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 217: Kevin looked at her and frowned.
Kevin looked at her and frowned. “You push yourself more when you are annoyed with work?” he asked.
“Yeah, it helps get the stress and annoyance out so I can face the day without carrying it into the office.”
Kevin continued to stare at her.
“What?” she said. “I get a work out and I don’t carry around the anger.”
“No,” Kevin said. “It’s not that. Its that you have just been on vacation and aren’t stressed and annoyed.”
“Right…” Sophie said slowly.
“And this was your pace,” Kevin concluded. He shook his head. “I am so working out with you in the mornings. I can’t wait to see how brutal it gets when the office annoys you.”
“I’m not that bad,” Sophie said.
“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit,” he said.
“Maybe not, but at least I don’t see Kristen everyday any more so there is significantly less angst.”
“That does bring me a measure of comfort,” Kevin said. “Have you heard anything about her?”
“Not since she left,” Sophie said. “And honestly I am happy about it.”
“I can see that. I just wanted to know if she was ever charged officially with anything, I suspect there has to be a line beyond where her family can’t get her out of things.”
“I’m sure there is something on line you can check,” Sophie said. “Personally I am going with the out of sight out of mind policy.”
“Good call. I am curious though. Maybe I will do an on-line search.”
“Good luck with that,” Sophie said. Her machine slowed to a stop, her cool down complete. Sophie stepped off the treadmill and a moment later Kevin did the same. They each wiped down what they touched and left the gym as others started filing in. Leaving as others were starting made Sophie feel productive.
She said goodbye to Kevin and headed back to her apartment. She showered and put on comfortable clothes. She checked the time. “If this is going to be part of my normal mornings I need to see how long things take.’
Sophie didn’t see the point of getting up early only to waste the extra time. She ate her breakfast and made her coffee. She then looked to the clock and calculated what time she would need to get dressed in order to leave for work. She set the timer on the oven and settled herself on the couch to do some sketching.
There were a list of things she needed to work on, from her own potential seasonal line to the design elements for next year’s holiday robes. Starting her day with a workout and then letting go with some design work didn’t seem like the worst way to start the day. ‘And it will give me more time in the evenings.’
When the timer went off, Sophie looked at what she had done. She had several embroidery designs sketched out for the next seasons’ dressing gowns and felt good about it. As she liked to make certain each one was it’s own unique piece she needed more designs this year since there were more gowns.
“And here is where I would get dressed for work and then leave the apartment,” Sophie told herself as she poured another cup of coffee. She took mental stock. She felt good and not like she was being dragged away from her design work to go to the office. “That might change once I am through with the embroidery patterns,” she told herself. She looked at the sketchpad.
Ten til Midnight 