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 200: He handed her the room key and relevant information.
He handed her the room key and relevant information. Sophie thanked him and headed off to the elevators. There was a line waiting and As Sophie wasn’t in a hurry she stood towards the back, letting the raucous group go ahead of her. When they were gone, their elevators filled and on their way, she pressed the button so it would return for her.
At the moment standing felt very good and she realized how long she had been in one position. She sat all day at work, but even then, she got up to go to the bathroom or to ill her empty coffee mug with water from the water fountain in the hall. She even left the building at lunch sometimes. This had been much longer in a much more confined space.
It also felt good not to be in a hurry. While Sophie had a long list of things she wanted to do during her vacation, she wasn’t sure how she would feel when she arrived. She heard stories of jet lag and mentally she didn’t know if she would be too exhausted to do anything. So she hadn’t scheduled anything. Her big plans involved getting to know her room and having dinner in the hotel restaurant. Her big adventure tonight might involve a cocktail at the bar before she collapsed into bed and let her body reset to local time.
After rushing through so much before she left it felt positively decadent to actually have a stretch of time in front of her where there were no lists of things that needed to be done.
The elevator dinged and Sophie got on. Ass she was the only one waiting, she got on and pressed the button for her floor. The elevator lifted her to her floor, she got out and followed the discrete notations on the wall to her room. He let herself in and closed the door behind her, making certain that the door locked. She wheeled her suitcase to the side and left it. Her carry on was attached to the top and she left it there. She tossed the papers and key onto the bed and kicked off he shoes. She wiggled her toes in her socked feet, happy to be able to do so.
After feeling so long confined, Sophie stretched out her arms and pinwheeled them around, thrilled with both the movement and not hitting anyone. Stretching willing and shoe removal done, Sophie took a look at her room. It wasn’t elaborate or over the top luxurious. She cannot looking for top of the line She needed safe and secure. And that is what she got. The bed was a single queen and it looked clean and inviting. Sophie Yawned and wondered if a nap was a good idea or not.
For the moment she walked past the bed and looked over the shower and bathroom area. Like the room, it was clean, pleasant and had all the amenities she would be looking for. “Exactly as described.”
She knew that she would definitely want a shower and a change of clothes soon as she felt a little stale and slightly grimy from travel. For now she left the bathroom and headed to the main windows. Her view overlooked the courtyard. It was a cobbled space with tables and she could see that it fed into the restaurant on the other side. At the moment there was no one sitting in the terrace. Sophie Yawned again and realized that even dinner couldn’t be enjoyed when she was this tired. It was as if the trip sapped all of her energy.
‘Time change too,’ she reminded herself. ‘And I don’t have to be anywhere.’
She didn’t want to get dressed for bed yet so she stripped down to her t-shirt and crawled into bed for a little nap. Sophie closed her eyes and was asleep in seconds.
Ten til Midnight 