"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 applied for many jobs, but no one hired me. Perhaps nobody liked someone who wasn't good with words, didn't like communicating, and hadn't demonstrated enough ability.
"Over 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 enduring the unusually bitter winter wind outside.
"Finally, I found a job keeping watch at a hospital at night-keeping watch over its morgue.
"The hospital at night was 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.
"It smelled terrible there. Every so often, a dead person would arrive stuffed inside a body bag, and we'd 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 spare 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, nor could I see any 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 that.
"I dreamed of taking a turn on the day shift. Always going to sleep when the sun rose and getting up after