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 90: The sun was low in the sky and she knew she needed to cross before making camp so she would be ready to start early the next morning.
The sun was low in the sky and she knew she needed to cross before making camp so she would be ready to start early the next morning. Kasca hauled her small boat out of the water and made certain the oar and pole were secure, using the plate in the bottom of the boat designed for just this purpose.
She suspected this wasn’t this little boat’s first time across the passage.
Sith the boat hoisted, she crossed the small island in the middle of the water. The passage was clear. It was a wide, flat path that was carved into the rock. Kasca thought it might have originally been worn away by the passage of many, but she could see the tool marks letting her know that at some point the path was deliberately widened so that the small boats could easily pass.
She appreciated their efforts now.
Kasca crossed and by the time she reached the other side of the island and set her boat down, the sun had dropped low While there was a chance she could make it to the next place, there were several smaller outcroppings in a row before the next island where she could stop, She not only would not be able to make it to the next resting place before dark, but she was certain the light would fade before she could cross all of the small outcroppings and there was too much of a chance for her to miss the small carved spots where she needed to place her hook.
Resting now was her only safe option. Kasca leaned her boat against a rocky promontory and kept her shielding in place as she crawled beneath it for shelter in the night. The roar of the water filled her ears and she couldn’t decide if she liked the fact that it blotted out the relative silence of the world or if it bothered her that she could hear nothing beyond the sound.
She was reasonably certain that she was the only one on the island. There was no growth to hide anything. Still she expanded her shield to conceal the boat as well as herself. It was her only way off the island and she would not risk it, especially since she couldn’t hear anyone if they did come.
Earl or no, the crossing had her exhausted and after locking her shields in place, Kasca fell asleep quickly.
She woke with the first light of dawn. Nothing around her changed. The water still frothed and foamed around the small island. She could hear nothing beyond it’s movement. Kasca ate as she waited for the sun to be high enough for her journey to continue.
Ehen it was, she took her boat down to the water and used the space that was clearly marked to cast herself off the island and once more into the current.
The day was a repeat of the previous one. The currents were stronger and by the time Kasca was ready to call it a night her arms ached from the strain. Still she knew she couldn’t stop. She rested for the night and continued in the morning. It took two more days to cross the expanse and by the time she reached the shore, Kasca was spent.
Her muscles ached and she felt nearly deaf from the crash of water on rocks. Still she made it.
‘Can’t stop now,’ she reminded herself. Kasca knew she had to get away from the shore. She knew that strangers coming from anywhere else during a time of contagion would be looked at suspiciously. She didn’t know if her home was known as the origin point of the disease or not but if anyone suspected, her arrival would not be looked at kindly. She saw other boas lined up on the shore and added hers to the line so it didn’t seem out of place.
Kasca made certain to keep her steps to the stones and not the sand so there would be less sign of her passage. She then headed away from the shore.
Ten til Midnight 