THE WISH MECHANICS…and with the grace
of the Motherland’s kisses,
all your dreams will be made true
by the Ministry of Wishes.
—Union of Civilized Countries,
Official Nursery Rhyme
Allie fixed pipes for Local 42, big government contract stuff; though for her whole life she had wanted to design. Her red pipe wrench gripped the shining metal pipe like an arm-sized lobster claw and she pulled. Her partner, Big Mike, slathered the joint with sticky blue pipe-dope. The gelatinous cream spread across the seam, turned clear, and started to harden. Allie neatened it with her trowel. “That’ll hold her,” she said, pushing her dirty blonde hair off her grease-streaked face. She wiped her hands on her coveralls, smiling at the neat angles of pipes filling the cavernous under-basement of the Plaz
