In the evening, as the wind smeared the breakwater in Gdynia, Nela counted the waves. She was fourteen years old and had a secret that sounded like an overly bold joke. She could turn back time by twelve seconds with one quick click of her tongue. There was no flash or bang, just a soft, strange tug of air. She practised by the lamppost, catching a falling pebble a second and third time. The seagulls always looked at her strangely, as if they knew something was wrong here. During the Museums' Night, the lighthouse was lit for longer and tourists asked endlessly. Nela helped at the cash register and guarded the keys to the old mechanism. Her friend Kuba sold postcards, quietly humming the theme from an adventure series. She turned back time twice to catch the mug before it fell on the stairs. Cuba raised an eyebrow, but just shrugged his shoulders and whistled louder. At the end of her duty, Nela found a ticket in her pocket with cursive writing on it. The card smelled of salt and the letters trembled as if someone had written on a rocking deck. It read: "Don't go back too far. Someone is counting your seconds exactly." Nela's heart fell in her heels, so she clicked her tongue and turned time back twelve. The card came back, but added in a thin line: "See you upstairs." On the winding staircase, the world seemed to float, like an old aquarium. Every twelve steps the metal creaked in exactly the same way, which sounded like directions. Nela turned back time again and saw someone walking in front of her, just for a second. A slender silhouette in a hood disappeared at the next click, leaving a shiny coin on the step. The number twelve and a mysterious, tiny letter Z were stamped on the brass. Nela climbed the lantern's metal steps, and the night roared underfoot. All that waited on the platform was the hum of air and the smell of old grease. She pulled out her ticket, but then the world stopped without her clicking. The lantern's beam hovered at half-turn and the waves stood up like glass. The cry of a seagull froze in her throat, the people below disappeared in a silent frame. Behind him, something sounded like a pocket watch, and a male whisper said: - 'Give us time, Nelo, or we'll add another twelve to you.