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 174: “Sure, I can load that up before I leave so it will be out of the way.” Henry nodded.
“Sure, I can load that up before I leave so it will be out of the way.” Henry nodded. “Are those for donation?” he asked.
Gwen looked to the pile. “Yes,” she told him. “That’s the first batch. I figured once I cleared out the things I knew I wasn’t taking I could look at what was left, got through it again and see what was left.”
“Good plan,” he said nodding. “I go past the donation center on the way home. I can put the suitcase you are keeping in the trunk and the rest in the back seat and drop that off. It will also clear out some space so Morgan can see what she is working with. Do you want to help me load?”
Gwen nodded and the two of them began loading her items for donation into the car. Her suitcase of keepsakes went in the trunk, separated from the donations so it would be saved. By the time they were finished, Morgan made her way through the house.
“Most of the furniture can easily stay for the pictures,” She told them when they all met in the living room. There are a few pieces I would like to take out so that it is less cluttered and there will be some rearranging, but I think we can use what you have with some staging items and it will look stunning. There are a few little touch ups I would recommend before we put it up for sale to get the best possible price.”
Morgan then walked them through the house showing them small places to have repaired. The things done were small and rather inexpensive, but there was a long list. Gwen could see the wheels turning in her father’s mind as he tried to fit the repairs into his work schedule. She smiled as Morgan offered to arrange things and her father radiated relief.
“So you will be here,” Morgan asked, turning to Gwen.
“While I am packing yes. I go running in the mornings and will need to check with Michael about loading the car but otherwise my schedule is adjustable so I can be here when you need to bring people by.”
Morgan looked relieved and Gwen wondered how difficult it had been to schedule something with her father. ‘Quite difficult I would imagine.’ She told herself thinking how little she saw him even when she was living in Westport.
Gwen and Morgan exchanged phone numbers and soon after Henry was heading back to the office with his car loaded down with donations and Morgan was heading off to wherever she was going, hopefully to arrange handymen and staging items. Gwen checked the time and realized she just had time to shower and change before she went to meet the others.
She went back in the house, locking the front door behind her and sprinted up the stairs. The grungy clothes she was working in all day were shed and she stepped under the spray of the shower. Gwen was amazed at how much dust she stirred up as she worked. Their house was a clean one and it never occurred to her that there would be so much dust accumulating in all of the hidden pockets of space throughout her room.
When she was freshly showered and dressed, Gwen took a little time with her hair, drying and curling it instead of simply tying it back as she had all summer. With running in the morning, her cooking classes and art class, it seemed pointless to keep her hair down. Gwen realized she hadn’t touched any styling products all summer.
Ten til Midnight 