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 80: Penelope nodded, took out her own papers so she would have something to focus on, and slowly they began working through the list of withdrawals made from her account.
Penelope nodded, took out her own papers so she would have something to focus on, and slowly they began working through the list of withdrawals made from her account. The pattern wasn’t difficult to find. Penelope found that she could in fact line up the dates with events and occurrences at the house. There was always a withdrawal around Trinity’s birthday and again another spate around Holidays.
It was hard to see as Penelope remembered some of the gifts. No expense was ever spared for Trinity’s presents. Penelope usually received a card. Occasionally there was a twenty in the card, most often there was a signature alone. There was no actual present involved which made it harder to watch Trinity unwrapping her gifts at the breakfast table on the morning of her birthday.
Holidays too were somewhat painful. Most holidays were just a car with nothing inside, someone occasionally forgetting to even add a signature. Christmas was always a gift card. It was never more than $20 and always for stores that sold things like school supplies.
Seeing the listed withdrawals and realizing not only how much money was spent on Trinity’s gifts was difficult. Realizing the money came from her accounts started the slow burn of anger to mix in with the realization of the discrepancy.
It was when they reached the university years that Penelope really felt the burn of anger starting to flair. She could easily mark down her tuition payments. However, she was lied to. She was told there was not enough for anything beyond tuition and would have to cover everything herself. Then she saw the tuition, books and other essentials needed for when Trinity went to university lined up in the account.
Penelope stared at the numbers, realizing that she not only paid for Trinity’s way through school so that she didn’t have to work, but that there was still money left over. Money that still could have covered some of Penelope’s expenses and that someone at the house still routinely dipped into.
The flare of anger began to boil.
“Um, Ms. Douglas.”
Penelope stared at the numbers, the typeface blurring slightly. Her vision narrowed until they were all she could see.
“Ms. Douglas,” the voice repeated.
She wondered how she could be so stupid as to trust what they said about the account as it was all there in black and white.
“Penelope!”
Penelope jerked, the voice sounding panicked. She looked up and gasped. Agent Michaelson backed away from the desk, the chair pressed against the wall. His eyes were wide and he looked on the verge of panic. It wasn’t hard to see why.
The small succulent Penelope enlarged to a soccer ball size earlier was much larger now. It exploded out of the pot, the roots seeming to snake down the desk and sink into the floor. The plant itself was large enough for the pointed tips to touch the ceiling and she was certain at least four feet in diameter.
The large pointed leaf succulent seemed to have trapped Michaelson against the wall.
Ten til Midnight 