Vigil

Translated by Petra Schultze.

An amazing discovery! One pill replaces 9 hours of sleep.
The future belongs to those who do not need to sleep.
The future belongs to Vigils.

Homo vigilis. Vigils. A new human species that does not need any sleep to live. Vigils never need to rest, they never feel tired and as opposed to the Sleepers - ordinary humans - they don't tend to get sick.

In addition, their sense of smell is perfect. They appear to be flawless, there's nothing lacking...

...maybe except for the inability to dream. But who needs dreams for their everyday lives?

A book about imagination being stronger than all knowledge, about dreams being more powerful than reality.

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I sit at the computer with great determination. I think: I've been in it from the very beginning. Who else should leave a message for future generations, if not I? Who could possibly be more objective? I plunge into that dreary silence. Then I draw the curtains again, make myself a sickly-sweet coffee and get down to writing. Maybe my next opus will not bear the seal of genius, but it certainly will be noteworthy for its topic.

As fate has decreed, I am in fact the only Vigil in the world who is capable of sleeping.