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 104: With her contracted pieces complete, Sophie thought she had a few days before she had to start on a new set.
With her contracted pieces complete, Sophie thought she had a few days before she had to start on a new set. For now it was nice to just design with no thoughts of actual garment creation. “I’ll start on the new pieces over the weekend,” she told herself before bed.
The next day started the same. She worked out, showered and went to the office. At her desk she plugged in and alternated between inputting her files and listening to Italians talk fashion. After work she chose an emotion and designed for it.
The days began to scroll by in similar fashion. Whatever drama there was didn’t involve her and the longer it didn’t involve her, the less interested in eavesdropping she became. Sophie did her work when she was at work and then dove into her designs as soon as she was released, giving no thought to the office she left behind. When the weekend arrived, she created the sleep sets that were selling and worked on the luxury robes and dressing gowns. As the days clicked by it felt almost like the office was just something she did in between thinking about fashion. It was a strange thought.
For the past few years she used her fashion design as a means of escape from the office. It was how she kept the stress of it from getting to her. Now it was as though the office was just a mental break from design. ‘Not a bad change over,’ she decided.
Realizing that her water bottle was empty, Sophie locked her computer, picked up the bottle and went to the water fountain to refill it. As she walked, she was thinking about her shifting perceptions of the office and her designs and nearly ran into Kristen.
“Sorry,” Sophie said. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“You never do,” Kristen snapped.
Sophie blinked. The look on Kristen’s face was hard and mean. “Look I am sorry I almost ran into you, my mind was elsewhere, but there is no need to snap at me.” Sophie stepped around Kristen and continued on to the water fountain. She filled up her water bottle and put the lid on. ‘A bit loose,’ she thought as she did so. The water bottle she was using was one she had been using for years. She knew others traded out water bottles often, but as she considered the use of the water bottle a way to avoid using extra plastic with disposable ones, she didn’t see the point. Hers was glass with a bamboo lid. The wood of the lid was cracked and a piece had gotten knocked off somewhere in its many tris between the office and home.
As Sophie turned back towards the office she wondered if she could order a replacement lid or if she would actually need to buy a new bottle.
Ten til Midnight 