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 72: She wondered how large a sum of money had to be involved for the bank to contact her directly.
She wondered how large a sum of money had to be involved for the bank to contact her directly. She checked the time. “What time do you close?” she asked. After a few minutes of back and forth Penelope realized she had time to get to the bank and found out what information she needed to bring.
‘I suppose it is good that I ate early and that I got dressed for the outside world.’
She stuffed what she needed in her purse, grabbed her keys and then headed out of the door. She locked up behind her and wondered if she would be able to make it back for the happy hour. I suppose we’ll find out,’ she decided.
As she let herself out of the gate in the fence enclosing her little patio area, Penellope found herself nervously looking at the traffic. While she knew she couldn’t be afraid to leave the house, she couldn’t help wondering if this wasn’t a way to lure her out of the house. There were cars parked along the street and there was traffic. There wasn’t anyone who seemed to be paying any attention to her though. She tried her best not to look paranoid as she made her way to the parking garage.
Once she reached the parking garage, another thought occurred to her. What if someone cut her brake lines while the car was parked in the garage?
She paused by her car, one hand on the door handle. ‘There would be leakage,’ she decided.
Penelope unlocked her car door and tossed her purse through the open door and into the passenger’s seat, keeping her keys in her hand so she didn’t accidentally lock them in the car. She then squatted down to look under the car. It was harder than she thought. After glancing around to see if anyone was watching, Penelope had to practically lay down on the ground to look under neath her car.
There were no bits that looked cleanly sliced and no puddle of anything under the car. There wasn’t even a single drip under the car and nothing staining the white concrete.
Penelope straightened up and brushed herself down. While she had to admit she hadn’t a clue what the underside of her care was supposed to look like, she was certain that if something had been sliced through there would be at least a little drippage of something.
Figuring she was as safe as she was going to be, she climbed into the car and fastened her seatbelt as she closed the door. She turned the key in the ignition and found herself listening to the engine. It sounded as it always did. She took a deep breath and backed slowly out of the space. She tapped her breaks far more times than usual just to make sure they were working and then pulled forward. Penelope came to a stop and looked behind her. There was no dripping trail, no shiny spots of liquid that might have fallen once she got into motion.
‘That is as good as I am going to get,’ she decided.
Penelope decided to trust it and made her way out of the parking garage and to the bank. She left the radio off and was hyper aware of not only the sounds of her car but of the other drivers. No one appeared to be paying her any attention and no one looked like they were losing control.
At the bank she took not of any stains on the asphalt of the spot before she parked and then parked in the provided lot. As she turned off the engine she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. The distance from the house to the bank wasn’t great, but Penelope found she was exhausted from trying to monitor everything.
‘I really need to find out if anyone really is after me,’ she thought.
Ten til Midnight 