"I was a failure. I hardly ever noticed whether the sun was shining, because I had no time.
"My parents couldn't support me, and I didn't have much education. I was alone in the city, searching for a future.
"I tried to find all sorts of jobs, but no one hired me. Maybe nobody liked someone who wasn't good with words, didn't enjoy communicating, and hadn't shown enough ability.
"For three whole days, I ate only two pieces of bread. Hunger kept me awake at night. Luckily, I'd paid a month's rent in advance, so I could keep living in that dark basement instead of going outside to endure the unusually bitter winter winds.
"At last, I found a job keeping watch at a hospital at night-watching over the morgue.
"The hospital at night was even colder than I'd imagined. The wall lamps in the corridors weren't lit, and everything was dim. I could only rely on the little light spilling out of the rooms to see where I was stepping.
"The smell there was awful. From time to time, a dead person would arrive in a body bag, and we would help carry him into the morgue.
"It wasn't a very good job, but at least it let me afford bread. I could also use the spare time at night to study. After all, hardly anyone wanted to come to the morgue unless a body needed delivering or taking away for cremation. Of course, I didn't have enough money to buy books yet, and for now, I saw no hope of saving any.
"I had my former colleague to thank. If he hadn't suddenly quit, I might not even have gotten a job like this.
"I dreamed of getting a turn on the day shift. Always going to bed