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 47: “And I really hope she found something,” Penelope said.
“And I really hope she found something,” Penelope said. Penelope continued to read through the journal following along with Amelia’s search for answers. She was almost as frustrated as Amelia seemed to be by the lack of answers.
‘Everyone tells me that there is no magic trait that responds this way,’ Amelia complained. ‘They say it is just my intuition or that somehow a part of me registers the danger without knowing it. No matter how many times I try to explain it, no one seems to understand. It isn’t a known trait, therefore it can’t exist. Despite mocking those without magic for their belief that magic is a superstition, all the mages I know are just as stubborn in admitting that a magic different from the traits they have catalogs can exist. It is infuriating. Their explanations are condescending and I have decided that while I will continue to research I will do so in a way that draws no attention. I am tired of being ridiculed.’
Penelope could sympathize. Trinity had a habit of making anything she did seem laughable to her coterie of friends. What Trinity mocked, they all mocked. It didn’t matter if Penelope wore a clothing item that was currently the hottest trending item. If she wore it, they mocked it and it very quickly became unpopular.
‘Probably why I chose to just wear what I liked. If it is going to go out of fashion as soon as I wear it why bother,’ Penelope thought. While she could shrug it off now, it had been frustrating and somewhat depressing growing up. She learned not to let it bother her, but now and again it still prickled. ‘I imagine Amelia felt much the same way.’
As Penelope turned the pages she hoped Amelia stuck to her research. For a time she didn’t write about it. Her journal entries did record several other near misses and mishaps.
‘I find it darkly amusing that while no one is willing to even consider this may be a development of an ability, everyone has very quickly learned that when I avoid something it is wise to do so as well. Now that cook has recovered she has taken the precaution of inviting me to peruse various elements of both the tea service and the ingredients for upcoming meals. None of the staff will consume anything until after I have looked it over. I find the reliance upon me a strange weight, yet I can not refuse to do so as three times in the last month my refusal to go near something has uncovered items tampered with. Upon testing they were found to be fatal should anyone have consumed them. Father is making a list of suppliers and trying to identify the poisoner. While no one believes it is magic, they are coming to rely upon it.’
Penelope could see how this would be darkly amusing and yet weighty. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes wondering how she would feel if she knew someone was trying to poison either her or the household and she was the only one who could detect it. Penelope shivered. It was a lot of responsibility to contemplate.
Ten til Midnight 