My favorite time of the night again. The granddaughters are in their rooms upstairs and I am all alone except for that rare instance in which M. or one of his staff members rings the brass bell outside my captain's cabin bedroom window because they need something. I do the rounds of the altars and thank our spirit guides, turn off all the lights on the ground floor, lock up inside my room, and get in bed to read a book or watch TV.

The night sleeps in my embrace, and only the night knows the thoughts that I whisper in its ear.