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 59: She left the library, turning out the light as she did.
She left the library, turning out the light as she did. Penelope wandered through the house, checking locks and turning off lights. It was a strange thing to be in her own home and be the one responsible for it. She made certain all of the locks were doublechecks and the deadbolts thrown. She even went up to the roof top and made certain that door was bolted before descending to her bedroom and retiring for the night.
As she entered her bedroom she realized she had never gotten around to cleaning out the shower. “I bought the supplies but never used them.” She thought. She thought about the cleaning supplies now located under the kitchen sink. She didn’t want to go to sleep with her hands smelling of antibacterial cleanser. “Even if it is lemon scented.” She decided.
“I’ll skip the shower tonight, clean the shower after breakfast and then take my shower,” She decided. “That way my hair can dry while I read.”
As her schedule for the following day involved reading punctuated by meals and an evening happy hour she knew she wasn’t going to need to use a bunch of products or dress for any real occasion. “Just teeth then.”
She went to the ensuite bathroom and after a brief search found her toiletries bag with her toothpaste, brush and mouthwash inside. She brushed her teeth and rinsed out with the mouthwash. After another small search she found her face wash and washed her face. She then stretched the damp washcloth out to dry in the night and returned to the bedroom.
Still not entirely comfortable with this new to her house, Penelope closed her bedroom door and couldn’t resist turning the lock. It was a simple door lock and she doubted it would keep any determined burglar out, but she liked the thought of it being locked.
‘At least tonight when two people warned me that someone isn’t happy with me.’
Door secure, she set her phone on the charger by the bed and had a quick rummage through the drawer to find a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt to sleep in. She dressed in her pajamas and realized that when she next emerged from her home she would need to add a clothes hamper to the needs to be purchased list. She hadn’t thought to take the one in her bathroom at the house with her.
“I’m certainly not going back for it.”
Penelope turned on the bedside lamp and turned out the overhead one. She padded back across the bedroom and slipped beneath the sheets. She turned out the lamp and snuggled down into the bed. The sheets and blanket smelled familiar and homey. This was the laundry detergent she was used to and that Mrs. Lucas had always used. It was comforting and mercifully the same. She closed her eyes and let sleep take her.
Penelope slipped into the dream easily. She was walking down a fog shrouded pathway. It was a pedestrian pathway, like a running path in the park rather than a road way. It was wide enough for two people to pass with ease and maybe a golf cart to drive down the center but anything wider than a golf cart would have trouble. The trees were thick, but the woods had a pleasant airy aspect. There were shafts of sunlight that pierced the fog and highlighted little patches of flowers underneath the trees in the cleared spots. It looked more magical than forbidding.
All of the flowers were grouped by color. This clearing held white flowers, that one blue. Another was purple and then there was red. Even the pinks were separated by tones. There was no mixing of the colors, each flower color had it’s own space.
Ten til Midnight 