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 109: She looked to him and he took a tentative step into the room.
She looked to him and he took a tentative step into the room. “Do you…” his voice trailed off s he gestured to the bed.
“It is what I call the Halston Flux,” she told him. I have a few things with me that will ease some of the symptoms temporarily, but I will need to brew a potion for him.”
“You don’t have a potion with you?”
“I took up residence yesterday and have not fully taken stock let alone opened for business,” she told him. “I have nothing on hand, but can make the remedy. It will take an hour to brew completely. It will be ready for him to consume half an hour later. I can give him something now to alleviate the symptoms and allow him some relief. He will be able to take some tea with no additives such as honey or cream and he may be able to take a light broth.” Her tone was crisp and professional, inviting no arguments.
The man nodded and waved to her to indicate she was to get on with it. Kasca turned to the boy who hadn’t said a word. “I am going to apply an oil to your skin,” she told the boy in a gentler tone. “It will help with the soreness.”
He nodded and knowing that the touch of her fingers would cause him pain, she used a dropper to drop the oil onto the reddest of the patches, allowing the oil’s weight and the contours of his skin to begin to move it around. When everything was covered she again reached into her bag and pulled out another pot. This one was smaller and rounder, holding a cream instead of a liquid.
“I am going to put this under your nose,” she told him. “The scent will make breathing easier for you.”
He tilted his face to her and she smeared a liberal amount of the cream under his nose, careful to avoid the red patches on his nostrils. Even as she pulled her hand away she could see that his breathing was easing a bit, coming in less labored.
She set the small container of cram and the bottle of oil on the bedside table. “Oil for the painful patches,” she said.
“And the cream under my nose to breathe,” he said. His voice was reedy and thin but there.
She nodded. “Exactly. I am going back to my shop to brew a potion. I will send it over when it is ready.”
He nodded and she stood. She slipped the strap of her bag onto her shoulder and moved to the door. The man moved with her. They both stepped into the hallway and he pulled the door shut behind him.
“That is the first time he has been able to speak in days.”
“It will take time to fully recover. He will need to go slow and not push himself. Light meals of mostly broth until he starts asking for bread and then slowly increase the portions until he is back to his normal eating habits,” she told the man.
He nodded. “I will have you taken home and send a runner when the potion is brewed.”
Kasca nodded. “Shall I write the instructions or do I need to give them to the runner verbally?” she asked.
The man smiled wanly.
Ten til Midnight 