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 117: It took her a full hour and a half to find but eventually, Penelope found something that matched the picture in the book.
It took her a full hour and a half to find but eventually, Penelope found something that matched the picture in the book. It was in a black velvet bag and was an ovoid about eighteen inches long, four inches wide at its widest point and about two inches thick. The glass was clear and there were no bubbles or scratches. She felt as she took it down that the velvet was more to prevent scratches than any other reason.
She took the glass down noting the weight of it. Worried about dropping it when taking it upstairs, Penelope wrapped it back up in it’s velvet before closing the cabinet door and taking it upstairs.
Thoughts of scratching it were foremost on her mind as she went upstairs and instead of taking the class to the library, she took it to the bedroom and placed it on the bed. She then went to the library and retrieved the book.
Penelope brought the book to the bedroom and set it on the bed next to the velvet wrapped glass. She read through the instructions once more. She fixed a question in her mind and set the book to the side. She could still see it but it was out of the way. Penelope unwrapped the glass leaving it sitting on top of the velvet, more because the velvet was a singular color and she wasn’t entirely sure that the patterned print of the coverlet beneath would be a good idea.
With the glass placed on the deep blue velvet it looked like a mysterious magical object. With the patten of the coverlet showing through it looked more like a giant paperweight.
She set thoughts aside and focused on her question. She wanted to know if her neighbor was a threat. It was a nice, simple and immediate question. She didn’t have to worry about what might have happened in the past, she just needed to think about today. As she concentrated, Penelope realized she couldn’t remember the neighbor’s name. She was sure it had been told to her, but she just couldn’t remember it.
“Hopefully I won’t need it.” Penelope lowered her hands, palm side up and slipped them under the narrow ends of the ovoid so it was sitting on her hands. The velvet brushed the tops of her hands, feeling soft and luxurious on her skin. She then curled her fingers around the smooth glass, liking the contrast of the smooth hard glass and the soft velvet.
She took a deep breath and banished all thoughts from her mind other than those of her neighbor. It was difficult as other questions wanted to pop up as soon as she asked that one. She concentrated breathing slowly in and out and letting the one question circle. Gradually the other questions stopped and only the one question remained.
“Does my neighbor intend me harm.”
Penelope focused her thoughts and her energy on the stone. It felt almost like she was a pitcher spilling energy instead of water. She could feel the draw as the energy spilled out of her. It was an odd falling sensation. Slowly the glass began to glow. It had a soft blue light that was unlike the dark blue velvet beneath. This blue was right on the edge of being a soft lavender while still remaining somehow blue.
The color swirled with lighter streaks of light like swirling cream into chocolate. Light then pushed the blue to the sides so it framed a soft white glow.
Ten til Midnight 