"I'm a failure. I hardly ever paid attention to whether the sun was shining, because I didn't have the time.
"My parents couldn't support me, and I didn't have much of an education. I was alone in the city, searching for a future.
"I looked for all kinds of jobs, but none of them hired me. Maybe nobody liked someone who wasn't good at talking, didn't like socializing, and hadn't shown enough ability.
"I'd gone three whole days eating only two loaves of bread. Hunger kept me awake at night. Luckily, I'd paid a month's rent in advance, so I could keep staying in that dark basement and avoid the unusually bitter winter wind outside.
"Finally, I found a job: keeping watch at a hospital at night, guarding the morgue.
"The hospital was colder at night than I'd imagined. The wall lamps in the corridors weren't lit, and everything was gloomy. I could only see where I was going by the little bit of light that spilled out from the rooms.
"It smelled awful there. Every now and then, a dead person would be brought in inside a body bag, and we'd help carry them into the morgue.
"It wasn't a very good job, but at least it let me afford bread. I could use my free time at night to study, too. After all, nobody wanted to come to the morgue unless a body needed to be brought in or taken away for cremation. Of course, I still didn't have enough money to buy books, and I couldn't see any hope of saving up.
"I had to thank my predecessor. If he hadn't suddenly quit, I might not have even gotten a job like that.
"I dreamed of taking turns covering the day shift. As it was, I always