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 40: She knew to expect it, but it was still somewhat shocking to see.
She knew to expect it, but it was still somewhat shocking to see. Instead of carrying the files back to her desk armful by armful, Sophie loaded all of the files onto a rolling cart and wheeled the cart back to her space. She unloaded the cart, making several stacked piles on her desk and returned the cart to the file room. By the time she returned to her desk and logged into her computer, the others started to arrive. She heard Kristen inform the others of her return as she reached for the phone to remove the away message and check for any missed calls. There were none.
As people rarely called down to her, she wasn’t surprised. Her away e-mail message seemed to have deflected any incoming e-mails as well. Sophie took a deep breath and reached for her earbuds. Knowing that she was going to be swamped, she asked for music recommendations from Janine. She knew Janine liked high energy music and suspected that might be better than her normal language lessons and podcasts.
Janine had been delighted to hook her up with several playlists and as Sophie got started on depleting her back log she hit play on the first one. As expected it kept her energy up and her speed fast. The morning flew by. While she appreciated the space to work, Sophie was surprised that no one came by her desk to see her or speak with her. From the shelf of backed up work she knew they had to know she wouldn’t be able to take on any extra work, but thought someone would at least try to welcome her back.
It was an annoyance, but she shelved it and focused on her work. Lunchtime came and Sophie heard the others troupe out in a group. The mood was more jovial than when she arrived and she heard Kristen laugh.
‘Maybe she was just having a bad morning.’ With everyone gone, Sophie took a few minutes for her own sandwich and then dove back into her work. When she heard everyone return, she checked the clock and found they returned to their hour and a half lunches. The mood of the group was much brighter than when they returned although there were no drunken giggles. ‘Just a happy lunch time,’ she guessed. She increased the volume of the music by a notch and got back to work.
As expected, Sophie stayed late, feeling uncomfortable with the amount of work she still had to do. ‘But I knew I would,’ she told herself when she finally shut down for the night.
Tuesday and Wednesday were more repeats of Monday. Kristen seemed less disgruntled and even managed to wish her a good morning by the time Wednesday rolled around. Sophie wished her a good morning as well before heading to her desk. Sophie stayed late again on Wednesday but she felt as though she was finally getting her files to a manageable level and knew that if she maintained the pace Thursday and Friday then the following week might see her leaving at more reasonable times. She would still have extra to make up, but it would seem more manageable.
Ten til Midnight 