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 73: Feeling oddly unsettled by it, Gwen put the phone down and went to the kitchen.
Feeling oddly unsettled by it, Gwen put the phone down and went to the kitchen. She didn’t know why it left her feeling unsettled to not have the phone ring. She generally received messages and calls from Toby and Lisa throughout her day and now she blocked them. She didn’t really get texts from too many people other than that.
‘Well there is stuff about school and work,’ she thought. But school ended and she left her part time job. ‘And everyone else is going off to start their lives.’
It was another moment of feeling untethered. Gwen shook it off and found both of her grandparents in the kitchen. They were both still dressed for the night, with robes thrown over their pajamas. Margaret was sitting at the table and smiling fondly at George while he fiddled with a frying pan. She had no makeup on and her hair was simply pushed back from her face. While the bare face did show her age, it also left her looking somehow younger. Gwen tried not to frown at the thought as Margaret turned to look at her.
“George loves making eggs,” she said. “It is the only thing he can cook and he occasionally likes to show off his skills.”
“This from the woman whose only culinary accomplishment is a Steak Diane,” George said bringing the pan to the table. He doled out three portions of eggs onto the plates. Gwen saw there was already a pile of toast on a plate in the center of the table. Next to it was a dish of butter and a jar of orange marmalade.
“You forgot toast and Chocolate mousse,” Margaret replied. She waved her finger in the air. “That is three culinary accomplishments.”
“Uh huh,” George replied. He took the empty pan back to the kitchen and returned. “I only count the chocolate mousse as an accomplishment if we have more than twenty people over for dessert.”
Margaret snorted at him. “How was I to know it was a recipe designed to feed an entire restaurant’s worth of people?”
“How many gallons of cream did you think the two of us would be able to consume in a sitting?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I thought the cream would do something as it cooked. Evaporate somehow down to a normal portion.”
Gwen smiled and picked up her fork. “Does this mean I need to figure out how to make something for lunch?” She asked.
“It does seem to be the element we are missing,” George said. He looked at Margaret. “So, do you have plans for Gwen or can I spirit her away with me today?”
“That is up to her,” Margaret said. She looked to Gwen. “Was there anything else you needed?”
“At some point I will need a laundry basket,” Gwen replied. “And I’ll need to find the laundry too I suppose. Otherwise I am good. I think. At least I haven’t found anything else that I’m missing.”
“I am sure I can pick up a laundry hamper,” Margaret said. “And the laundry is right off of the kitchen.” She pointed to the door leading off to the side. Gwen thought it was a pantry.
Ten til Midnight 