Melissa lived. A woman in her forties, owner of the land where she had two houses, her own, and the living room for rent. - I was fred today. But don't worry, I have an interview scheduled at the employment agency. I

just let you know in case I don't get a job soon - she took the money out of her wallet and handed it to her -

Here's this month's rent. The woman was tall, fat and very blonde, clearly of German origin. She smoked a lot,

which gave her a thick, masculine voice. Bags under her eyes, straight disheveled hair, big breasts sprawled

across her loose t-shirt. She had a sinister and aggressive appearance. And when she drank, she embodied

the devil in a bad mood. - If you can't fnd a job, let me know straight away. Until the end of the month the house is yours, after that get out and I'll move on to someone else. - She spat on the foor. That look was a

threat, as if she were saying to him: You're not going to live for free, young lady. - I'm sure I'll get a job soon. -

she said, all dignifed. It seems like it, but you don't know, Melissa considered, terrifed. She turned her back to

him and put the key in the lock, turning it to open the door. She could feel the other's gaze boring into the back

of her head. She took a deep breath, controlling herself when the devil's key didn't come out of the hole. Okay,

no need to embarrass yourself in front of the smoker. She calmed down and fnally pushed the door. And, with the dignity of a frightened girl, she stumbled on the carpet and almost fell. - Oops! - the woman laughed

loudly. Melissa closed the door in her face. *** She sat down on the loveseat and leaned back, bringing her hands to her temples to rub them. She felt all the pressure throbbing there. Six months of doing the same

thing. Waking up early, showering and getting dressed. Breakfast was made standing up in the kitchen and

then she took the bus to the city center. I was waiting for Marieta to arrive to open the bookstore. She turned

on the lights, turned on the air conditioning and computers. She put water and coffee powder in the coffee

maker and washed the sidewalk from the pee of dogs, beggars and partygoers. She served customers, argued, sold, didn't sell, noted in the system. Now none of that. No one prepared her to face life outside the

shelter. Just as life did not prepare her for the loss of her parents and the house on the farm where she lived.

She lost her private school friends and the routine of an existence surrounded by love and care. She never

mourned the loss of her parents, as she feared she would go crazy if she gave in to extreme pain and intense

longing. Over the years, she survived opportunistic diseases, strict monitors, harassment from other orphans

and loneliness. However, she didn't want to be adopted by another family, she still belonged to hers... even in

death. She had a sandwich and a Coke for dinner, washed the dishes, took ten steps and entered her room.

She threw herself on the bed, her legs hurt from spending eight hours on her feet, her back burned. She had a

shitty job that paid little, but it was still all she had. She cried with her face buried in the pillow. She felt lost,

insecure and miserable. She ended up sleeping. 3 Melissa left the agency with a referral for two job.

vacancies. She chose to go to the frst one, which was right there in the center. A dental clinic recruited a

receptionist for six hours of work, the salary was horrible, but it was enough to pay the rent and other bills. As

she turned the corner of the indicated address, she had a legitimate vision of hell. More than ffty unemployed

women lining up to be selected for the vacancy. And how did she know that they all wanted the same job?

Well, they had the same facial expression of despair as she did. Furthermore, the agency's recruiter said it

was a highly sought after position. In other words, in musical chairs, there would be one chair for ffty asses to

try to sit on. Still, she stood at the back of the line. The most depressing conversation that existed was among unemployed people. Melissa took the headphones out of the huge cloth bag she had slung over her shoulder.

But until she found them, she was forced to listen to what they said in line. She learned that they pay the minimum wage without benefts. Unemployment hit the entire country. Whoever has a job can hold him back,

because things are difcult. My cousin hasn't worked for two years. Look, there must be a hundred people in

this line here, right? Well, most of it is to fll space on the sidewalk. They told me that they will hire those who

have the most experience with spreadsheets. English, notion of English, I also heard. Music started playing on

the headphones, and Melissa separated herself from the conversations. Two hours later, she left the interview

with the impression that they would not call her for the second phase of selection. The HR girl at the clinic

asked: - How do you see yourself in fve years? - Older. Huh, what answer did she want? She had another

route, a second option, although she felt that in the end she would be left with no option at all. The position.

was that of a nanny on a farm. The last time she lived on a farm was on her parents' farm. That's why she didn't feel comfortable going back to the same kind of life, now, without them. Furthermore, she had lived in

the urban region for ten years. The idea was to continue living in the small house behind the angry woman,

enroll in a pre-university course and go through the days one after the other. Maybe she would fnd friends at

her new job and, who knows, a boyfriend. She learned too soon that life was a house of cards that we built

with great care, only to suddenly have the wind blow stronger and destroy everything. She decided to go home

and wait to hear back from the clinic recruiter. If he didn't contact her, he would return to the agency the following week. She would only have to deal with a dilemma of conscience, as she had a job referral in hand

and was snubbing it. Just before crossing the street, he saw the rental company talking to a couple and pointing in the direction of the small house at the back of the lot. The devil intended to evict her! The right

thing to do was not to clash with her. She then decided not to return home at that moment. But as she didn't

have the money to spend time having lunch somewhere, she came to the conclusion that the best thing to do

was look at that vacancy for a babysitter. She had some money thrown in her purse. She gathered all the

banknotes plus a bunch of coins and, discouraged, discovered that she was poorer than the day before. And

what's worse, she had little money in her purse to use for bus tickets to go to the address of the babysitting.

position, on a secondary road parallel to the federal highway, and then to return to the center. What was once

a dilemma of conscience turned into an obsession. Fear always drove her forward. A shelter worker had toldher that she was a survivor, a warrior. One day Melissa wanted to consider herself more than that. She wanted

to become a winner. And, success, for her, was living without fear of everything suddenly exploding in her head. The thing about giving a thumbs up to ask for a