From 2:17am to 10am Daily: Contingency Protocol Enacted for Flour-Based Parish Elder

ROSEMONT, IL—In the wee hours of each morning, as the city slept, 53-year-old Jillian Harlowe poured herself a lukewarm cup of chamomile tea and ascended the stairs to the laboratory that had, over the years, become the sanctum of her family's flour-based parish, Hildegard. Hildegard, the fervently adored starter, had been heralded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a 'living national treasure' in the realm of Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis. But on this particular morning, as Jillian carefully removed Hildegard from her ornate yet functional bell jar, she found herself confronted with the sight that would shatter the unspoken yet undeniably established tranquility of her family's baking practices. The levain, a thick and potent potion of flour, water, and Hildegard herself, had risen to a terrifying height, threatening to burst from its container and send shockwaves across the city of Rosemont. 'No way to prevent this,' Jillian whispered to herself, as she had uttered many times before when confronted with a crisis that seemed beyond the realm of human understanding. 'It's a testament to Hildegard's strength,' she said, her voice betraying the slightest hint of pride. 'But now, we must enact the daily contingency protocol.' The protocol, a painstakingly detailed set of instructions that had been passed down through generations, was designed to ensure that the flour-based parish could weather any storm, be it a fluctuation in temperature or the sudden appearance of a rogue wild yeast. Over the next eight hours, Jillian would perform her ritual with practiced precision, feeding Hildegard multiple times, carefully monitoring the temperature and humidity of her environment, and ultimately, baking an offering loaf to appease the angry and restless levain. By the time the sun had risen, the house was filled with the tantalizing aroma of freshly baked bread, and the terrifying specter of Hildegard's wrath had been temporarily appeased. But the next morning would come, and the cycle would start anew. The household's flour-based parish elder, Jillian Harlowe, would once again be awakened by the call to action, the call to face the eternal mystery that was Hildegard, the living national treasure.