Morning all and welcome to the Fifteen Minute Novel. Here I take the start of a story idea and work on it for fifteen minutes a day. I started with an old writing prompt that interested me, cleaned it up a bit to fit the basic outline of the story I want to write and then set aside fifteen minutes each week day to see it grow. Each morning’s writing starts with the last sentence of the day before. And so now we have the story of Kasca…
Day 11: She would leave nothing of herself here, nor would she take anything with her.
She would leave nothing of herself here, nor would she take anything with her. The shield was originally designed by those who wanted to study the plague without risk of contamination. They covered themselves and snuck into contaminated areas. Such study was frowned upon, hence the shielding from view. Those that did it thought the act less a violation and more an opportunity to study and find both cures and prevention. Even though it had provided useful information and helped create medicines it was still frowned upon.
Most wore the shielding for a very little time if at all because it was hot and confining. It also prevented communication with anyone while wearing it.
As Kasca was just going in for a look she didn’t think that was a problem. ‘Besides, the town feels abandoned.’
Kasca slipped in through the open market gate. The village was dark, no glimmer of light shone in any windows. It was only the moonlight providing illumination, but it was enough to navigate the empty streets. She had been in the Village of Neva many times in the past even if it had been a while since her last visit. The town had not changed much in terms of physical layout. Its streets were still in the same place as were the larger buildings. There was the same empty section of town that most towns had. She saw the half tumbled buildings with the newer doors and moved past the district quickly.
In the shadows, she saw small bundles. When she moved closer she found the mostly rotted remains of small animals, cats and dogs mostly, but a few chickens, pigs and goats. They reached the stage of decay where even the flies lost interest and were dry and withered.
Kasca didn’t know how fast the monsters decayed, ‘If it is the same rate as the more natural animals then the creatures died on the road after whatever happened to Neva.’
The beasts on the road were still stinking and attracting carrion feeders.
Kasca let the thought lie as she continued on. There was nothing moving in the village. The spell she wore silenced her own steps, so she felt like a ghost visiting an abandoned town. She took a deep breath and smelled smoke. ‘Old smoke,’ she thought.
It wasn’t a new fire but the charred remains of an old one, a large one given the scent that remained. Kasca moved forward realizing that not only were the buildings empty but many of the doors were open. Peering inside the buildings looked jumbled and strangely bare as though someone hauled out furnishings in a hurry.
In one she saw dishes and what looked like the remnants of a meal were left to fall to the floor but there was an empty spot where the table and chairs would be.
‘Who abandons their home and dinner, but takes the table?’ She thought.
Her steps took her to the market square. ‘Oh,’ she said, taking in the scene. ‘They needed the wood.’
In the market square she found the source of the charred smell. The remains of what looked to be a huge fire took up the entire market Square. Here and there she could see the bits of what might have once been furniture.
Ten til Midnight 