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 179: She began moving her things from the bed to the floor, clearing a spot for her to sleep.
She began moving her things from the bed to the floor, clearing a spot for her to sleep. Gwen shifted the piles of clothing carefully, trying to keep as much order as she could. She had half of the bed cleared when her phone beeped, letting her know she had a text.
Gwen sat down on the cleared half of the bed. She picked it up and sat down thinking it might be Michael with his suitcase dimensions. Instead it was a text from Toby.
‘I guess he was tired of be ignoring him,’ she thought. Gwen pulled the message up.
‘So are you dating Michael now?’
Gwen rolled her eyes. Knowing he wouldn’t stop texting until he found the information he wanted and that he could end up harassing Michael, Gwen answered. “Not that it is any of your business,” she typed. ‘But no we are just friends.’
Gwen sent the message. A second later the phone beeped again.
“Good so I still have a chance.”
Gwen rolled her eyes. “No you don’t.” She typed. “We are done.” Gwen sent the message and waited. The wait was not long.
“But I broke up with Lisa,” he said. Gwen sighed.
“Doesn’t matter, we ae done and I am going to stop answering your texts now.”
Gwen sent the message and before he could reply Gwen turned her phone off. She set it to the side. Since Toby hadn’t really been texting or calling she hadn’t blocked him the way she blocked Lisa as there hadn’t been a need. Gwen set the phone down and wondered if she should just go ahead and block him or just stop answering. She wasn’t sure. Toby didn’t like being ignored, but if he was going to do something he would sent a text first and Gwen thought it might be nice to know what he was planning.
‘Hopefully he isn’t planning anything,’ Gwen said to herself as she cleared off the rest of the bed. She then decided she was too tired for much of any thinking and got dressed in her pajamas before slipping into bed. She drifted off easily despite everything and slept through the night.
It was raining when she woke up. It was the sort of steady rain that could last for hours and give everything a deep soak. While it was good for the grass, it wasn’t good for her morning run and Gwen decided to give it a pass. She made herself some scrambled eggs and sat at the breakfast bar. As the house seemed large and quiet around her, Gwen turned her phone back on.
There was a slew of beeps and Gwen saw she missed several texts and calls from Toby. There was also one from Michael. She clicked on the text from Michael. He not only took measurements of his bags, but grouped them together and sent her a photo.
‘Which helps for loading the car,’ She sent him a thumbs up and a thanks in return. “Although I doubt he is up yet.”
Knowing she best get it over with, if only to see how long it was before Toby stopped calling, Gwen opened Toby’s lists of texts. She scrolled through them quickly.
Ten til Midnight 