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 129: They were a deep blue that looked dusted with gold.
They were a deep blue that looked dusted with gold. The beads were pretty but Penelope ran a shaking hand across them as she studied the necklace in the mirror. She had a dream someone put a necklace around her neck and then she woke up with the necklace still around her neck.
“That’s not how dreams work,’ she said. Her voice was a harsh whisper in the bathroom tiles.
She took several deep breaths. “Magic,” she said. Penelope stifled a somewhat hysterical laugh. She wasn’t entirely certain what to think but she did notice her hands stopped shaking. She touched each bead rolling it around in her fingers. They felt like beads.
“Stone beads,” she realized. The blue dusting with gold was a stone. “Lapis Lazuli maybe?” she thought. Stones and jewelry weren’t her strong point, she would have to look them up. ‘But still feel like stone.’
She remembered the Guardian of the Lake calling them moments. “Seven moments where my magic intervened.” She remembered being told to study them.
Penelope frowned. The necklace may have magically appeared around her neck, pulled from a dream, but there was nothing that felt magical about it now. It felt like seven simple stone beads strung on a thin gold chain. They didn’t sparkle or shine when she rolled them between her fingers. There was nothing to indicate they weren’t simply stone beads.
“Yet another question,” Penelope thought. She yawned hugely and felt sleep pulling at her eyes. She remembered it was still the middle of the night. She turned off the bathroom light, let her eyes adjust to the darkened space and then walked back to the bed. She sheets cooled a little as she stood in the bathroom, but not much. She Slipped between them and sniggled down.
‘At least I shouldn’t dream of the lake,’ she thought as she allowed her eyes to close.
She slipped into sleep and this time she found herself dreaming of school. She was back in the cafeteria the day her best friend decided to sit with Trinity and refuse to be her friend anymore. In her dreams she replayed the moment. She felt the sting of rejection and then as she sat at the new table, with people who would become her friends, the dream faded. Penelope then found herself tumbling into a family vacation. It was the one where she realized that things weren’t fair. She remembered thinking things weren’t fair the entire time they were on the trip. Trinity got new outfits for the trip, she hadn’t and was wearing older clothing that was a bit ill-fitting and pinched in places. Her step-mother told her they were good enough for this summer and would be replaced next year.
Durning the trip small souvenirs were purchased simply because Trinity wanted them. As were ice creams and other edible treats. Penelope was told she needed to watch her weight. Jeanette pointed to the ill fitting clothing from the summer before as evidence and reason for Penelope not to have the treat. She remembered Trinity’s smirk as she turned away.
The dream faded and other incidents were brought up. Each was a small snippet of a scene, they arrived hitting with the sting of humiliation and then they were whisked away again.
Ten til Midnight 