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 88: In time, she reached the shore and the passage she planned to take.
In time, she reached the shore and the passage she planned to take. It was a desolate looking place and for the first time, Kasca had to go into a village. The village was a small one and used predominantly for fishing. The water was shallow here due to the outcroppings dotting the water between here and the main land.
The outcroppings made the passage useless for large scale commerce but with a small boat they were perfect for Kasca. She could take the passage in short hops. Stopping to rest on some of the outcroppings. She had done so before, admittedly it was only the one time. She still remembered how to manage things though, she just needed to secure a boat.
It was why she went into the village.
It was abandoned as she expected. The signs of death were painted on a few doors and there was a pyre on the outskirts of the village. The fire seemed to have gotten out of control at some point, or the remaining villagers were careless with their flames. Half of the village was nothing but blackened timbers and ash.
Whoever remained after that time left. Kasca could see the weathered remains of some smaller animals, but the winter had done well to pick their bones if not clean then at least unrecognizable. They did not smell which was the best she could hope for. If she didn’t look too hard at them she couldn’t even be certain what the animal was. She tried not to look too hard.
During her journey north, she stopped at many of the collection wagons and added coins to her bag. Given the lowering and raising of her shields she knew she had come in contact with the disease at least a few times. She burned off the contagion so nothing she carried was contaminated, but she knew with certainty she had been exposed. She checked herself each morning for signs of the contamination, running through all of the symptoms she saw.
They never appeared. She was free of the disease. The cure worked.
Looking through town, Kasca soon found the boat and oars she would need for her passage. They were small and light. She could manage them on her own now that the flood waters receded. She knew her pathway would take her down river. The current would do most of the work and She would zig zag across the width using the outcroppings. There would me rest on the rocks, but she would also need to portage her boat across their expanse to catch the current on the other side of each stopping point to make it to the next. Some of the rocky outcroppings were no bigger than a small hut. Others were small islands until themselves.
The smaller ones had carved spots to enable maneuvering around while the larger ones had set landing points and would provide rest between. While Kasca made certain to pick up oars, she also added one of the long poles designed for hooking the carved holds.
Ten til Midnight 