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 156: ‘Well before she took them down,’ Gwen thought.
‘Well before she took them down,’ Gwen thought. That photo had been conspicuously absent. It wasn’t on Toby’s page either. Just as he never mentioned splitting up with Gwen he never mentioned splitting up with Lisa. There were however newer photos posted. They showed a blonde Gwen never met before. She and Toby were pictured in enough images together in what she liked to think of as couple poses that she was certain they were an item.
‘Huh,’ Gwen thought. A part of her wanted to know the details. A part of her wanted nothing to do with anything. She suspected that if she called Lisa then she would soon have the whole story spilling out as Lisa raged about the recent past.
‘How many times did I listen to her when she and Sam were having issues,’ she thought. As Gwen thought of it, she felt tired.
‘At least I know I am not going to be walking into talk of what a glorious wedding Lisa and Toby had.’ She knew it was a little petty, but Gwen had to admit that a little part of her liked the fact that Lisa wasn’t able to pull off a wedding so quickly on her own.
Gwen navigated away from the site and poked around a little to see who else was on and let a couple of other people she thought might be fun to see know she would be coming to town for a bit. She had no doubt that both Lisa and Toby would soon know, Westport wasn’t that big a town and she wasn’t trying to hide it.
“But I am not telling them directly either,” she decided.
Gwen left the site and thoughts of Westport behind as she pulled up the list of necessary items she would need to submit for fall classes. Deadlines were looming and she would need to get things in before she worried about whether or not her winter coat would be appropriate for the colder climate here.
Gwen worked until her eyes started to slip closed. After putting together as much as she could and making her lists for the next few days, she made certain everything was ready for her next day and went to bed.
The morning started as usual. She woke up dressed for her morning run with Alan and the others and did her stretches before heading downstairs. She and Alan walked to the park and there they found only Tracy there.
“Big project,” she told them. “The others couldn’t get away.”
The three of them stretched and when warmed up, they ran their set course through the park. With so many absent they didn’t make any changes but Gwen Alan and Tracy were all the faster runners of their group so the trio managed to make it to the end of their course in less time than usual. Given her own to do list, Gwen was happy to have just the little extra time.
Breakfast with her grandparents after her run and shower was more of a strategy meeting with Margaret making sure they each had their list of necessary tasks.
“I will be meeting with Jenny this afternoon and coordinating the travel details,” Margaret said. “We will be meeting for lunch. If there are any changes, please let me know before then.”
“Thanks,” Gwen said, knowing that her grandmother didn’t really like Jenny.
“You’re welcome,” she said.
Ten til Midnight 