It wasn’t uncommon for Afia to lose sleep. She slept in a windowless little room in her mother’s flat along the University Bridge. And her ambitions and obsessions could consume her for hours, and she could stay up all night writing and reading books and thinking about all the great many things in the world. Sometimes she would sleep until late, and sometimes she wouldn’t.

There was something both maddening and spiritual about her little windowless room. It was a place apart from any she’d ever known - a place where she could lose time and herself, with her only company as her little crow, Vivi.

Above her small bed, which was built into the wall like a seat, there was a small hatch. And when she wanted to break her wordy meditation, she would carefully remove the sheets pinned on the slanted roof, unlock the hatch, and peak out. Maybe it would still be night, or maybe it would be bright in the morning, and the sounds of boats passing and people chattering would come flowing into her silence. And sometimes, when she was lucky, she would catch the break of dawn.