No.43: He was working on a thick, lozenge-like panel of wood. At first, the paint went on easily, like whitewash, but gradually became more viscous--like toothpaste, and then like cement. Cloudy shapes kept forming on their own, appearing, sometimes, to billow out towards him like a heavy fog rolling into a harbour. He walked to the back wall of the studio and stood there studying his unstable, unmoored painting. It was then he noticed the skyline of some unknown European city gradually forming behind it.