The Invisible Hour

Mia arrives in Blackwell and studies the town, remembering her childhood. She thinks of her unborn daughter, recognizing the limitations that her daughter would face in this world, similar to the limitations she herself faced in the Community. She crosses the town square to the library, thinking of the freedom that books could grant both her and her daughter. However, the library is private, and because Mia is unmarried, she cannot read or borrow books there.

Mia follows the road out of town, observing the beauty of the natural world around her. She walks to the tavern and sees Nathaniel’s pail by the back door. She taps at the window, attracting his attention. He comes out to her and brings her to his room. They spend the night together. The next morning, he sees the book as she puts it under the mattress and demands to see it again. She refuses, arguing that seeing it might cause him to change it. He storms out—the first time she sees the darkness in him. While he’s gone, she puts the book in her satchel, but when she moves to hide it in the fireplace, the book falls, and she sees that it has changed.