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 59: They were all clustered by the east exit while she parked near the west.
They were all clustered by the east exit while she parked near the west. Free of the others Sophie thought about the food trucks. It had been a while since she frequented them. At first it had been because she was saving money so she could afford some luxury fabrics. Later it was because even staying late, she needed the extra time to get everything done. It was quicker as well as cheaper to eat at her desk.
‘Maybe I will go to the food trucks tomorrow,’ she decided. With the others on probation in part for their long lunches, Sophie knew she would have to watch her time, but she thought it might be fun to venture out now that she wasn’t swamped with other people’s projects.
‘Just not every day,’ she decided.
When Sophie got home she made certain to download the info for her favorite food trucks to see if they were in her area and when. There was a courtyard where trucks could park and employees could flock at lunch time but it was a first come first parked kind of situation so the same trucks were not always there.
“So we will see who is there when lunchtime comes.” Once changed out of her work clothes, Sophie decided to do a little accounting. ‘The money from the contract should have come in today.”
Sophie pulled up the bank info on her laptop. She had given the deposit information for the separate account she kept for the sewing side of her finances. As expected the money arrived and she was pleased to see it. The amounts made this year certainly pushed her over the edge for taxes and Sophie wondered if she should get a professional to help her out.
“Definitely leaving the money there until I figure out my taxes,” she decided. “But maybe the bonus is something I can use to purchase my next set of supplies.”
Sophie clicked over to her regular bank, the one the office used for her direct deposit and felt her mouth fall open when she looked at the amounts. After double checking that all of her bills had been taken from the account and there was nothing outstanding, she looked at the deposits. There it was, the bonus check. It had been deposited and was far more than she expected.
“But I didn’t really read the second page detailing the amounts,” she reminded herself. “Carie interrupted me.” Sophie unfolded herself from the couch and went to her work bag She took ut the letter that was sent to her that morning and returned to her place on the couch. She opened it and looked at it. The first page didn’t change. It was the second that broke down the amounts.
The raise was slightly higher than she expected. While Sophie knew she would still bank as much as possible, she knew that a couple of lunches out wouldn’t break her. ‘Or affect my emporium purchases much as long as I don’t go on a mass spending spree.’
“My title changed as well.”
Ten til Midnight 