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 12: No one really tried to hide anything.
No one really tried to hide anything. Jannette wanted to pretend Penelope’s mother never existed and Trinity wanted to be an only child. Penelope grew up knowing this and was actually surprised when no one asked her to leave the moment she turned eighteen.
“Maybe because I was in school and people were watching.” She knew that her father’s business thrived partially due to her mother’s family connections. She suspected that was why she was left to stay.
“But I have a place to go now,” she told herself as she drove. “Let’s just hope it is livable.”
The directions were easy to follow and not wanting to think too much about her family, Penelopy concentrated on them rather than dwelling on details. Mr. Avis gave her the code to a parking garage with a space that was for her town house. She used it to enter the lot and parked in the numbers space she was told was for her.
Gathering up the paperwork, and taking out the town house keys, Penelope left the car behind and walked towards the garage exit. The exit led her to the side walk and she walked down a row of town houses. All built along similar lines, they never the less had their own individual personalities. This one had a balcony with hanging plantes festooned with red flowers. That one had a statue of a large lion placed beside the door.
All of the buildings were more or less the same. Thee was a raised basement with a door in the center and two windows, one to either side. Each house had a small patio area out front that was fenced off from the sidewalk. All of the fences were black wrought iron and had little gate doors in the front. Most of the little patio areas had a small table and chair set placed in the front and usually there were some potted plants to liven up the concrete pad that served as the patio. As Penelope walked, she wondered if people actually used the area or if they just felt compelled to decorate.
She reached number 387 and stopped. Like the others it was a brick town house with white lintels. There was a bare patio area out side of the basement entrance. There were a couple of concrete planters but no plants in them. There was also no patio furniture.
“I suppose if it was just maintained they took it down to the basics.’ Penelope thought. She looked up and saw that three metal balconies above. ‘One per floor,’ she guessed.
Penelope opened the small metal gate and let herself into the bare patio. The gate hinges sighed softly. They were well oiled but stiff from lack of use. She closed the gate and walked to the door. The key fit perfectly in the lock and she let herself into the basement.
The first thing Penelope saw was a café sized table and two chairs that seemed to go with it. They weren’t placed in a sitting group, the chairs actually placed on the table. “I guess they go out front.”
Penelope turned on the lights and closed the door. The basement had a sitting room with a tea trolley off to the side. Against the wall was a built in containing a full tea and coffee service. It reminded her of a fancy version of the one Alvis had at the law office.
Ten til Midnight 