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 108: Outside, the rain began to fall.
Outside, the rain began to fall. Penelope sat there in the living room, letting the sadness wash through her. There was still anger and it rumbled through her a lot like the thunder still rumbled through the storm outside, but there was also a sense of loss. Penelope wasn’t sure she could say what it was she felt she lost, but she felt it just the same.
She let herself cry and felt the sadness, even as the cell phone still flashed through calls between Trinity and Jeanette. After a time, the tears stopped and she felt more hollow. The calls stopped as well. The phone lay silent and dark. For now Trinity and Jeanette had given up. She had no illusions of this being the end, but for now there was silence.
Penelope looked at the phone and wondered if Jeanette would call her father, convince him to get in touch with her. She knew now that if he did call it would be because someone put him up to it. He would not be calling on his own.
She waited for another wave of sadness and loss to hit, but instead she just felt hollow. She leaned back in the chair. Outside the rain stopped. The thunder and lightning ended, but the world outside was still shadowed and gray from the thick dark clouds still massed overhead.
“At least the day matches my mood,” Penelope said. Her eyes felt dry and itchy. She knew her face would be splotchy as well. She was not a pretty crier. She sat up, pushed herself off the chair and stood. Slowly she waked to the bathroom. There she soaked a washcloth with cold water and pressed it to her face. She learned long ago that the cold water soaked cloth would alleviate many of the signs of her tears.
While there was no one she had to hide them from here, her eyes were dry and itchy and the cloth helped with that as well. When she was feeling marginally better, Penelope wring out the cloth and hung it on the side of the sink to dry. She then toweled off the excess moisture from her face.
The excess energy she felt building was gone. She felt tired and worn. Oddly, despite her recently ate sandwich, Penelope felt hungry again. “Its like crying drained all my energy,” she told herself. It was strange but she couldn’t deny the clenching of her empty stomach.
‘Maybe a handful of peanuts or something,’ she decided. Penelope headed back to the kitchen. She saw her phone light up again and wondered if Trinity or Jeanette was trying to call her. Out of curiosity Penelope adjusted her course to pick up her phone and saw Agent Michaelson’s number instead.
Frowning, Penelope answered it.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Ms. Douglas, I was just calling to …check in on you,” he said.
Penelope’s frown deepened. “Again, you just talked to me,” she glanced at the clock on the stove. “Less than an hour and a half ago.”
“True but I wondered if something might have…happened since then?”
“Happened?” she asked.
He sighed heavily. “The weather predicted today was clear and mild with no chance of rain. I am told the storm was magically produced and every active agent has been asked to check in with those they are working with.”
“Oh,” Penelope said. She thought of the frenetic energy that seemed to fill her and how it dissipated after her cry. Had the storm started before then or during? She couldn’t remember.
“I’m just slightly annoyed by my stepmother. Apparently, your investigation is causing her issues with party planning. Nothing major.”
Penelope wasn’t sure why she was downplaying it, but something warned her not to reveal too much.
Ten til Midnight 