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: 64: The boat slowed but there were more obstacles.
The boat slowed but there were more obstacles. Kasca used the oar to see her boat safely past. Finally there was nothing but open ocean before her. She let the current carry her beyond the marshy shore and then, when it slowed in open water, she was able to escape it.
Kasca took a moment to retrieve her rations and ate them slowly studying the shore line. The coast resembled the map she studied. She suspected the marsh area was greater than the map pictured due to the snow melt and spring flooding. ‘But still as expected,’ she thought.
It was a relief.
Refreshed from her meal, she took up the oar and began paddling down the coast. To her left was the open ocean and to her right was the marshy coastline. She kept clear of the reeds as much as she could, but stayed as close to the coast as she could, not wanting to be swept out to sea.
The marsh land passed slowly and Kasca felt like it was going on forever. The sun began to lower in the sky and Kasa rowed towards shore. There were some submerged trees here proving that this was spring flood water and not a normal marshland. She tied her boat to a hanging branch, staying on the water as she expected any animals that might be about would be closer to land. She had a shield over her boat that would keep her safe while she slept, but felt the precausion was a good idea.
The water was relatively still. While he body was tired, her arms feeling a bit like jelly, the rest of her was awake and curious to know if her leaving was noticed. Kaska ate her evening ration before the sun went town and while there was still light, she fulled her scrying bowl and looked in on Jascon and the others.
If they noticed her departure, she could see no sign of it. Their daily life was returning to normal. Jascon and the others in the elite cadre were now back in their own private quarters. From the movement she could see, Kasca knew they were still settling and had not yet turned their attention out of their interior space.
Kasca let the image fade and strengthened her protections for the night. As safe a she could be and knowing that she couldn’t travel well in the darkness, she lay down and tried to sleep.
The stars were bright and she watched them as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
Her sleep was not deep and frequently interrupted. While nothing came towards her boat, there were strange sounds in the distance. It was not the sounds of the cottage. They weren’t even the normal sounds of her travel down from the north. They were small odd sounds from a place she didn’t know and each fresh noise startled her from sleep.
It was with some relief that Kasca saw the sun lighten the sky. She ate her breakfast and when it was bright enough that she could see the obstacles in the water, Kasca untied her bat and used the oar to push herself away from the shore to provide easier passage.
Her arms were sore from the previous days efforts but the stiff muscles soon loosened up as she got into the rhythm of the day. Slowly, she managed to pull her boat further away from the marshlands and the flooded plains.
Ten til Midnight 