When a poor man turned forty-four, he decided to sell everything and go on a big adventure to find peace and a sunny place.
But no matter how well a man plans, a girl has the power to turn everything upside down.
The day Tiberiu met Eva, a mysteri...
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The place where I was supposed to use my energy wasn't a rocket construction site, but a construction site where a five-story building was being erected. Every morning, at exactly seven o'clock, I had to be there. There was always work available for an unskilled, young, and eager worker.
When you're sixteen, you're as strong as a devil, and nothing is too hard for your arms. I wasn't a massive guy with broad shoulders, but I had strength, and my muscles were steeled from boxing. I felt like I had something to prove, and I thought everyone there was working tirelessly.
Later, too late, I realized that at least half of the workers there were just going through the motions. They weren't working tirelessly; they were just pretending to work.
So, for those people, a fool like me was always welcome.
"Boy, grab the wheelbarrow and quickly take two bags of cement to the fifth floor! Move it!"
"Boy, that trench needs to be another forty centimeters deeper! Get to work!"
"Hey, kid, bring another two hundred bricks to the second floor! Quick!"
"But, what the heck, didn't I tell you the tiles have to be blue? Take these back. Bring me the blue ones!"
I haven't traveled much in my life, but I suspect that across all the meridians of the globe, fools work the same way: foolishly. At that pace, it didn't take long for me to ruin my back. My father got me a belt to wear under my clothes, tight around my waist.
Along with the belt and back pain, I also came to my senses and started to open my eyes. First my eyes, then my mouth.
"Boy, grab the wheelbarrow and..."
"I don't have time!"
"Hey, don't you understand we need..."
"The boss gave me work here, not there. Find someone else."
"Damn it! Are you trying to act crazy with me? Watch out, I might come down there!"
"Go ahead, come down!"
In the end, they left me alone. The boss quickly discovered I had a talent: I could dig trenches like no one else. So that became my qualification.
I liked it. The ground, hard as stone, became obedient under my razor-sharp spade. I dug trenches from about seven in the morning until around noon, then had a half-hour break, and then I dug trenches again until late in the afternoon.
For ten or eleven months, I dug trenches; it became my second nature. In the evening, I chewed my food and thought about trenches. At night, I dreamed of digging trenches. In the morning, I could hardly wait to get to the site and start digging trenches.
I no longer read any books, didn't go out, didn't turn on the TV. I had become a beast that ate, slept, crapped, and dug trenches. I suppose there are many like that in this world.
