Some of you may be confused by the numbering as this is in fact, January 1st. Let me explain. Each year I pick a story idea that I haven’t had time to delve into and make it my Fifteen Minute Novel. I start each morning with the last sentence from the day before and make it my first sentence of the timed writing. I then set my timer for fifteen minutes and write until the timer dings.
It is a great way to get a story out, you just have to put your internal editor on hold. Last year I started with a story featuring Bob and Alien Slug Monsters. It was a fun story, but it wrapped up in June. I then chose a second story featuring Penelope. I liked the initial idea but had no outline or plan so I floundered a little in the beginning. Then as I sensed the year drawing to a close I tried to wrap it up quickly but found that I had more story than year. So I am continuing it.
The point is after all to choose a story idea and give it fifteen minutes each day until it is done. Would it be nice if the story wrapped up on December 31st? Yes. But it didn’t so I will be writing Penelope until she is done and then switch to the story idea I originally set aside for this year.
I just want to finish this story first.
If looking for the beginning of this tale it is listed under The Fifteen Minute Novel 2025 Part 2. To try to keep confusion down I am now calling it The Fifteen Minute Novel 2026, but keeping the Day numbers in sequential order. So today is the first post of The 2026 Fifteen Minute novel but Day 172. Which I am sure you have figured out by now. And so off we go with Penelope.
Day 172: Penelope wondered who Ellie meant when she said everyone.
Penelope wondered who Ellie meant when she said everyone. “I suppose we will see,” Penelope said. “But I doubt I’ll be fielding any imperial invitations anytime soon.”
“Not according to what I’ve heard,” Ellie said. “And you have to bring me with you, I know we would have so much fun.”
Penelope’s arm was aching and now that she was certain Ellie was calling because she wanted to know about magic and the emperor, her curiosity was fading. “Look I really need to get going.”
“Oh of course, busy learning all that magic. But seriously you will need to take a break soon. So when you di, give me a call and we will go out to lunch or shopping or whatever.”
“Bye now,” Penelope said. She found her head was throbbing in time with her arm. Ellie managed to take the hint and with one last, call me soon, she hung up.
Penelope watched the screen go dark on her phone and thought about Ellie. Once they had been friends but that was so long ago she wasn’t certain it counted anymore. Ellie decided that Trinity would make a better friend and that was it.
“Now she is calling.” Penelope set the phone down and went to the medicine cabinet. She ignored the pain pills the doctor gave her as they were too strong for her to do anything but sleep once taking them. She took the ibuprofen from the cabinet and shook out a couple of pills. She then took them back to the kitchen, poured herself a glass of lemonade and washed them down.
As she did, Penelope found her thoughts still circling around Ellie. Oddly, the necklace that came from her dreams came to mind. The guardian of the lake said it would show her the times when her own magic helped her out. Then she dreamed of several incidents, the one with Ellie deciding not to be her friend anymore among them.
She took her lemonade to her favorite reading chair and sat down. Thoughts swirling. “It doesn’t seem magical.” She told herself as she propped her feet up on the footstool. Penelope tried to think through the incident, shifting aside the humiliation and pain to see it with more adult eyes and from a distance.
She was friends with Ellie. They met at dance class and were in the same school. They had several activities together. ‘Then my activities were paired down.’
When her mother died, most of Penelope’s activities fell away. There were people to ferry her to and from school but no one to take her anywhere else. Then her father married Jeanette and her step mother couldn’t be bothered. Penelope tended to do activities that didn’t require any extra effort or coordination on anyone else’s part.
As long as she didn’t inconvenience anyone, no one cared much about what she got up to. As a result, Penelope read more and added skills. She learned to play chess and often played on line instead of joining the chess team. There were other skills as well. Many of those skills came in handy as she grew older.
Ten til Midnight 