon,’ she thought as she set the half empty containers on the little shelf in the shower. ‘Still it is nice to smell fancy for just one more day,’ she thought as she stepped into the shower.
Gwen took her time thoroughly washing the trip from Westport away. She let the airport transfers and the worries about making her connections and the possibility of being stranded all wash down the train. She thought the same concerns about what she would do with the rest of her life would rise, but instead, she found herself wondering if Sharron and her father would divorce.
She shampooed her hair and then rinsed out the frothing suds. She and Sharron didn’t have much of a relationship. Sharron seemed to treat her with caution when first moving into the house, seeming worried about her reaction. Gwen remembered thinking that Sharron looked at her as though she were some wild animal that escaped from a zoo in those first few months. Mrs. Lewis told her that it was just because she wasn’t used to children, but she remembered their housekeeper thinking it a bit odd as well.
Ten til Midnight 