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 74: Gwen thought it was a pantry.
Gwen thought it was a pantry. ‘But I suppose if they don’t cook that much they wouldn’t really need much of a pantry.’ She decided.
“Then I guess I am off to the office with you,” Gwen said.
“Excellent,” George said. “We will get ready after breakfast. Can you be ready in half an hour?” he asked. He glanced at Margaret who rolled her eyes.
“I can,” Gwen said.
George looked relieved. “Nice to see someone can,” he said. Margaret harrumphed into her eggs.
Breakfast was soon finished and Gwen was shooed away to get ready, her grandmother on dish duty. “You can get them tomorrow,” Margaret told her. “Unless you end up making the eggs and then George can get them.”
Gwen went off to the bedroom and brushed her teeth and applied a little makeup before putting on the clothes her grandmother deemed office appropriate. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought she looked acceptable. The clothes were ones she liked, but they made her look a little older, more grown up somehow. She put the keys her grandfather gave her, her cell phone and wallet in a small purse to take with her. She added a compact and a small notebook and pen in case she needed to take notes. Not knowing what else she might need, Gwen left the room.
“Perfect timing,” George said. He had his briefcase on the table and was looking at some folders. To Gwen it looked as though he was counting them to make sure none of them went missing in the night.
“Do I need to bring anything?” Gwen asked.
“No you should be fine,” he told her. “After I introduce you, I’ve scheduled a couple of people for you to shadow. I figure a couple of hours with each to get a feel for what they do might help. And if you decide you like any of those jobs we can talk more later about the details of what requirements the position might have and possibly schedule more time with them.”
“Right,” Gwen said. She swallowed hard trying not to feel nervous. She knew no one was making her choose a career today, but it made the fact that she didn’t know what to do with herself come into sharp focus. The cast adrift feeling returned. She tried to push it down.
Margaret hugged them both before sending them out of the door. The man at the front desk had shifted from night to day. As there were many other people passing through the lobby there was less scrutiny. The car with Sebastian driving pulled to the curb as they exited the building and the doorman opened the car door for them so that Sebastian wouldn’t have to get out. As there was significantly more traffic, as well as other cars waiting to pick up residents, Gwen thought it was for efficiencys sake.
She and George got into the car.
“Morning Sebastian,” George said. “How are you this morning?”
“Doing fine, sir, and yourself?”
“Couldn’t be better,” George replied. Sebastian nodded and pulled the car into traffic.
Ten til Midnight 