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 228: When Kristen had car trouble a year before she professed to knowing nothing about cars.
When Kristen had car trouble a year before she professed to knowing nothing about cars. She hadn’t known how to do anything basic and hadn’t even known that a flat tire required changing the tire and not calling the insurance company. Unless she had been faking her complete lack of knowledge, then someone else had to put the whatever-it-was in her car.
‘Which means even if she is responsible then she isn’t skulking around the apartment building sabotaging vehicles.’
Sophie shrugged it off. She knew very little of Kristen outside the office and nothing whatsoever of her husband. ‘And I’d like to keep it that way.’
She entered her apartment and went straight to the shower. After showering, Sophie went ahead and got dressed and ready for the office so she could walk out at a moment’s notice. Usually she put on comfortable clothes to lounge in until it was time to get ready for the office, but with Kevin driving, she felt the need to be ready to go.
‘I don’t want to lose track of things and keep him waiting.’
Once dressed Sophie still had plenty of time. The night before she had copied out the patterns she would need for Janine’s dress. Instead of losing herself in design work, Sophie decided to cut them out and pin them to her practice material. She would create the living rough draft of the dress and then have Janine try it on, seeing where it needed to be adjusted before she even thought about cutting the silk and the liner materials she picked up.
The patterns were pinned in place in no time, so Sophie began cutting out the pieces from the sample cloth. She managed to get all of them cut out before it was time to leave and then lay them ready and waiting for her return from the office. Sophie quickly ran a lint roller over her clothes picking up the loose fibers that attached to her clothes as she worked and then she grabbed her bag and keys, heading out of the door.
Sophie reached the parking lot and looked around. She realized she couldn’t remember exactly what car Kevin drove. She knew it was blue but mostly she saw him through the window rather than looking at his car.
“It’s the blue Ford,” Kevin said. She turned around and saw him stepping off of the stairs behind her. He was dressed for the office and carrying a bag similar to her own. He lifted his key fob and clicked it. The blue ford beeped and flashed it’s lights.
“I knew it was blue,” she said. He smiled at her. They got into the car. “Thanks again for the ride.”
“No problem,” he said. “It adds a bit of spice to my office gossip. Instead of me just saying I hung out and got beaten at my video games by someone I am sure is only twelve years old, I can say that I am helping a damsel in distress.” Kevin smiled. “Admittedly they may still think it is part of the video game.”
“I didn’t realize you were a gamer,” she said.
“You play?” he asked.
“No but I’ve always found them interesting, it just seems like a lot to get started in one though. Don’t you need a special type of computer or something. And I think there is furniture involved too. At least chairs.”
Kevin laughed. “I just use my couch.”
As they drove to work, they discussed the various games. It was interesting and something completely different. Kevin dropped her off outside Havers and told her he would pick her up in the same place unless she called.
Ten til Midnight 