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 252: She looked deranged.
She looked deranged. Sophie stared at her uncertain what to say. Kristen looked insane and there was no way to reason with crazy. Looking at her Sophie suddenly realized that she was very much alone in the hallway with a crazy woman.
Sophie had the ruler gripped in one hand and the doorknob in the other. Before she could think about it too much, Sophie stepped back, slapped the door and dropped the ruler. Kristen hammered on the door, but Sophie managed to get the deadbolt locked. She then ran for her phone. As she grabbed it her thumb slipped and she pressed the redial. The phone rang and the door rocked in it’s frame as Kristen hammered on it from the other side.
“Caldwell Apartments, Roger speaking how may I help you?” Sophie heard her building manager answer.
“Someone is trying to break in,” Sophie said. “It’s Sophie Daniels.”
“We are on out way up, the police are with me, keep the door locked.” The phone went dead and Sophie heard the hammering stop. She slipped the phone into her back pocket wondering if Kristen had gone away. There was a peep hole in the door but Sophie always found it a bit hard to look through. Instead she went to her bedroom and climbed up on her dresser to look out of the small window overlooking the hallway. It gave her a better view of the hall but still kept her hidden. Sophie peered out of the corner of the window hoping to see if Kristen was gone while not drawing attention to the fact that she was looking out of the window. Kristen was still in the hallway. She backed away from the door and Sophie wondered if she was going to try kicking it in.
Instead her eyes widened as Kristen took out a gun and aimed at the door. Sophie looked around her room. She had nothing that was really suitable as a weapon, especially not against a gun.
‘This window is a fire exit,’ Sophie recalled. She slipped the latch, moving cautiously and quietly, trying not to disturb the curtain and cause Kristen’s attention to turn. If Kristen came in the door, Sophie planned to jump out through the window.
The first shot was deafeningly loud in the hallway. Sophie thought it might have hit the door but not have actually gone through the lock. Kristen frowned at the door and adjusted her stance. She fired a second time and Sophie thought she heard metal. Kristen looked more pleased with the shot but still lined up to take a tired shot.
Sophie heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. Kristen turned and she shot towards the stairwell.
“Put the gun down,” someone called up the stair well.
Ten til Midnight 