"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 no one hired me. Perhaps 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. Fortunately, I'd paid a month's rent in advance, so I could keep living in that dark basement instead of facing the unusually bitter winter wind outside.
"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 see where I was stepping by the little light spilling out of the rooms.
"The place smelled awful. Every so often, 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 my free time at night to study. After all, hardly anyone wanted to visit 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 couldn't see any hope of saving any.
"I had my former colleague to thank. If he hadn't suddenly quit, I might not have found even a job like this.
"I dreamed of rotating onto the day shift. Always sleeping when the sun rose and getting up after night fell had left