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 146: Penelope made a face before she could help herself.
Penelope made a face before she could help herself. “Or maybe we don’t mind irritating your neighbors?” He asked.
Penelope sighed. “I am not sure about them.” She confessed. She realized this may be more in keeping with his wheelhouse than hers. “I sort of half overheard a conversation,” she confessed. “The older lady, she is in the house to the right if you are looking at my front door.”
Michaelson nodded.
“Well she was talking to someone who I couldn’t really see. And she said that the house wouldn’t allow her into certain rooms because it knew she didn’t belong. And there was a mention of the couple in the house to the other side trying to get information so they could stay in the house longer. I don’t know if any of that relates to me. But a car did just blow up and I am now inclined to be suspicious.”
“Understandable,” Michaelson replied nodding. “At the moment I am inclined to be suspicious too. “I’ll be looking into them. For now, just stay away.”
“I think I will be missing the next few happy hours,” Penelope told him.
“Not a bad plan. You haven’t noticed anything else suspicious, just the one conversation?”
“Just that,” Penelope said. “But I am pretty sure that is enough.”
“It is enough if it leads to whoever blew up the car and cut your brake lines.” The agent’s tone was dry.
“Isn’t that a cheery thought,” Penelope said.
“Not inclined to be a glass half full kind of guy today,” he told her.
Penelope nodded. “I can see how this would not be the day for it.”
Michealson’s phone rang. He looked at the screen and then picked it up to answer. “Yes,” he said. He nodded as someone else spoke. “We’ll be right there.”
He ended the call. “The new vehicle is ready and it has protections on it. Shall we try once again to retrieve your vehicle?”
Penelope nodded but her mouth went dry and her bones felt a bit rubbery. This office was safe. There were no brake lines to be cut. Now she would have to leave. ‘Buildings can be bombed,’ Penelope reminded herself. ‘And they have mechanical systems that can be tampered with.’ The vent over head clicked on, a soft gust of warm air escaping it like a sigh.
‘Poison gas could be put into the ventilation system.’
It wasn’t a cheery thought but it did get her up and moving out of the chair when fear would have her frozen there in the relative safety of the office. She followed Michaelson out of the office and into the corridor. They paused while he locked the door and then he led her down the hallway.
Ten til Midnight 