Night | A Twelve Year

And yet, the man who had named the rat Esperanza later became president of his country. When asked how he survived, he did not speak of ideology or courage. He spoke of the rat. He spoke of the half-piece of bread.

They called it la noche de doce años —the twelve-year night. Not because the sun vanished from the sky. Outside, the sun still rose over Montevideo. Children still played in the plazas. Women still hung laundry on rooftops. But for the men underground, time had stopped. The world had become a rumor. a twelve year night

There was a ritual to madness. It crept in slowly, like water rising in a ship's hull. First, the men forgot the names of their wives. Then they forgot the faces. Then they forgot why they had been brave. One man began to talk to the rat that lived in the corner drain. He named it Esperanza—Hope. He shared half his bread with it. The guards laughed when they saw this. But the man who shared his bread with a rat did not hang himself from the pipe. The man who shared his bread with a rat survived. And yet, the man who had named the