MB Civic

excerpt from a short story by Australian born novelist and two time Booker Prize winner Peter Carey ..

Yesterday I drove in from the airport past shadow factory after shadow factory, large faceless buildings gleaming in the sun, their secrets guarded by ex-policemen with Alsatian dogs. The shadow factories have huge chimneys that reach far into the sky, chimneys which billow forth smoke of different, brilliant colors .. There are a few who say the smoke is dangerous because of carcinogenic chemicals used in the manufacture of shadows. Others point to the advantages of the smoke: the beautifully colored patterns in the clouds which serve as a reminder of the happiness to be obtained from a fully realized shadow .. Others say the clouds now contain the dreadful beauty of the apocalypse

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