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 212: She gathered fresh clothes from the bedroom.
She gathered fresh clothes from the bedroom. There was something nice about being up and about while the rest of the world slept. It made her feel as though she had a large chunk of the world to herself. She took her fresh clothes to the shower and lathered off her workout sweat until she was fresh and clean once again. She took her time drying her hair and when she was dressed and ready for the ay, she checked the time.
‘Still a bit early,’ Sophie thought. While she knew the grocery store would be open, she also knew the morning rush hour traffic was just getting started. Instead of joining the crush, Sophie unpacked her bags and stowed the luggage away under her bed. She put her dirty clothes in the laundry and got thee first load of washing in motion while she made out her grocery list. Sophie found herr stomach rumbling and she promised it that she would pick up something ready to eat either at the store or in a fast food place on the way back. When her list was made and her first load of laundry shifted to the dryer, Sophie moved to her work room and looked over it. While she tidied it before she left, she knew that many of the items she used routinely were at low levels. Giving the traffic just a little more time to clear out, Sophie began compiling a list of items that needed replacing.
‘I’ll talk to Janine before I make a plan.’
Sophie put the list down and realized she was already starting to made a bit of a plan. She let the thought sit in her brain percolating as she got on her shoes and picked up her purse and grocery list. She went downstairs and got into her car. She started the engine and pulled out of her parking space, pleased that the parking lot was mostly empty.
Sophie felt pleased with herself for returning on a week day. ‘The flight was also cheaper that way,’ she thought. ‘It’d be cheaper still if I planned ahead a bit more.’
Thee thought joined the already percolating planning thoughts in her mind and circled round as she drove to the grocery store. The parking lot she pulled into was even sparser than the one by her apartment at this time off day and Sophie felt as though she had the store all to herself.
There were chatting clerks and stockers adding items to shelves, but there weren’t any other shoppers taking a cart through the aisle. It made her feel somehow special as though the store opened just for her. The feeling of special ended when she checked out and the grumpy looking clerk made her feel a bit more like an inconvenience than a valued patron.
‘Well they didn’t really open just for me anyway,’ she thought as she headed back to her apartment. She took her groceries upstairs and put them away. She left of he cruller and coffee she got at the grocery’s small café.
‘Not exactly coffee at a hotel in Milan,’ Sophie told her self as she sat down. ‘But it will do.’
Sophie took her time with her doughnut and coffee and realized the thoughts of planning were again circling.
Ten til Midnight 