The Fifteen Minute Novel is an attempt to take a single prompt and use the last sentence written each day as a start for the next day. This year I had several prompts circling around a similar story, so I have combined them. However, the story starts the same way each day, with the last line from the day before and a timer set for fifteen minutes. The hope is to end up with a complete, if very rough draft by the end of the year. Some stories are better than others, but I always learn a whole lot about my own writing when I do this so for me it is not only a nice way to work out a story, but it is a tool for helping my writing get better. And so, we continue this story for 2024 with…
Day 35: She took out her earbuds, slipping them into the case.
She took out her earbuds, slipping them into the case. She made certain that anything she touched was wiped down, feeling a little bit like she committed some sort of crime and was wiping away evidence of herself, and then went back upstairs to her apartment. She showered, put on some comfortable working clothes and took a bottle of water into her work room. While her body was still adjusting to the new movements, Sophie felt somehow energized.
‘I suppose that means that the exercise is good for me,’ she thought as she marked down the start time for her day. It was a little later than she started the day before, but she didn’t think it was too bad. “I’ll just have to keep track of what I get done today.”
Despite the slightly later start, the day flowed pretty much in the same manner as the day before. She worked, paused for lunch and then worked until dinner time, pausing to take stock before calling it a day. She made notations of the items she created and was pleased with the results.
‘I’ll have to go back and finish them with embellishments,’ she reminded herself. The pajama sets she had created so many times that she didn’t have to think too much about the work going into them and they were quick to create. She just had to adjust the sizing for the sizes called for and she was good.
‘I think that this week I will work on crating as many as I can and then next week do the finishing embellishments to complete the sets.’ While Sophie washed the material to pr shrink it before she got to work, when the pieces were fully complete she would iron them and take them to Janine. She knew it would take Janine at least a week or two to settle her store closing. She knew that Janine was having a large sale right now to get rid of as much stock as possible before the end of her lease and the stripping down of the space and move to her storage space.
‘Which means she won’t be ready to deal with me until that is settled anyway.” Having told Janine she was willing to take the three month contract as a trial, all Sophie had to do was work until Janine was ready. ‘And even then she only needs the last few pieces for the first month’s order.’
As Sophie moved to the kitchen to make dinner, a grilled chicken breast with mixed veg tonight, she thought about work. The packet of mixed veg went from the fridge to the microwave and she set the chicken breast in the pan with a little oil after she seasoned it. She wondered if the longer lunches were skipped because they couldn’t pass off work. She wondered if they missed her or cursed her for taking time off.
‘It’s still only Monday,’ she reminded herself. It somehow felt like longer than just one day of missed work. ‘I’m sure the curses will increase as the month goes on.’ She decided. Sophie shook her head. “Not my problem,” she said. It was hard to remember and instead of thinking of the office, she deliberately began repeating the Italian words from her lessons today.
Ten til Midnight 