The Glass Garden at Half-Past

The Halverson Botanical Conservatory sits behind a frosted pane of silence. You are the volunteer keeper for the morning, and it is your job to feed the carnivorous plants before the public arrives. Each specimen has its own schedule, pinned to the feeding chart on the potting bench. Outside, snow presses gently against the glass. Inside, the air is close and green and very warm. The bell in the clock tower above the entrance will ring at half-past nine — that is your signal, and the plants' signal, and the only clock that matters here.