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 34: “You didn’t tell people not to go?” Jeanette asked slowly.
“You didn’t tell people not to go?” Jeanette asked slowly. Penelope fought not to sigh as she knew it would irritate her step-mother further.
“I have not talked to anyone about Trinity’s party. As I am not invited I don’t even know the particulars,” Penelope said. She realized she was still holding the knife she used to cut her sandwich in half and using it to gesture through the air as though it was a baton. She moved to the sink and set it inside while Jeanette tried to decide what to add.
“Still there,” she asked when the silence stretched.
“So you didn’t tell anyone not to go,” Jeanette said slowly.
“I did not,” Penelope confirmed.
“Well don’t,” Jeanette snapped. “It would be incredibly rude.”
Penelope rolled her eyes. The phone beeped and she looked at it where it sat on the kitchen counter next to her plate. Jeanette had hung up. Penelope shrugged. As far as calls from Jeanette went, that hadn’t been a bad one.
“Short and I got to say I didn’t do anything.” She picked up her sandwich and bit in. She remembered Mrs. Merriweather saying something about people only coming around to support her. ‘Maybe that’s who cancelled.’
There was nothing she could really do about it. ‘Although she might complain when she figures out that I moved out. I suspect once that is known those who were only attending family events because of me might stop going.’ She chewed, swallowed and took another bite of her sandwich.
As she ate she wondered just how many people Mrs. Merriweather could have contacted since she left post tea. Penelope had no way of knowing.
‘Jeanette is going to connect anyone not going with me moving out though, once she realizes.’ She looked to her phone and wondered if blocking her step-mother’s number was a good idea or not. ‘Maybe not yet,’ Penelope decided. If the calls became more frequent then maybe she would re think that.
‘Bound to become more frequent the nearer the party gets if people are not coming.’ It was however a problem for another day.
Mentally, Penelope made a list of things she needed to pick up. The first on the list were cleaning supplies. While she had a new mattress and clean sheets, she knew she wouldn’t be able to use the shower until she had given it a bit of a clean down. Even though it looked clean and there was a service that routinely took care of the space, for her first time in the shower, she wanted to know it was clean.
‘Because I am naked,’ she thought. She finished up her sandwich and took the plate to the sink. She quickly washed the plate and knife she used to cut the sandwich, putting both in the dish drainer. She then ran a wet cloth over the counter to pick up any crumbs she might have dropped.
‘Don’t want to invite mice in on my first day.’
Penelope went into the bedroom to get her purse and thought about who she might want to invite. She had friends but mostly she went out to other places with them. She never invited them back to the house as she never felt comfortable there herself. She also didn’t think that Trinity or Jeanette would be terribly nice to them and didn’t want the embarrassment.
‘But I don’t really go to their places either,’ she said. Most of her friends she made plans with on the phone and just met some place.
‘I wonder if I am supposed to invite the family friends like Mrs. Merriweather?’ Penelope frowned as she checked her purse making sure everything she needed was inside. She thought about Mrs. Merriweather’s warning that not everyone was on her side.
Ten til Midnight 