Lena stayed at school after lessons because she had lost her physics notebook. The corridor was empty and the fluorescent lights buzzed like bored bumblebees over the tiles. At the end of the corridor was an old green cupboard of found things. Someone had once called it the Whispering Closet and stuck a crooked sign on it. Lena pushed the door open, because maybe my notebook is waiting right here. The smell of rubber, dust and wet gloves without a pair rose from inside. Something rustled and then someone whispered very close to her ear. "Don't lock up," asked the key on the leash, flashing its teeth like an impatient dog. "Please help," added the umbrella, which smelled of lime trees and the first summer storm. The calculator cycled, displaying 13:13, although it could not measure minutes or hours. "The Bell of Silence is about to ring," whispered the watch, the chipped dial poking her gaze. Lena looked around, heart pounding, and the yellow fluorescent light blinked like a warning. "It's just a byre," she muttered, though the words sounded hollow and hung in the air. "Not a fairy tale, a ritual," replied the backpack, covered in chalk dust and old stickers. "When the school bell falls silent, we remain silent for another year," he said. "You have to find the Heart of the Bell before it goes silent," hissed the slippery ball. "It lies where the lights go out latest," added a chorus of erasers and sharpeners at once. Lena thought of the chemistry lab as the teacher closes it last. "How do I open it?" she asked, as the door was always locked with a double lock. "You've got us," the key replied, beeping, and the backpack served as an unexpected torch. A key ring slid out of his pocket, blinked an LED and drew a faint beam. The watch began to count down, ticking rapidly, as if someone was chasing his own echo down the stairs. At the same moment, the door to the studio creaked open and something moved inside. The pendant beam stopped on a rack of test tubes that trembled like leaves. "We're not alone," the umbrella whispered, and the calculator displayed numbers rising for no reason. Lena lifted the key, hearing footsteps that sounded like iron balls on linoleum. All the lamps went out, only the key ring glowed, and the bell stopped breathing for half a second. Then the first quiet thump sounded, and someone whispered her name from the darkness.