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 107: “It didn’t go well?” Gwen asked.
“It didn’t go well?” Gwen asked. Margaret nodded.
“They were somewhat ill-behaved,” she clarified. “I believe they might be a bit too embarrassed to bring them back to the events until they are certain of behavior.”
“Oh,” Gwen said. She wondered if she should ask for clarification of bad behavior and then decided that it was probably best to let it go. “Well I was just wondering if there were events on the list I shouldn’t mention.”
“In case he was drawn into them simply so Jenny and I could spend more time together?” Margaret said. She smiled and shook her head. “It is fine. I haven’t met Michael so they haven’t brought him before for some reason. If they do so now, then they do. At least you will know someone there and not be in a room of complete strangers.”
Gwen nodded.
“What is this thing,” George asked from the kitchen.
“No clue dear,” Margaret said not even looking over her shoulder.
“Dear?” he repeated. He narrowed his eyes. “You only call me dear… You put this here just to watch me go crazy figuring it out.”
“Oh not just,” Margaret said. “It had to go somewhere and it is a kitchen gadget of some sort so that seemed like the most likely place.”
As Gwen ate her breakfast the two of them bickered good naturedly over the addition of strange gadgets in the kitchen and what they were supposed to be used for beyond confusion. It was a friendly sort of argument that both of them seemed to enjoy.
When George left for the office, Gwen helped clean up from breakfast and then called in to sign up for a basic drawing class at the art gallery. Then, before she got ready to head out to meet Michael, she went over the schedule with her grandmother so that the dates Sebastian and a car would be needed could be marked on the general household schedule. As she would really only need the car when going to the art classes, everything else arranged being within walking distance it wasn’t a large list.
While Gwen appreciated the car, she spent the last few years getting herself from point A to point B and wasn’t all that comfortable relying on someone else to ferry her around.
‘But my car is not here,’ she thought as the scheduling was complete and she retreated back into the bedroom to brush her teeth and get ready to leave.
There was little she needed to gather. The purse she was using was a cross body bag so it left her hands free, but she kept feeling like she was forgetting something. ‘Maybe because when I leave the house at home I usually have my keys in one hand.’
“I might not be home when you return,” Margaret told her. “I have meetings across town today. If you end up home for lunch instead of going somewhere with Michael there are cold cuts in the fridge if you want to make a sandwich.”
“Okay,” Gwen said. “Have a good meeting.”
“You too,” Margaret called. Gwen nodded and let herself out of the apartment.
Ten til Midnight 