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 242: Sophie turned to the closet.
Sophie turned to the closet. Her sense of accomplishment faded as she took in the destruction. Knowing studying it wasn’t going to make it any better, Sophie started picking up garments. Anything she thought she might be able to salvage went into one pile and anything unsalvageable went into another pile. Barbeque sauce had been squirted all over all of them so even the unsalvageable garments would need washing if she was to use the material again.
Surprisingly as she went, Sophie found a few undamaged garments. They were mostly buried in the destroyed cloth and Sophie had the feeling that they slipped off the hangers when the rest of the wardrobe was attacked, hiding in the pile of cloth.
“I might actually have a week’s worth of work clothes left,’ She thought as she made her way through the clothing. It was somewhat of a relief. The fact that she also had several garments that she could salvage with some creative stitching also helped her state of mind. At this point she was willing to look for any silver lining she could.
Sophie gathered the clothing that could be salvaged and that had been spared and took it to the workroom where her stackable washer and dryer were located. Her washer still had a little while to go with the bedding so she put the laundry basket on the floor in front of it, deliberately not looking at the mess her work room had become. She carefully stepped around spilled buttons and unspooled rolls of ribbon. She knew once she got started on that room she would stay thee so she wanted to tidy the rest of her apartment first.
Leaving the laundry, Sophie went into the living room. Before she could start to gather there, a knock sounded on her door. Sophie felt her heart leap into her throat as she made her way to the door. She unlocked it and opened it cautiously. She peered into the hallway and smiled with relief when she saw it was Alec from the Maintenance team.
“Here to fix the door frame and get you a new lock,” he told her. Sophie nodded.
“I’ll be a lot happier once you do,” she told him.
He nodded and shook his head at the damage to the door. “This is usually such a quiet building. Haven’t had this much trouble in a while.”
“I know,” Sophie said. “Hopefully the trouble will stop.”
They heard footsteps and both Sophie and Alec looked over. The building manager was walking over and with him were Sean and Elizabeth. It seemed so strange to see them outside the office. It was like watching a fish swim through the sky. She automatically reached up a hand to smooth her hair even though she pulled it up into a ponytail earlier.
Ten til Midnight 