He woke up late. When he opened his eyes that sensation of uneasiness came to him again. For over a week it had invaded every thought, every single moment of normality without respite. He was fed up with that pointless feeling. He decided to put it out of his mind and get out of bed. But his right leg had gone numb and he could not avoid falling down in a totally ridiculous way. “The day could not have started better”, thought Mike stretching his limb.

After the incident, he put on his slippers reluctantly and shambled towards the bathroom. Mike looked at himself in the mirror. His eyelids were swollen and his green eyes almost imperceptible. His mouth was a sad line surrounded by a thick grizzled beard. He touched it in a nostalgic way. He had had a beard since he was seventeen. At the beginning he had let it grow only to impress women, it caused him an inexplicable sensation of self-confidence and maturity. Later, it simply became part of his face, just like the nose or the eyes. But now he realized it made him look old and serious.