In the clockwork city, directions depend on the time of day. Streets that are dead-ends at dawn become ring-roads by dusk. The sad-looking man selling balloons at the clocktower in summer is replaced by a woman selling pigeon food. Don’t, whatever you do, use the metro on a Wednesday, unless it is in August – particularly if you’re trying to escape the museum district.

Here in the clockwork city, no-one has a home since they cannot be sure to return to it. Families stay close together, and couples never part after falling in love at first sight. Everyone carries their possessions in wheeled suitcases, scurrying into hotels as night falls, drawing lots to see who will be guests, and who will run the place. At morning, they set out again. When they first arrive, tourists cannot believe that the locals survive and even thrive here. But visitors rarely find a quick route out, and soon learn their own ways to survive.

Note

I was passing on someone a link to the Quick Fiction project, which published last week’s story, Pinocchio. I found this story on the site, which I don’t remember writing. I can see obvious echoes of Dark City and Borges’ The Lottery in Babylon - but I still like some of this story’s images.

The advent calendar components have arrived, so I now need to put them together. I just finished reading qntm’s There is No Anti-Memetics Division which is mind-bending and highly recommended. Last night I started Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin, which I’ll be reading alongside John Higgs’ new book on David Lynch (arriving today!). I also have a copy of Tom’s Crossing, but I’m not sure how to read a book of that size.