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 201: Sophie closed her eyes and was asleep in seconds.
Sophie closed her eyes and was asleep in seconds. She meant to stretch out and catnap, but found herself far more exhausted than she planned. By the time she stirred, she realized the angle of the sun changed and several hours passed. She always felt groggy after a nap, which was why she rarely indulged in them on the rare opportunity the option was available. She knew other people woke feeling refreshed after a nap, but that had never happened for her.
She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and checked the clock on the bedside table. She was in time to make a late supper if she tried, but Sophie wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to go through the effort of making it downstairs.
‘A shower might help,’ she thought.
Sophie slipped out of bed and padded across the hotel room to her suitcase. She opened it up and started hanging up what she could in the small wardrobe provided. There was ample space, but few hangars so she concentrated on the items she was certain would wrinkle.
‘Probably have to steam them to get out the travel wrinkles before I wear anyway,’ she thought. Other items were stowed in the chest of drawers and she left her empty suit case on the luggage stand. She chose something simple from her collection of garments and then took them and her toiletries bag to the bathroom. She felt gummy from travel and her nap.
The shower helped some but after bathing and dressing, Sophie decided something small from the room service menu sounded like a much better option than going down to the hotel restaurant. She picked up the menu, pleased that she could read the Italian side, as there was no English translation. She picked up the room phone and called down the order. She was told it would be there in fifteen minutes.
Sophie hung up the phone and took stock. She knew with little effort she could fall back asleep. She also knew that if she did, she would wake up in the middle of the night, hungry enough to be pulled into full wakefulness. ‘Glad I didn’t plan anything for today,’ she told herself.
Sophie took out her tour books and loose itinerary and spread it out on the bed. The room service arrived and she signed for it, adding the it to the bill as she had not picked up any cash. For heer meal she ordered a simple fruit and cheese platter and she was not disappointed. Each item was delicious and the portions were small enough that she knew she wouldn’t be too full to fall asleep again. ‘And if I stretch out the nibbling I can go through everything and plan my morning until it is actual bed time here.’
Feeling rather proud of herself for her logistics, Sophie sat down at the small table in her room.
Ten til Midnight 