"I was a failure. I barely 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 applied for many jobs, but nobody hired me. Perhaps nobody liked someone who wasn't good with words, didn't enjoy talking to others, and hadn't shown enough ability.
"For three whole days, I ate only two loaves of bread. Hunger kept me awake at night. Fortunately, I'd paid a month's rent in advance, so I could stay in that dark basement instead of enduring the unusually bitter winter wind outside.
"Finally, 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 see where I was stepping by the little light spilling out of the rooms.
"The place smelled awful. 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 spare time at night to study. After all, few people wanted to visit the morgue unless a body needed to be delivered or taken away for cremation. Of course, I still didn't have enough money to buy books, 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 landed even a job like this.
"I dreamed of taking a turn on the day shift. Always sleeping when the sun came up and waking when night fell had left me a