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 159: Today she had no treats to leave.
Today she had no treats to leave. The front desk man sighed with mock disappointment but smiled at her as she passed. Usually, she offered a few of the treats to the staff when she came in, but today all of the treats she made went into the bakery for the day’s offerings.
As she took the elevator upstairs, Gwen realized she felt pretty good about that. She hadn’t worked a full shift at the bakery of course, she just put in a little time to help with the rush and to help get the smaller staff to a place they could catch up for the rest of the day. She felt pretty good about that too.
‘And while I didn’t really enjoy all of the hauling back and forth as much as I did the actually making of baked goods, if I took the part time job I suspect I’d be doing a lot of the hauling.’ Gwen thought that keeping the more experienced bakers stocked and not needing to run to the back for things as they worked was probably going to be a large part of her job.
‘But I’d be learning too,’ she thought. Just being in the bakery while it was in full operation, Gwen learned a lot about how the bakery operated. It was somehow more intense than she expected from class, yet it seemed to follow a logical rhythm. Once she got that rhythm down, she felt as though she was a working part of a giant human machine.
‘Which was sort of cool,’ Gwen thought.
She didn’t know what the probability of her getting the position was, but Gwen realized she now wanted it more than she had before. “So I suppose that bodes well for my plans,” she decided.
Gwen let herself into the apartment and realized she had less time than usual to get ready and she hurried her steps so she wouldn’t be late to her next class. She changed and ate a quick lunch, which was all she had time for before she went out the door again and heading to her cooking classes. This one went as expected with the instructor and the students all in place.
During class Gwen was even complemented on her improving knife skills. As she held a knife more like a serial killer than a chef when she started the class, she was pleased she was making some visible progress. When she once again returned to the apartment to clean up from her day and join her grandparents for dinner, Gwen felt both more satisfied with her day and more exhausted.
‘Must be all the hauling and lifting,’ she decided.
“So how was your lunch with Jenny?” Gwen asked as they all sat down to eat.
“It was productive,” Margaret informed her. “I went over the details with your father as well, so we have the beginnings of a plan, or at least a time line.” As dinner progressed, they went over the plans and Gwen felt as though it was some sort of war council. She also realized that she was a mere foot soldier in the war. She would be sent to Westport along with Michael. Then she would be expected to pack up and drive back. All of the other planning was on someone else’s end.
‘Well except for my paperwork,” she realized. Her grandmother was the General in charge of this particular battle.
Ten til Midnight 