Magical Laundry Washing Flying Carpets

Steam curls from a bank of industrial washing machines as rainbow-coloured suds pour out onto the wooden floor. In the middle of the room, two workers scrub a flying carpet patterned with moons and stars, water and soap dripping from its fringed edges, while another pair carries a rolled red rug toward a drying rack strung with pulleys and rope. Racks along the back wall hold rows of mismatched socks, mittens and patchwork coats, and a seamstress bends over a sewing machine mending a torn sleeve. Wicker baskets brimming with pastel-dyed laundry sit stacked near buckets and mops, and a tabby cat naps stretched across a hanging carpet overhead. Workers in striped robes and plaid shirts mop puddles of spilled dye from the boards below. Every basket, rack and puddle of colour marks its own patch of the room, so the mess sorts itself into pieces without much effort.