Maya materialised in a gust of wind inside her apartment kitchen.

She fell to her knees onto the linoleum and clutched her middle with shaking arms.

The gust had sent the table napkins shooting up to the ceiling like a startled flock of birds. But the squawks and shrieks that trailed in her ears as they fluttered back down were those of the daycare staff and children, who'd just witnessed Zoe's mother vanish into thin air before their very eyes.

Zoe...

Choking back a sob, Maya tried once again to jump to the Circle.

Pain sliced through her and she wailed in both agony and frustration. Her power ricocheted, unleashing violent gusts this time which whirled about the room. The window blinds slammed against the panes over the sink, cracking the glass. Any objects not bolted to the walls or counter were hurled about or toppled over.

The winds stopped. And for a split second, everything airborne froze in mid-air, then dropped with a swish, bang, or thud.

A heavy silence ensued, broken only by Maya's ragged breaths —and the ruffling pages of the Hello Kitty calendar— taking its time spiralling down to the floor. It landed open before her, incredibly still on the correct month.

The star stickers framing Zoe's birthday sparkled in the light.

Maya balled her fists.

The ceiling fixture bulbs exploded.

She dropped forward onto her hands and hissed through clenched teeth, struggling to gather her power.

More blasts whipped through the kitchen.

It wasn't just that she couldn't attain the Circle. Something was happening to the dimensional currents. The temporal streams were falling out of sync. It was the only explanation for the disrupted cosmic winds she drew in with her every attempt.

"Damn you to the Ether, Twenty-fourth! If you hurt Zoe..."

She tried again but stopped short with a retch. It was no use, and the sickening reason why only struck her now. She sat back on her heels with a shiver of cold shock.

Midnight's power formed an impenetrable barrier, a barrier reinforced by a mix of energies she recognised; tendrils of her sisters and brothers' auras, stretched and twisted tight like wire between barbs. Maya swallowed hard.

What in all Existence was wrong with Midnight? Why was he doing this to them?

To what end?

Maya gasped.

The passage of the day was being broken.

The traffic lights... the cell network outages... the internet glitches she witnessed today. Humans were already suffering the indirect effects. But what about the Hours themselves? What would happen to beings whose very existence was predicated upon the flow of Time?

There would be no future. The present would unravel, slip away. Become forgotten to the past.

Forgotten.

She pressed the heels of her hands to her forehead. "Think, think. Have I forgotten anything?"

She bit back a growl and opened her eyes, taking in the wrecked kitchen. Then she glanced down.

The calendar.

Maya grabbed it off the floor. A birthday star sticker fell off the page.

"No! Not my daughter! I can't forget my own child!" But she had. In the last few minutes her thoughts had been focused solely upon her fellow Hours. She had indeed forgotten all about Zoe.

Midnight had taken Zoe and brought her to the Circle.

Why? What did he want with her daughter?

The answer wasn't so hard to come by, was it, now that she'd realised the consequences of his actions.

He took Zoe to force me to surrender the last minute to him.

If Midnight was indeed seizing the passing of this day, her Watch was the final one he needed to conquer. But he could not take control of it as he had the others. As Twenty-third Hour, she alone held the day's end.

The last minute was not something Midnight could take and give to himself. It had to be handed to him. The old day's end and the new day's beginning could not share the same moment, for his and her Watches existed on opposite sides of the threshold.

Never in all her existence had she imagined the possibility of needing to hold on to the last minute of a day. Yet she was the only Hour who could stop Midnight from calling a new one, a day forever his.

But could she do it and rescue Zoe if forced to the Circle at a time where Midnight's power would be nigh absolute? Every minute still moving forward was critical now. She mustn't lose track. And if she had any chance of saving Zoe, she mustn't let herself forget.

What time was it now in her Here & Now?

She had no idea. She couldn't sense it.

Maya threw the calendar against the fridge door with a yell.

Furiously swinging her gaze across the kitchen, her eyes landed on the counter where the toppled coffee maker lay. Its digital clock flashed 00:00. So much for that. The power must have gone out at some point since the machine was still plugged.

By the angle of the sunlight streaming in from the cracked window, it had to be late afternoon. There were still Hours to go before her Watch. Midnight had not, could not, have seized them all yet.

The coffee maker's red display kept winking, the 00:00 taunting her like a drunken pair of bloodshot eyes.

What was that stuck underneath?

My cellphone. She'd forgotten it here this morning, hadn't she. And now she'd forgotten that she had forgotten. Oh gods...

Bolting to her feet, Maya rushed to the counter and snatched the phone out.

Her frantic swipes brought up a stack of missed call notifications. They were all marked with Eleventh's sigil.

The three of them were supposed to be having a pizza birthday party tonight –Zoe and her and her Eleventh Brother, Zoe's beloved uncle Kanja.

There was one voicemail.

'Maya! If you hear this, get your daughter and hide! Something's gone wrong with Midnight. He knows about you and Zoe. Warn Noon! Stop Midnight from calling!"

The kitchen vanished from around Maya before her brother's subsequent cry of pain cut out.

_____

The shattered bottles of lager on the floor of the ranger hut explained the malty taste of the air. The remains of Eleventh's iron clock lay amongst their frothy shards. Maya stared at the torn book atop Kanja's desk, the title still legible beneath a tiny wooden giraffe... A Wrinkle in Time.

Zoe's birthday present.

A part of her so desperately wished her brother would pop out from hiding and hug her, his teddy bear eyes –as Zoe called them– crinkling with his warm laughter as he called out 'Fooled you! Surprise!' whereby he'd start teasing her about something she'd done to copy him.

Maya had no clue where most of the others' Here and Nows were. She had lost touch with sister and brother Hours, relying on Eleventh and First to keep her in the loop of any news she should know.

What would she find if she sought out First in his Here and Now?

That I'm too late as well.

Warn Noon, Kanja had cried.

Yes, Noon was the highest point of the Day. If there were any Hour who could possibly match Midnight at his strongest, it would be his diurnal twin. But Maya hadn't been in touch with her matronly Twelfth sister in centuries.

Bright beams of light flashed through one of the hut's windows.

"Brother? Kanja?" Maya raced outside. "Are you th—"

She skidded to a halt.

The Kenyan sky was alive with stars, breathing light upon a dusty terrain edged by acacia trees. Every night shadow was outlined in stark relief. Particularly that of the jeep parked just ahead, and its occupants.

Maya blinked. All but one of the troupe of monkeys blinked back.

There were six in all. The largest, sporting a ranger's cap two sizes too big —Kanja's?— occupied the driver's seat. It grunted at her after a moment then turned its attention to the steering wheel, gripping it with one prehensile hand and slapping it with the other. The front passenger monkey bounced in its seat with an excited chitter and pushed at buttons and switches on the dash. The jeep's headlights flashed again. The three monkeys seated behind hooted away, pointing and gesturing wildly ahead with arms and tails.

Backseat driving was apparently a trans-species trait.

The smallest of the troupe sat alone in the cargo hutch, oblivious to what was going on. Its fuzzy face was set in studious sapien focus as it lipped the edges then poked with its tongue the screen of a leather-cased cellphone.

Could it be?

Kanja would have Noon's number.

"Please, I need that phone."

The little monkey started at Maya's voice then watched her approach the back of the jeep with wary eyes, but no fear.

Both front and backseat occupants fell quiet. None of them seemed afraid. Did they recognize what she was? That she was the same as her Eleventh Brother?

Maya crouched low and extended an open hand.

"Please, friend."

The little monkey stared at her face. Its gaze followed the tear that coursed down Maya's cheek.

Ever so slowly, it held out the phone to her and she took it.

Something pressed gently upon Maya's head. She spun on her heels and touched the brim of the hat the large monkey had just placed there. It drew back its lips and gave her a toothy grin as it clambered back into the driver's seat.

The jeep's engine turned and all the monkeys whooped and hollered in joy as the vehicle cruised slowly forward. Maya would only allow the jeep to go a few dozen metres along the road before it shut off. But it was the least she could do as a thank you.

Turning away, she unlocked Eleventh's phone and opened his contact list.

That can't be right.

There should have at least been her, if not First and some of their other brothers and sisters. Instead only one single contact was listed, marked with Noon's sigil.

Dread engulfed her as the starlit night disappeared from overhead.

_____

"Thank you for calling Noon's phone."

Maya gripped the edge of her kitchen counter for support.

It was Midnight's voice.

"There are currently several Hours in the queue ahead of you. Please hold the line to maintain your call priority." There was an unmistakable click and pause...

He wouldn't.

He would.

"Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight / Take me through the darkness to the break of the day / Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midniiight."

Midnight's muse for elevator music obviously didn't go to the top floor.

The song stopped before ABBA's disco hit could completely worm its way through her ear.

The menu recording resumed.

"Thank you for waiting."

Maya bit down hard on her lip. Midnight's smug chuckle made her want to scream. "Your call is important to us. To better serve you and direct your needs, please choose one of the following options.

"If you are trying to reach the Circle of Nychthemeron, please note it is presently closed as our regular business hours are no longer in effect.

"If you are trying to reach one of the Morning Hours, please press 1 to 11 simultaneously whereby your call will be cut off, just as they were.

"If you wish to reach Noon, stay on the line til the end whereby the menu options will repeat ad infinitum.

"If you wish to reach any of the Afternoon Hours, please hang up and dial again. Hmm, wait. They don't use dials anymore, do they. Fine. Please hang up and... That's not right either, is it. Phones don't get hung up any longer.

"Bah! If you wish to reach any of the Afternoon Hours," he repeated, "just forget it. It's not going to happen."

A long breath was drawn.

"To repeat these options, press pound.

"To return to the main menu, press star.

"You cannot stop me, Twenty-third."

Maya straightened. He knew. He knew she'd try to reach Noon.

"It's no use, Maya. I will always be ahead of you. The Circle will open to you for your Watch only. Don't be late. Your daughter is waiting."

A burst of static was followed by an Alexa's voice. "Invalid input. You have timed out."

The throbbing tone of a busy signal echoed throughout the apartment, intensifying migraine-like inside Maya's skull. It pulsed in broken waves... like a damaged horn... one from an overturned car in a fog-filled ditch on a lonely stretch of highway.

The line went dead.

Maya stared at the sign of Rita Mae Browne's quote, cracked in two in the sink.

She'd lost Daniel to the fates beyond her control. She'd be damned if she was going to lose her daughter, their daughter.

She slammed the phone down hard on the counter, screen-first, imagining Midnight's face. The glass screen shattered with a satisfying crunch that was quickly drowned out by twin roars from outside.

Through the window she spied two jets veering sharply in opposite directions, their cloud streams looking to have just brushed each other by.

A sharp rap to the apartment door had her jerk around.

"Maya? Maya, are you home? What's going on in there?"

Mrs. Schultz!

She'd completely forgotten about her busybody landlady who lived downstairs. The woman was only coming up now after all the calamitous noise of before? Then again, it was no secret in the building that Mrs. Schultz enjoyed a tipple or two at lunch and napped away the afternoon snoring like a bear much to the amusement of the tenants.

Maya quickly wiped the fresh tears off her cheeks and stumbled her way around the debris to the hallway. She had to answer the door in case Mrs. Schultz decided to use her master key. She couldn't take the chance the woman might enter and head for the kitchen.

The latch and knob felt icy under Maya's clammy fingers. She plastered what she hoped was a neutral expression on her face, then opened the door to a scowling Mrs. Schultz.

"Maya!" The woman's blue perm special bobbed in agitation. "What's going on? I was taking my nap and a loud beeping startled me. Not good for my blood pressure. Not good at all. When did you get here? Why aren't you at work? I never heard you come up the stairs." The landlady stepped forward only to jump back with wide eyes when Maya sneezed loudly then coughed open-mouthed, wiping the underside of her nose with her fingers for good measure.

"I'm so sorry about the noise, Mrs..." Maya's mind drew a blank for a moment, "uh, Mrs... Schultz! Mrs. Schultz. I was taking advantage of being off sick this afternoon to do some vacuuming. Could that be what you thought was beeping? I accidentally banged into the kitchen table and a plate fell and broke." Maya cringed inwardly. What a lame explanation. Would the landlady fall for it?

The woman seemed more preoccupied with Maya's red nose than any damaged plate given how she eyed her nervously. "You're sick? Why are you cleaning when you're sick?" She coughed again. The woman jumped back further, raising her hand to cover her nose and mouth.

"It's not so bad. I'm fine." Maya snuffled.

"Well, it's good if you finished. There's a strong chance the power may go out again. Have you listened to the news?"

She shook her head.

"I was watching the TV reports just before my nap. Strange things are happening. There are rolling blackouts throughout the city. They say the electrical grid is experiencing technical issues" –she air quoted– "Then there's all sorts of traffic snarlups and train delays and flight cancellations everywhere because the Jeepy Esses are on the fritz. There was a report too about airplanes flying too close to each other and satellite crashes."

The woman planted one hand on her hip and wagged her finger of the other. "I always say, Maya" —Maya?— "the sky belongs to the clouds and the birds. The more people rely on gadgets and gizmos and computer doohickeys to fly around and drive around, the more screwed they are when something goes wrong and..."

The woman's voice droned on a while longer before she stopped talking and stared. Had the woman asked her a question? The Twenty-third Hour didn't know if she was supposed to reply.

"You look pale, Maya. Stop being silly about cleaning when you're sick. I take it your friend Grace is picking up Zoe later? You're the one who needs to nap. Go to bed."

Sick? She'd never been sick before... Had she?

Truth be told, she wasn't feeling all that well. Her body felt heavy. And her head ached.

The old mortal woman with the blue hair started down the stairs.

"But don't forget the rent's due. By midnight. Why you always wait til the last minute is beyond me." The woman muttered this last part under her breath but she still heard it.

"By midnight. Yes," Twenty-third answered. She always made do at the last minute. It was her purview after all, wasn't it.

She yawned, closing the door.

'I take it your friend Grace is picking up Zoe later?'

Grace? Who was Grace?

She was so sleepy. She couldn't keep her thoughts focused.

And who was Zoe?

_____

https://youtu.be/JWay7CDEyAI