Julek ran down the corridor and already knew he had lost. The bell was about to ring, and he stayed on the second floor. The clock above the door was ticking louder than usual. Julek whispered without thinking: we could use another minute. The minute hand twitched and moved back one dash, and the air thickened as if in a swimming pool. The spilled juice hung in the air like a red bead; the children froze in mid-step and the cards stopped falling to the floor. Julek touched the drop and inadvertently moved it an inch. Nothing moved but his heart and his shoes. He looked at the clock; there was one thin line missing from the dial. - Hey... - he whispered. - You took it,' replied a metallic whisper from the speaker. - You borrowed a minute. Give it back before it gets empty. Julek clenched his fist and felt something warm and rough in his hand, like a small pebble. - I can give it back after the lesson,' he tried. The lock from the locker jerked of its own accord. Then he heard footsteps. Someone was walking through the still corridor, like a photograph. A girl in a yellow sweatshirt came out of the corner and didn't freeze; she was watching Julk's hand as if she had seen the pebble. - 'Don't give it away now,' she said quietly. - 'Listen first. The clock likes to take more than it gives back. - Who are you? - Julek took half a step back. - Mila. I'm as often late as you are. - I know you can hear it better on the stairs,' she added. The seconds hand broke off suddenly and ploughed through the dial like lightning, and the speakers hummed: - Give me a minute or I'll take an hour away from you. The fluorescent lights flickered and the door from the auditorium began to open on its own.