"A desagradável profissão de Jonathan Hoag" por Robert A. Heinlein , também a resposta para esta velha pergunta . Originalmente publicado em Unknown Worlds , outubro de 1942 , disponível em o Arquivo da Internet . A história tem sua própria página da Wikipédia .
A parte que eu lembro é onde o homem está dirigindo e abaixa a janela do carro e tudo fora do carro dele é cinza. É como um nevoeiro, mas dentro do carro as coisas parecem normais através das janelas.
A few blocks later Randall saw a patrolman standing on the sidewalk, warming himself in the sun, and watching some boys playing sand-lot football. He pulled up to the curb beside him. "Run down the window, Cyn."
She complied, then gave a sharp intake of breath and swallowed a scream. He did not scream, but he wanted to.
Outside the open window was no sunlight, no cops, no kids—nothing. Nothing but a gray and formless mist, pulsing slowly as if with inchoate life. They could see nothing of the city through it, not because it was too dense but because it was—empty. No sound came out of it; no movement showed in it.
It merged with the frame of the window and began to drift inside. Randall shouted, "Roll up the window!" She tried to obey, but her hands were nerveless; he reached across her and cranked it up himself, jamming it hard into its seat.
The sunny scene was restored; through the glass they saw the patrolman, the boisterous game, and sidewalk, and the city beyond. Cynthia put a hand on his arm. "Drive on, Teddy."
Deus é o artista e ele está apagando seu trabalho,
"The Artist created this world, after His Own fashion and using postulates which seemed well to Him. His teacher approved on the whole, but—"