Clerk Assembles Permits Under Neon Light at Midnight

Cool fluorescent tubes cast a harsh, even glow across a wooden desk piled with stacks of paper permit packets. A town clerk in a light-colored shirt secures metal clips onto the documents while pressing wax seals onto the corners. Behind the worker, floor-to-ceiling windows frame a sky heavy with dramatic wet-season clouds, their gray undersides faintly illuminated against the midnight hour. The room stretches back in layers, where rows of empty chairs and shadowed desks recede into the distance. The metallic sheen of the paperclips catches the overhead glare, highlighting the rough texture of the damp window frames.