"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 of an education. I was alone in the city, searching for a future.
"I applied for plenty 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.
"Over three whole days, I ate only two loaves of bread. Hunger kept me awake at night. Luckily, I had paid a month's rent in advance, so I could keep living in that dark basement instead of going outside to endure winter's bitterly cold winds.
"At last, I found a job keeping watch at a hospital at night-keeping watch 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 make out the ground beneath my feet by the little light spilling out of the rooms.
"It smelled awful there. From time to time, the dead arrived stuffed into body bags, and we helped carry them into the morgue.
"It wasn't a very good job, but at least it let me afford bread. I could also use my free time at night to study. After all, hardly anyone wanted to come to the morgue unless a body needed to be delivered or taken 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 have gotten even a job like this.
"I dreamed of getting a turn on the day shift. Always going to sleep when