It must have been a Thursday night when I met her for the first time - at the dance hall. I reported to work in the morning, after an hour or two's sleep, looking like a somnambulist. The day passed like a dream. After dinner I fell asleep on the couch and awoke fully dressed about six the next morning. I felt thoroughly refreshed, pure at heart, and obsessed with one idea - to have her at any cost. Walking thorugh the park I debated what sort of flowers to send her with the book I had promised her (Winesburg, Ohio). I was approaching my thirty-third year, the age of Christ crucified. A whole new life lay ahead of me, had I the courage to risk all. Actually there was nothing to risk: I was at the bottom rung of the ladder, a failure in every sense of the word.
