The Street without a Shadow

On the morning the tower's shadow disappeared, no one rang the bell. It lay intact in the street, without a rope or any sign that it had fallen. The house beneath it still stood. Its upper floor no longer existed.

Molniya arrived with the rain. She found Hutta and twelve villagers pulling people from a cellar whose water was warm despite the ice on the steps. Each time they opened the door, the corridor behind it grew longer. On the third attempt, Hutta tied a rope around herself so she could return. On the fourth, they found the end of the rope on the other side of the street.

Vera-110 placed sensors beside the well. Each showed a different temperature; all passed their diagnostic checks. She sent a tiny device through the window still hanging above the house. Its camera transmitted four seconds of sunlight and a wheat field. Then a person's voice asked who had left the door open. The device returned without its camera.

There was no enemy to shoot. Molniya discharged the energy that had gathered between the town's rooftops, and Hutta led the survivors to the hill. They carried beds instead of stretchers. One boy insisted on going back for his sister until Vera showed him she was already sitting in a cart. He looked at her and asked why she was older than him now. His sister did not answer.

That night, the well stopped boiling. The corridor returned to its usual length. Molniya and the rescue workers entered it and searched until their flashlights went out. They found shoes, a chair and a pot still swinging from a hook. Seven names remained on the list. The sensors explained nothing, and the maps sent from the capital showed no tower there at all.

On the third day, they closed the street. Hutta left a bowl of water beside the barrier for anyone who returned. At two in the morning, the bowl emptied. The guard insisted he had not fallen asleep. Vera checked the recording: the camera showed an empty street, but the audio held seven pairs of footsteps. All were moving toward the barrier.

Molniya returned to the sealed door. From inside the wood came the sound of the bell that lay outside. She placed her hand on the handle. Who stood on the other side?