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 127: Together they walked towards the elevator.
Together they walked towards the elevator. Everyone from the office piled in and they chatted generally about their weekends. It was friendly and companionable. They left the elevator and in the parking lot the group of them could all see Kristen and Ryan standing in front of Kristen’s car, arguing. The words were lowered so they didn’t drift across the parking lot but the angry gestures made certain everyone knew it wasn’t a happy discussion.
“Glad I parked on the other side of the lot,” Sophie said softly.
“I am parked next to Kristen,” Linda said. She looked at Sophie. “Do you mind if I walk with you to your car and talk to you or a bit until they clear out? Surely once they see people moving about they will end the argument o it shouldn’t take long.”
“Sure,” Sophie said. “I’m not in a hurry.”
While Sophie was anxious to get home and start laying out the patterns for her new clothes, she knew a few minutes wouldn’t matter that much. ‘And I have all weekend.’
Linda looked relieved as she altered her course to walk with Sophie. None of the others were parked too close to the couple so they didn’t hang around. Sophie and Linda walked over to her car.
“Thanks for this,” Linda said. “You must think me incredibly silly.”
“Not really,” Sophie said. “I used to wait until they were in the elevator to close down so I wouldn’t have to ride in the elevator with them.”
“That does make me feel a little bit better,” Linda said. She smiled. The lot was not overly large so they soon reached Sophie’s car and stood beside the vehicle. Sophie faced away from the unhappy couple, with Linda placed so she could look back towards them and look for an opening to go to her car.
“I went on those websites that you gave me,” Linda said.
“Websites?”
“For the clothes,” Linda clarified.
“Oh yeah, how did you like them?”
“They were really nice. I ended up buying a sleep set for my sister that I know she will love.”
Sophie smiled. “That’s great.”
“They were really nice,” Linda said. “And I saw some of the teasers for the dressing gowns. Those look amazing.”
“Thanks, they ae a lot of fun to make. So much detail work.” Sophie saw Linda’s eyes slide past her to the couple. She tried not to take offense. It was after all Friday and Linda no doubt wanted to leave instead of hanging out in the office parking lot. Linda’s eyes went wide.
Ten til Midnight 