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 193: By the time Sophie finished the pieces under commission, she had a good idea of the weather she would be facing and decided to make a few garments to take with her.
By the time Sophie finished the pieces under commission, she had a good idea of the weather she would be facing and decided to make a few garments to take with her. She felt positively decadent as she made garments specifically for herself and even more specifically for the trip. As she worked it reminded her of old stories about ladies getting ‘equipped’ for the season in town. The thought made her smile.
In addition to adding garments to her wardrobe that weren’t specifically tailored for the office, Sophie gradually started pulling together her itinerary. As it was a trip for pleasure she didn’t want to have a strict routine to follow but she also didn’t want to miss out on anything because she hadn’t checked on the days or hours of operation. She divided her things to do into tiers. Tier one included a list of the things she most wanted to see. Tier two was a list of things she wanted to see but weren’t on her absolute must see list and the final tier was the list of things she would like to see if there was time.
She figured such a system would give her enough structure without making the vacation feel like a forced march. She was equipped with all of the times and days she could visit every place and would just take each day as it came while she was gone.
While Sophie created the garments needed for travel, she realized that she was lacking in the luggage department. Her old suitcase had seen a few too many trips to be of much use. For a few moments when she hauled it out from under the bed, Sophie thought she might be able to make it one last trip. Then she saw that one of the wheels had been snapped off and imagined trying to wheel it out of the airport in an effort to get a cap and then thumping it through a hotel.
“No,” she deiced and one Saturday she headed out to the outlet store. She purchased a nice new suitcase and a matching carryon. While there she found a few items that seemed like they would make the long flight more enjoyable and she added them to her purchases. Realizing that the flight was long and there would also be time spent in airports making connections, she added a few books and magazines to read along the way.
‘I’ll want to keep the suitcase with some free space for anything I pick up,’ she decided. Sophie knew at the very least she would be picking up a souvenir for Janine. What she might purchase beyond that she wasn’t sure, but she wanted to have the space if she found something she wanted. ‘What do people usually buy on trips?’ she asked herself as she made certain that in addition to fresh clothes she had some new underwear to go with her as well. The undergarments were a hold over from her childhood.
Sophe’s mother had always insisted on packing new underwear for a trip. It didn’t matter if it was just a packet of cheep cotton panties, she wanted new when she left town. When she was small Sophie thought it was because she wanted something brand new and fresh for the trip or wanted to make certain o old elastic gave way while she was far rom home. Later she realized that her mother was certain that somewhere along the way someone was going through her luggage and the thought of them seeing underwear with any sort of wear to them horrified her. Sophie thought it amusing.
Ten til Midnight 