Lunch break

Abstract

All at once the whirring sewing-machines stopped and the world became quiet. Warm sunlight filtered lazily through small windows set at odd angles, and particles of dust hung suspended in the air. One by one people began stretching, yawning, and looking around; tired, expressionless faces sagging and blurring as hints of half-smiles appeared at the corners of their eyes and mouths. It was time for their lunch break, time for a breather, time for a good laugh. Every day it arrived as regular as clockwork, the way April Fool's Day makes its appearance in the West every year.