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 116: Sophie wondered what Janine planned to buy as she fastened her seatbelt and let Janine drive them off to the morning’s adventure.
Sophie wondered what Janine planned to buy as she fastened her seatbelt and let Janine drive them off to the morning’s adventure. “Looking for anything in particular?” Sophie couldn’t help asking.
“Anything and everything,” Janine replied.
Sophie laughed. “That certainly narrows it down,” she replied. “Oh when wee get back I wondered if I could take a few minutes to show you some things.”
“What sort of things,” Janine asked as she navigated the SUV up the access ramp and onto the highway.
Sophie briefly explained her experiment with emotional design. “So I was wondering if you could look at the designs and see if you can match them to the emotion or even if they are any good. I need to switch back into the pajama sets this weekend, but I figured I could take a couple of the best designs from the lot and work on them next week between sewing projects and start taking the best of them from nebulous idea towards something I might actually create in real life.”
“Happy to have a look and play the emotional match game,” Janine said.
The two chatted amiably as they headed out of town. The flea market was located on the old state fairgrounds. It was outside of town but not too far away and the perfect size for a large scale event such as this. Sophie was surprised to se how many vehicles were already parked. Even though it was early there were already far more people wandering around than she would have expected.
The two of them meandered through the crowd, separating to head off to different locations and agreeing to meet back after a while. Most of the furniture and antiques Sophie could appreciate, but she knew she didn’t have space for in her apartment so she passed them by. In one booth, she found a box of mixed buttons that looked intriguing and for a low price she picked it up. There were a few odds and ends she added to her purchases, but they were mostly small items that she could easily drop in her purse after paying the stall owner.
Just as she was thinking thee would be little to interest her, Sophie found a stall that featured remnants from what looked like an old fabric store. While much of it was fabric she had no use for, she found quite a few items she was more than willing to add to her collection. She filled several bags and left the stall happily laden. She thought of going back to the car to drop off the bags, but found herself strolling on as it wasn’t yet time to meet Janine. A few stalls from the fabric one, and Sophie found a foldable clothing rack that she thought might be useful. While the sleep sets were easily folded, the dressing gowns were laid flat on a section of the couch and they were threatening to take over her living space. With a rack to hang them up they would not only be out of the way but safe from any spills from her daily life. She turned to look for the stall owner to ask the price and found a narrow chest of drawers she thought might be good for storing materials.
Ten til Midnight 