For those just tuning in, this challenge is about taking a story idea from bare bones idea into a fully fledged story by writing consistently every week day for fifteen minutes. The sentence I end with on one day, is the sentence I start with on the following. Part one was Bob’s story and has nothing whatsoever to do with the story below. Part Two follows a character named Penelope. I have a few basic sentences to act as road marks on her journey. I am loosely calling that an outline. We will see where she ends up by the time the story is done. For now, we start Part two of the 2025 Fifteen Minute Writing Challenge.
Day 4: While the brick was mostly faded red, the white limestone lintels gleamed softly and every bit of metal or glass she could see looked brightly polished.
While the brick was mostly faded red, the white limestone lintels gleamed softly and every bit of metal or glass she could see looked brightly polished. It was, all things considered, a respectable and prosperous looking district. As Penelope neared the building she wanted, she looked out for parking. She had to pass by the building she wanted, but saw an open spot on the street not too far away. She pulled in and parked, pleased that her parallel parking got her close to the curb and that she didn’t need to back out and try a second time.
Since the only parking garage she saw looked like it required a permit, she was pleased to find the space. ‘I’ll have to check my directions before I leave though,’ Penelope thought as she turned off the car and unfastened her seatbelt. She knew that getting out of the space, it would be easier to keep going in the direction the car was facing rather than try to back out and make a U-turn back towards the house. She would need to go with the flow and find a side street she could use to turn her facing south again when she left.
‘But that is after we find out what the law office wants from me.’ Penelope popped a breath mint in her mouth, picked up her purse and slipped her keys into the bag. She then looked out for on coming traffic and when it was clear, opened her door. She hit the locking mechanism before the door closed so her car was secure while she was gone and then quickly moved out of the street and onto the sidewalk.
While it was a prosperous looking neighborhood, she never felt comfortable leaving her car un locked. Penelope rolled the breath mint around in her mouth as she walked back to the office building. While she brushed her teeth earlier, the toothpaste mint faded and she didn’t think adding a little extra mint to freshen it as she spoke to ne people was a bad thing.
Once she swirled it around in her mouth, nerves had her crunching down on the mint, shattering it to pieces. She ground the pieces to mint flavored dust in her mouth as she tried to decide what this meeting could be about. Nothing came to mind. She had no unpaid parking tickets or any legal disputes. She completed her university degree and while looking for jobs had yet to secure employment so there was nothing job related.
Penelope sighed for the thought of her current job search. She took a lot of her pre-requisites for college while still in high school and used them to shave time off her university. The funds set aside were just adequate enough to cover the fees for the remaining classes and she had worked odd jobs to get money for anything beyond the university fees that she needed. She graduated but the jobs were few and far between. She lived at home through her school and was currently still there. Hints had been made about her moving out and Penelope strongly suspected that soon she would be more strongly encouraged to live elsewhere.
She needed to at least save up for her own place before that day came.
Ten til Midnight 