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 235: “Why else would they contact the office for security footage?
“Why else would they contact the office for security footage?” Janine asked. Sophie shrugged.
“No idea,” she said as she pinned the hem of the dress. She stepped back and took a good look at the pinned garment. Janine haled still as Sophie began slowly circling her. The look was right, the fit seemed good.
“Nothing is to tight or pinching or anything?” she asked.
Janine shifted slightly and shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “It feels great.”
“Excellent,” Sophie replied. She helped Janine off of the step stool as they carefully avoided the pins. She unzipped the back and helped Janine out of the pinned dress making sure to neither stick Janine with the pins or jiggle them out of place.
Janine was soon dressed in her regular clothing and the pinned garment was back on the dress makers dummy. Soon she would make the slight adjustments needed and then start work on the actual silk for the dress and the liner pieces that would go beneath the silk.
Bubbling with excitement Janine slipped on her shoes. “I am going to make a list of places we can go,” she said. “You will have to have a dress to wear too.” Janine looked at Sophie, eyes narrowed. “You did keep at least one dress for yourself, you didn’t just keep work clothes and sell off the rest right?”
Sophie smiled. “I actually have several dresses I have no where to wear them but couldn’t bear to sell on.”
“Fabulous,” Janine said. “So we will find a place to go and both look fantastic. I’ll make a list.”
Janine headed back to her apartment and smiled, knowing that Janine was probably going to do just that. She locked the door and checked the time. It was late enough now that she didn’t feel like starting anything, so she flopped back onto the couch and tuned into her favorite Italian language drama. Between the preparation for the trip, and then the trip itself, she had missed quite a few episodes.
As she settled into watch and keep her language skills sharp, Sophie glanced at the list she pinned to her bulletin board. On it were the various things she had planned to look into. This coming weekend was the first scheduled do something other than work she blocked out on her calendar.
‘But there was nothing specific going on,’ Sophie thought as she looked at it. ‘It’s one of my placeholder dates.’
Sophie thought about it. “Maybe I can use the fancy night out with Janine as this month’s big thing since I don’t have the car. Then I will have something not work related and that I can do with someone else driving.”
Sophie nodded to herself pleased with the thought. She hadn’t completely abandoned her plan, she was just reshuffling things a bit.
After a time, Sophie found herself yawning and decided bed was a good idea. She changed into her pajamas and slipped between the sheets. She fell into a deep sleep. It didn’t last long. The scream of sirens woke her and she sat up in bed, heart pounding.
Ten til Midnight 