THE STORY BEGINS

An idea popped into my head while I was walking on the treadmill yesterday. I've let it ferment for a day and I think it might be fun to give this idea a try.
Each weekday I am going to hop off the treadmill and write here for 15 minutes. I must be vigilant with the timing so that it stays true to the experiment.
My plan is to start a story and continue it through this experiment. I haven't written a good short story in years and this seems like the perfect opportunity. I am not going to promise anything great. Some days the muse hits and other days she slams into the wall. That's one of the scariest things about being a writer - those days when you are dry as a bone.
I am sure stuff will interfere with my plans, but I will try to hold true to the idea and I hope you will join me. If you come into this after I have started, you can go to the archives and pick up the previous chapters.
I've written five minutes.
I have not decided on a story line, but I think it will be one that I am comfortable with - something that won't take a lot of research - but will come straight from that wonderful Rolodex in my brain that brings me such colorful dreams. I dreamt of Grandmom last night. It was a good dream. It's hard to believe she has been gone for almost 10 years. I keep her picture in my kitchen - right at eye level, so I talk to her often. It's almost like she still is in Covington waiting for me to come home for a visit.
Boy, was that a digression.
I also am not going to worry about punctuation and perfect grammar at the moment of writing. I may come back later in the day and give it a run through to make sure there are no glaring errors and I reserve the right to polish it and add details I think will help the overall story. So the earlier in the morning that you read the story, the more likely you are to catch the roughest cut.
I walk from 6 to 6:30, so writing will probably take place immediately after that. I may go get a bowl of cereal first to eat while I write.
10 minutes of writing
I'm marking the five minute breaks so you can see how much I can write in 15 minutes. That's not to say that it will happen this way every morning. Sometimes I can catch an idea like a curling wave and ride it out to the very end. Those are the best moments. Other times it is like I am riding a 10-speed bike in low gear up a hill. Sometimes I have to jump off and push.
One funny thing popped in my head on the treadmill this morning relating to my dog Tip. When he was a puppy almost 10 years ago, we used to spend an hour every morning walking around Woodstock - sometimes on the main thoroughfare, but more likely than not, we walked out above the neighborhood on a circular route that lasted about three miles.
We are still together in the mornings. I am on the treadmill and he is lying beside the treadmill licking his paws.
Fifteen minutes!! See you tomorrow. Oh, and if you are enjoying the story, invite your friends to the site to participate too. Use the comment button to comment to give me feedback.