The man sat by the train window. The train ride was three hours long, so he tried to get as comfortable as possible. In front of him and next to him, other men sat quietly as well. They all greeted each other with an almost imperceptible nod and a small, barely audible murmur. The luggage racks were empty; their hands were empty as well. They carried nothing. It was as if it were a simple walk to a place from which they would soon return. The man at the window closed his eyes and thought of the time when they would arrive: the night would embrace everything and the darkness would be his.

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How long had he been working in the mines? He remembered that the first time he was asked, he did not accept. Nor did he accept the second time. His family could not be left alone: his wife and three children needed him. But hunger began to bite the children in their sleep and every night they woke up crying, asking for bread and milk. He and his wife also began to become weak, sick with exhaustion, so the man had no choice but to accept the job they offered him. That had been last year, but to him it seemed like a century. From the moment he signed the contract, he knew he was signing the end of his life alongside his family, that with that contract he would receive money, just that, more than anything else, but he had to agree.

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The first months were difficult, then little by little the man got used to it. The work was strong and dangerous, as he had been told, but the pay was good. At first, like any novice, he did bad things and his life was in danger many times; but because he was skilled and young, he managed to get through the many threats. The man understood that the best way to get benefits was to do his job without complaining, so every time he was required, he was there, even if it was in the early morning. At the end of the month, when he sent the money to the family, he felt that every sacrifice and effort was worthwhile.

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The only bad things about being in the mines were the mosquitoes, the plague and being away from the family. He knew almost nothing about his wife and three children. His last contact with them had been six months ago. The wife wrote to him to tell him that she felt lonely, that she wanted to return to her family and that one of the children was sick, so she would need more money. The man did not reply, but from that month on he started working harder and sending twice as much money. His bosses told him to take care of the plague and the mosquitoes, to rest, not to expose himself so much, but he imagined his children sick and hungry, and the muscles no longer hurt and there was no fever, nor did the bite of the sick insect keep him lying down.

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The first month he learned of the trips that all the workers made by train to the nearest city. The first month he didn't want to go, but the second month he was curious. At the end of each month, all the men traveled to Curaime, the closest town to the mine. There was a square, a church, a clinic, an inn, a shop and a bar. In the bar there was a sound system that always played the same pieces; there were also worn, sad, pale and skinny women who hoped to give small amounts of pleasure for some money. There was also an old wooden bar in the bar where some men talked and watched the time go by. The man always sat there.

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After a three-hour journey, all the men got off the train. The man went straight to the bar. There he ordered the usual beer, which he drank as if it were water. Then he ordered another and another, which he drank with the same thirst and speed. By the fourth beer, everyone knew that the man would go to the stereo and play the same piece of music, a song that although no one knew the words, they were filled with hope. So they all waited for the chords to start and for the man to sit down again at the bar and each from his position, raised the beer bottle and in a nod and with an imperceptible murmur, said: Cheers