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 68: Gwen stood and took a deep breath.
Gwen stood and took a deep breath. ‘I can do this,’ She thought. Still the nervous butterflies remained. Gwen picked up her empty water bottle and the runners backpack she planned to put it in. She slipped her wallet into the bag as well, more so she would have ID on her than because she thought they would be stopping anywhere. She added her cell phone in case her grandparents needed to reach her. She felt that something was missing, and looked around the room.
“Keys,” she realized. She didn’t have keys to her grandparent’s apartment. “So no need to add them.” She took her bag and empty bottle out of the bedroom and began walking to the kitchen.
The apartment had a hushed feel to it. The light was odd due to the fact that it was provided by the streetlights instead of the sun. It did provide enough light that she could navigate the Livingroom without turning on lights. She was able to see the large pieces of furniture and her grandparents favored a clean modern look to the space that didn’t require many decor items she could trip over in the shadows.
She made it to the kitchen without incident and filled her water bottle. The water sounded loud as it ran. To her it sounded like a waterfall as the water fell from the tap and crashed into the bottle. No one stirred. No one came to investigate the noise. She finished and turned the tap off with relief. Silence once again reigned. Gwen tightened the cap of her water bottle and made sure it was sealed before putting it in her bag.
As she slung the bag over her shoulder, a knock sounded at the door. Gwen moved to the door quickly so the sound wouldn’t wake her grandparents. At the door, she peeked through the judas hole and then realized that as she didn’t know what Alan looked like, it was pointless to check. There was a man on the doorstep and she supposed he could look like an Alan.
Having never met anyone named Alan, she couldn’t be sure. Gwen opened the door.
“Gwen?” he said. “I’m Alan.”
Gwen smiled. “Morning.”
“Are you ready to run?”
“I am,” she said. “Everyone is still asleep, but I think I’ve got everything.”
“Then let’s go,” he said. He gave her a thumbs up and a friendly smile. Gwen nodded and reached behind the door to make sure it would lock behind her. She didn’t want to leave it completely unlocked, but didn’t have the keys to engage the deadbolt.
After the door was closed Gwen followed Alan back to the elevator. They were both quiet as though worried about waking anyone up. Once the elevator door closed, Alan seemed to relax. “So you’ve run before?” he asked.
“Yes,” Gwen said. “I ran track in high school. Thanks for picking me up.”
“No problem,“ he said. “I don’t mind and I get a great place to park where I don’t have to worry about the car. Plus I get to warm up with a walk to the park instead of just stretching when I get out of the car. Kind of a win win for me.”
Gwen smiled, relieved not to be seen as a burden.
Ten til Midnight 