I have never seen such a hot summer. The heat fills me all over until my body practically melts. The sun is shining so brightly that it almost obscures the summer blue sky. The air is clear, as only in summer it can be. The colours shine around me. They make me feel as if the moment of ripening and blossoming has arrived, we are in the full bloom of nature and I am here abandoned and alone.

I sit in my chair in the garden, in the shade of the trees, waiting for a breath of air. But nothing. Even the breeze from the sea does not appear. There...