Day 1: 3,002 words. An exciting beginning!

I love the first days of NaNoWriMo. I feel like some great genius who has descended to Earth in order to impart my wisdom and this magnificent work of art. My novel is off to a great start and I've put in some intriguing backstory (I think) without giving too much away, while getting Stella almost to the Hermione Granger Feminist School for Magic (hereby known as HGFSM) where the fun will really start.

My first excerpt that I'll share is from the opening of my novel. I love the way it sets up Stella's character.

She stood an adequate distance away from the flow of ill-dressed passengers spilling from the Runnymede Station doors. The sheet of paper in her hand was worn and dog-eared, and she scowled as she scanned it. She was looking for a kind act of low value that could easily be done on her way home. If she couldn’t find anything, she supposed she could always buy an artery-clogging dinner at Burger King and pay for the meal of the car behind her. If she needed to, she could then find a homeless person to give the meal to so that she could properly enjoy her quinoa bake that was waiting in her fridge at home. The quinoa, a glass of Malbec, a single episode of Dr. Phil, and then she would settle down to work.

But first, she needed to do something good. A kind act towards herself - taking a cab home instead of the overcrowded subway car followed by the interminable bus up Lansdowne to St. Clair, for example, or treating herself to a bubble bath instead of working til late - just wouldn’t count. A good deed only counts when it’s done for someone else, she firmly reminded herself, hearing her long-dead mother’s voice in her head.
 
Just then, something wonderfully lucky happened. The elderly woman who  walked her nasty Jack Russell Terrier past the subway every day at this time, despite the excitable dog’s tendency to lunge at every passing stranger, was actually pulled off her feet by a particularly enthusiastic pull on the leash. Stella wasn’t the only person who noticed, but she elbowed a few others out of the way to be the first to lend a hand. She helped the woman up, grasped the dog leash firmly, and wouldn’t take no for an answer as she escorted the woman down the block to the corner where it was less crowded and the dog wouldn’t be such a bother.
 
“Can you manage on your own?” Stella asked, a sympathetic and concerned smile-frown on her face. “I could walk you all the way home, if you like. Where is home, exactly?” She figured it couldn’t be far. And if it was, that would just increase the value of this good deed, placing Stella in the safe zone for the day, by a more comfortable margin. She grasped the woman’s elbow more firmly, unsure if the gesture would make her seem more kindly, or more menacing. She secretly hoped that the woman would brush her off, because she was tired and that Malbec was calling her name.