Subtle Cities. 4.

The city of Sofronia is made up of two half-cities. In one, there is the grand roller coaster with its steep hills, the carousel with its radiating chains, the Ferris wheel with its rocking gondolas, the globe of death with its criss-crossing motorcyclists, and the circus tent with its cluster of trapezes hanging from the center. The other half-city is made of stone, marble, and concrete, with the bank, the factories, the mansions, the slaughterhouse, the school, and all the rest. One of the half-cities is permanent, while the other is temporary. And when its time is up, it is pried open, torn down, and carted away to be relocated to the vacant lot of another half-city.

And so, every year, the day arrives when workers detach the marble pediments, lower the stone walls and concrete pillars, and dismantle the city hall, the monument, the docks, the oil refinery, and the hospital. They’re loaded onto trailers to follow their yearly itinerary from one town square to another. Remaining behind is the half-Sofronia of the shooting galleries and the carousels, with the scream dangling from the roller-coaster car mid-plunge. And it begins to count the months and days it must wait for the caravan to return, and for its life to become whole again.