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 165: “Right, so, are you going to be seeing any of your friends while you are home?” He asked.
“Right, so, are you going to be seeing any of your friends while you are home?” He asked.
:I don’t know,” Gwen told him. He nodded and kept driving. He seemed more at ease now that he knew she was not worried about the house being sold. Gwen wondered if he thought she made up with Lisa or if he was avoiding asking if she would see other friends than Lisa while she was home.
Gwen shook the thought away as they pulled into the driveway. They parked in the drive and went inside. The house smelled stale, unused as though it had been locked up since she left. It was a strange feeling.
‘But dad and Sharron split just after I left so he might have moved out right away.’ It seemed strange that the house was empty for so long.
“I went shopping for some of the basics,” Henry told her. Gwen nodded and saw that there were things missing from the living room. “And I have the list with the schedule. Will you be okay here on your own?”
Gwen saw the list on the kitchen island and walked over, heading there instead of the living room. She picked it up and scanned over the list. It had the information she knew regarding time line, with a couple of real estate visits to determine if staging was needed once packing was complete. Thee was also a cleaning service listed to go through the house completely. It was guite thorough and let her know exactly how long she had to pack.
“I’ve had your car serviced and gassed up so if you need to run around it is ready for you. We’ll have one more tire check before you and Michael head out.”
Gwen nodded and saw the final mechanics visit was on the list. “That’s a good idea,” she said as she could sense her father was waiting for some answer.
“I thought so,” he said. “My cell number hasn’t changed but the address of the apartment is on the bottom of the list. I left your bed here for now since you needed to pack, but once you get to the point where the house is too empty, we’ll move it over and then you’ll stay there. But I thought this would work for now.”
“Yeah,” Gwen said. “This works.”
“Good,” he said, sounding relieved. “So you are okay here alone?”
“Yeah,” Gwen said. “I’ll be fine.”
“Great. How about you rest up and get settled tonight and tomorrow night after work I can pick you up and we can go out to dinner?”
“Sounds great,” Gwen said.
“Good,” Henty gave her a hug and then walked back towards the door. Gwen walked him out and after he left, locked the door behind him. Gwen took a deep breath and let it out. Home alone in this house wasn’t an unusual experience. For the past year, her father worked late instead of putting in an appearance at dinner and Sharron was out more than she was home.
‘Longer than a year probably,’ she thought. ‘Probably why their divorce didn’t feel like much of a surprise.’
Gwen peeked in the fridge and found it was fully stocked with the things she routinely ate. The pantry too was well supplied for her visit.
Ten til Midnight 