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 123: As her business was doing well, Kasca invested some of her extra coins in both journals and sheets of foolscap.
As her business was doing well, Kasca invested some of her extra coins in both journals and sheets of foolscap. The loose pages she used to work on the problem of the cure, The bound volumes she added the extra spells she collected. While memorizing spells when hiding in the mines or traveling across the empty expanse of her home kept her mind occupied and her fear and worry at bay, here she could not devote as much concentration. She could memorize them, but she did not repeat them over and over to herself as she spent a long day walking down abandoned roads.
With the journals she knew she could find the information when it was needed, if it was needed, later. ‘At some point putting things into some sort of order might be a good idea.’
For now it was just enough to collect the spells and know they were there should they be needed.
The days slipped past and while her life fell into a rhythm, no potential assistants appeared. The items in the garden space began to grow. While she could harvest a few things as needed, she knew that when it came time to fully harvest and process the items from even her small yard, she would need assistance in the shop or she would have to close.
There was simply a limit as to what she could do, even when putting in long days. After some thought, Kasca decided a visit to the magistrate was in order. Kasca posted the announcement of an afternoon’s closing several days in advance, hoping that fewer people would be caught out. She expected there would be several disappointed customers, but she timed her visit to coincide with he time that the professional men generally used to stop by and ask her for assistance.
She figured that as they worked in the area they were the most likely to see the notice ahead of time. ‘And they have the least pressing needs.’
While Kasca was certain mustache wax and haor tonic were considered vital by some, she suspected they could be lived without for an afternoon if need be. The professional men never came in for ailments. They sent their wives or housekeepers for those sorts of things, only stopping by for personal items they didn’t want to ask the ladies of their house to purchase for them.
‘Cough syrup can be outsourced but hair tonic not so much,’ Kasca thought, amusedly.
She was certain there would be grumbles, but she also reasoned that it was for only one afternoon. When the time rolled around, Kasca hung up her apron and let herself out of the shop, turning the sign to closed and locking the door behind herself. Kaca was well aware that several in the area were watching her. As she only closed the shop one morning during the week in order to visit the market it was a break in routine.
She was aware that her neighbors were curious. She had been friendly and met many of them as they perused her shop or she perused theirs, but given her time constraints there had not been much socialization. She was still a mystery.
‘But at least I am a mystery dressed appropriately to the area,’ she thought. She made her way down the street and felt a sense of pride in managing to look very much like her neighbors. Her clothing reflected her position and place in the city’s hierarchy and she didn’t stand out.
‘Well, no more than any other healer would,’ she thought. Even though she continued her search, Kasca could find no more healers in the city. It bothered her, but there was nothing she could do about it.
Her steps took her to the magistrate’s office. She was not carrying a travel pack nor looking weather worn under a newly purchased cloak. She was settled and established now. or so she told the nerves dancing in her belly.
