Five More Minutes

In today's story, Five More Minutes, Maisy has a special app that comes with a cost

Today's prompt was inspired by my busy schedule and a frequent wish for just five more minutes... Though not at the cost Maisy is willing to pay. 

If you enjoy today's story, please share it with your friends and leave a review for Freely Written. You can also send me  a prompt suggestion, and I'll be sure to credit you in the episode. Thank you!

More about Susan Quilty

Susan Quilty mainly writes novels, including two standalone novels and her current YA series: The Psychic Traveler Society.  Susan's short stories for Freely Written are created during quick writing breaks and shared as a way to practice her narration skills before she dives into recording audio versions of her novels.

Website:  SusanQuilty.com
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Transcript

Below is the transcript for Season 1, Episode 142 of Freely Written, a podcast by author Susan Quilty:

Welcome to Freely Written where a simple prompt leads to a little unplanned fiction.  

[Light piano music]

Hi, friends! I’m Susan Quilty and today’s prompt is Five More Minutes.

Today’s prompt is a little nod to how I’ve been feeling for the last week or so. It’s my own fault… I’ve overscheduled myself a bit and have had to rapidly switch gears to shift between writing, teaching yoga, home tasks, and so on. 

When it’s time to get to the next thing, I keep thinking, “Not yet, just five more minutes!” But that’s a dangerous game as those extra five minutes add up, throwing off my whole schedule.

With that in mind, I sat down to write today’s story using my usual Freely Written process. If you’re a new listener, here’s how that works: I sit down with a prompt and write whatever comes to mind, with no planning and very little editing. Then, I record the story and share it with you.

Here’s where that led me today:

Five More Minutes

At 5:32, Maisy’s alarm woke her from a deep sleep. Her hand fumbled across the nightstand, groping for her phone. Her eyes blearily found the small blue dot at the top of the screen, but after tapping it, her hand hesitated over the warning message that popped up: 

Five More Minutes – Are you sure?

With a heavy sigh, Maisy chose the cancel button and pulled herself out of bed. Five minutes of sleep wasn’t worth the cost. 

Thirty minutes later, Maisy was drying her hair and impatiently tapping her foot against the tile floor. Where does the time go? She thought to herself, not for the first time. She had to leave in 10 minutes but still needed to pack her afternoon snack and fill her water bottle. 

Biting her lip, Maisy put down the hairdryer and considered the blue dot on her phone again. If she hurried, she might be ready in 10 minutes… though she doubted it. Maisy looked at herself in the mirror, staring into her own eyes. 

“You’ve got this,” she muttered, then grabbed her phone and hurried to get out the door. 

Fourteen minutes later, Maisy backed her car out of the driveway, telling herself that she could make up the lost time if she hit the green lights. 

That did not happen. 

Three red lights later, Maisy assessed the situation. She was first in line at the red light. Traffic was light with large gaps in the lanes ahead of her. The temptation was too much. Maisy was reaching for her phone screen when the light turned green. She pulled her hand back to the steering wheel and navigated around some slower cars, arriving at work one minute before she was meant to be at her desk. 

In the parking lot, Maisy glanced around to see that no one was watching. She quickly tapped the blue dot, this time accepting the warning. Yes, I’m sure, she murmured as a car turning into the lot came to a sudden stop. 

Maisy hurried into the building, briskly passing people who were frozen in the hallway, some in mid-stride, others paused with hands raised or mouths open in conversation. 

She wove her way through a maze of cubicles, storing her bags in her desk and ducking into her seat before her five minutes were up. 

Maisy’s computer was whirring to life when she heard sounds of her coworkers moving about their morning routines. Daniel arrived at the neighboring cubicle and gave Maisy a surprised laugh. 

“I thought I finally beat you in today,” he said lightly. “Didn’t see your car in the lot.”

With a shrug, Maisy said, “It’s out there, same as always.”

The morning moved on, leading up to the weekly staff meeting. Maisy gathered her tablet, phone, and coffee cup. She would definitely need coffee to get through another weekly meeting, especially with Tonya filling in as acting manager until the position was officially filled.

“All right,” Tonya told the team gathered around the conference table. “What’s the status of the Thompson account?”

A chorus of suppressed sighs and shifting seats moved around the table. Maisy tried not to roll her eyes as Daniel caught Tonya up on the status of a project that everyone else already was up to speed on. 

As Daniel ran on, answering Tonya’s unending questions, Maisy let her eyes drift out the window. There was a crow hopping along the ledge, watching them with interest. 

Maisy was so intent on watching the crow that she didn’t hear Tonya calling her name until Sam nudged her foot under the table. 

“Your status on the Mitchel account?” Tonya prompted, obviously repeating her question. 

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Maisy flipped through her tablet looking for the updated file. “I didn’t see that on today’s agenda.”

“Is that a problem?” Tonya asked coolly. 

It was no secret that Tonya wanted to move into the manager position permanently, and she clearly saw Maisy as a rival. The situation amused Maisy as she had no interest in managing their group. Still, she didn’t like being shown up in a group meeting. 

“Not at all,” Maisy reassured. “I just would have had the file queued up if it was on the agenda.” 

She flipped through her list of files, her heart fluttering as she realized that her tablet hadn’t synced with the latest updates on her laptop. 

“Maisy?” Tonya prodded.

“Yes, it’s opening… seems to be running slow…” 

Maisy reached for her phone, keeping her face calm as she tapped the blue dot. The room came to an instant standstill. Maisy hurried back to her desk, synced her tablet, and wove her way past her frozen colleagues to retake her seat. 

“Here we go,” she said brightly as soon as the five minutes were up. 

She rattled off the updates Tonya had asked about and sat back in satisfaction as Tonya continued to go around the table. 

When she left for lunch, Maisy found a man in a blue suit leaning against her car. 

“Damien,” she greeted with a tight smile. “I’m on my way to meet a friend.”

Damien was a tall, thin man with a lean face and chiseled jaw. He stood up to his full height, looking down at Maisy with an indulgent smile.

“Surely you have five minutes to spare for me?”

Maisy nodded tightly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I believe we’ve talked about this before…?” Damien began in a questioning tone, though they both knew very well that they had. 

“It was only twice today,” Maisy said quickly. 

“Before noon,” Damien added.

“Yes, well…” Maisy glanced at a coworker moving toward their car. “I don’t think I’ll need it the rest of the day.”

“It’s yours to use as you will,” Damien reminded. “But I feel compelled to remind you of the price.”

“I know,” Maisy said shortly, tightening the grip of her arms. 

“Do you?” Damien asked gently. “When you made this bargain, you asked for the ability to add five more minutes whenever you needed them, and I explained that those five minutes would come from somewhere.”

“Yes, I know,” Maisy insisted before looking up at him defiantly. “Why do you care when I use them?”

Damien softened his eyes.

“I don’t. But I am curious about the whys of the human mind. Is it really worth giving up five minutes of your total lifeline just to be at work on time?”

Maisy shook her head impatiently. She didn’t like to think about the deal she had made.

“What’s five minutes here and there?” she countered. “So, I live a few hours less than I would have. Does that really matter?

Damien regarded her with amused curiosity and perhaps a touch of pity.

“A few hours,” he repeated. “Have you tallied up the minutes you’ve used so far? Have you considered what happens when your five more minutes run out?”

Maisy released her crossed arms with a frustrated sigh. 

“Look, I appreciate your concern, but I know what I’m doing. I signed the waivers. Now, can I go? I do have a friend to meet.”

Damien stepped aside, lifting his hands to show that he was backing off. 

“Enjoy your lunch,” he said pleasantly, then walked between two cars and promptly disappeared.

Maisy shook off Damien’s words of warning and got into her car. She had places to be and hated to be late. How would it look if she kept her friend waiting? 

As she started the car, Maisy’s hand drifted toward the blue dot on phone screen. She shrugged and thought, What’s five more minutes? 

The End 

Thanks for listening. I didn’t know where I was going with this one, but I liked where it landed. If you could borrow five minutes from the end of your life, would you? Is it worth having more time when you’re young? Would you change your mind later, when it was too late to take those precious minutes back? Hmm… something to think about.   

If you enjoyed this story, please share it with your friends. You can also support me and my writing by checking out my novels and other books, including a collection of favorite stories from Freely Written. Visit SusanQuilty.com to learn more or check for links in the show notes. 

As an indie author, it’s really hard to get the word out about my books and I’m truly grateful for your support!

Until next time, try a little free writing of your own. Let go of any planning and see where your imagination takes you. 

[Light piano music]