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 48: Now it was just Gwen and Bob. Bob smiled and walked over to her.
Now it was just Gwen and Bob. Bob smiled and walked over to her. “So Gwen are you ready to play, Who Are you?”
It was the same question he asked when she arrived. Gwen looked at him feeling even more unsure.
“I suppose,” she replied.
“Good, because I’m afraid you have no choice.” He smiled and spread his arms wide. “You are already here.” He backed away and while there was nothing threatening about him, Gwen decided she preferred him at a little bit of a distance. “Let’s start with our categories tonight,” he said. Bob made a sweeping gesture to the board and just as in Jeopardy she could see all of the categories had price numbers on them ranging from One hundred to Five hundred dollars. There were no category listings.
Bob frowned. He put his hands on his hips and glared at the board. He cleared his throat and stamped his foot. The first category lit up with a ding.
Bob dropped his hands from his hips and turned all smiles once again. First category is, Things Gwen likes to Eat, oh won’t that be fun. Second category,” He turned back to the board and the second category lit up.
“Activities Gwen Enjoys Doing,” Bob read out. He looked back to the screen. It stayed dark. He signed and cleared his throat again loudly. The third category lit up. And the third category is Things Gwen might enjoy doing.”
Bob glanced at the two dark categories but moved away instead of requesting they light up. “I think its best we not push our luck,” he told her. There was canned laughter from the audience. “We can always deal with the heavier categories later. So where you want to start?”
“Oh,” Gwen said. “Food, I guess?” Gwen said.
The top one hundred dollar food space lit up. Bob frowned. “I guess that is the one we will start with,” he said. He leaned in a little. “Are you alright starting at the top?”
Gwen nodded. He looked relieved. “Good, they are a bit new to this.”
“So Gwen for one hundred dollars can you answer this question, Does Gwen like Cheese?”
Gwen blinked. “Yes,” she said hesitantly. It was not something she mentioned. Lisa had been flirting with veganism due to celebrity endorsements in the last year and while Gwen didn’t really have a problem giving up meat she really enjoyed cheese. However her enjoyment had been dimmed recently by Lisa’s constant condemnation.
“Oh I’m afraid we will need a bit more definitive an answer than that,” Bob said. “Once more, with a little more decisiveness.
“Yes,” Gwen said. “I enjoy cheese.”
The bells went off and the card flipped over to reveal a yes. The podium in front of her now showed that one hundred dollars had been added to her score.
Ten til Midnight 