Chapter 03: Cities and Signs 04

In that city’s great aqueduct, their lantern lights floating through the darkened tunnels, the signs pointed the way. They flitted over and all around them as they passed through the lit streets—a white and red kissing sign ahead, a gap to pass before it closed down, and so on and so on. All signs took shape on their faces—fiery eyes flashed behind paper-thin lenses and shadowy shapes stalked between doorways. While passing beneath bridges that crossed roads leading away to less worn paths into more forgotten surroundings, they could not resist flinging their glowing signs along the runways that lay just beneath the walkway. The traffic below moved fast, but still, most of the city’s various lanes looked deserted.

For them, each new sign was a good sign, and signposts fed their hunger.