The narrator observes his wife kissing another man at their daughter's 15th birthday party. He considers confronting them or pretending not to have seen. He reflects on the costs of the party and how his daughter has grown up. He watches the teenage party guests misbehaving and taking drugs. He thinks back to his own teenage years and past suicidal incidents at parties. He interacts awkwardly with other guests and reflects on fantasies of living an alternate life across the street. He decides to buy music to lift his mood and looks forward to eating pastries in the morning.

4. Bitch! In the bathroom kissing that asshole accountant.

5. Right in front of me. In the middle of our daughter’s birthday, with everyone here from the office…

6. Doesn’t matter. Should I kick the shit out of her? Should I take him on?

7. Why should I? She’ll tell me she was drunk, that deep down it didn’t mean anything to her .

8. Should I act indignant? Or pretend I didn’t see anything?

9. It really doesn’t matter to me, doesn’t mean a thing to me. But we have to play the roles we have… I’m a prick.

11. Fuck that, spent a fortune just to celebrate our daughter turning fifteen.

12. Hopefully it doesn’t all seem too cheap. Does that matter to her? Of course it does.

13. She wants to look good in front of her friends, did we make that happen?

14. Those fuckin‘ kids are out of control.

15. Surely the only thing they want is to lock the birthday girl in the bathroom and fuck her.

17. It’s unbelievable, a couple of years ago she was playing with dolls, and now she’s a woman.

18. My life is a cliché!

19. Everything’s changing. And what am I changing to?

20. Those fuckers are great. They’re crazy.

21. I should do that, I should just let everything go to shit

22. and get back the energy of being a teenager.

23. What are they doing with those bottles?

24. That fat one is the leader of the girls, you can tell from how they watch her.

25. And the one in the red shirt is the head honcho of the guys. He dances well .

26. Why are they lining up those bottles?

27. I should find out what drugs they’re taking nowadays.

28. We should have taken down that collection of Mayan owls from the shelf .

29. Some of them look like real jerks. Those assholes don’t give a fuck about

30. the unhappiness or suffering in the world. Nope, don’t give a fuck !

31. They piss themselves laughing at everything. How long will this party last?

33. When I was a teenager I climbed mountains and slept with two girls every day.

34. Ok that’s a lie, when I was a teenager the only thing that mattered to me was to be normal and accepted,

35. that nobody would know that I was a deformed and self-conscious bastard.

36. Wish they’d leave those bottles alone.

38. I remember a party one time when a fat guy committed suicide

39. just as they were blowing out the candles.

40. I don’t know who that fat guy was but I remember he shot himself in the bath and we

41. all froze as if for a picture and the guy whose cake it was didn’t blow out the candles.

42. Not a bad idea, killing yourself at a party, you’re guaranteed people will remember you,

43. although most likely as “that fat cunt who blew his brains out at my birthday”.

45. I’m wrecked. The preparations for this party nearly killed me.

46. I should take a holiday, alone. A few days at the sea, away from here.

47. That guy hasn’t stopped looking at me. Or maybe I keep looking at him?

48. I think he’s a friend of Steve, we were introduced once.

49. He works in personnel. I don’t remember his name.

50. Better not look at him, so. I heard something about him, what was it?

51. They told me he slept with his sister, that was it .

52. It seems they always slept together.

53. That’s barbaric… Sibling lovers… And still I wear the same mask as always.

55. I need more wine.

56. Will I talk to him? Nah, better not.

57. Yeah, I’ll talk to him. Why not? Anyway the wine is inside.

59. No, that wasn’t him…

60. The girls are prettier than ever.

61. This street reminds me of Europe. Europe, my ass!

62. The buildings on the other side of the street are the same as those on this side.

63. This place would be great for a film:

64. A man lives in a building on this side, and discovers that in the building opposite

65. there’s a man just like him, who does the same job, and who lives in an apartment identical to his .

66. But because it’s an inverted reflection, everything is a little different,

67. instead of an unhappy wife like his, the guy opposite has a happy wife,

68. instead of a son who doesn’t speak to him, there’s a son who loves him.

69. And the guy on this side spies on the guy opposite.

70. And fantasizes about killing him and then passing for him.

71. It’s not bad… but if it was to be a film it’d have to be filmed in another country,

72. since with local actors it’d be horrible.

73. If I could realize all the crazy things I think up my life would be infinitely better.

74. That way I could be different.

75. I could get someone else’s face tattooed on top of mine.

76. Or have surgery to get someone else’s face, someone better than me.

77. And then be the way I want to be.

79. At night I feel persecuted.

80. Cancerous policemen are chasing me with their cigarette in their mouth .

82. OK. Enough!

83. I’m going to put out all the Christmas tree lights that I have in my head

84. and stop fucking thinking these dark thoughts .

85. I’m going to buy all of Michael Jackson’s CDs to cheer me up out of this shit

86. a nd the darkness of this world!

87. Yeah, that’s the wave, to take me to calmness.

88. Things can go well for me too .

89. What do I care what other people do?

90. What do I care how other people see me?

91. Life is a personal experience .

92. Jesus, this music is shit…

93. Those fuckers are great.

94. And the women are prettier than ever.

95. I’m going to buy some tight leather trousers.

96. I feel better now. Yeah, that’s what I want.

97. I’ll stay right here until the dawn and then I’ll go away, alone.

98. I’ll find a bakery that’s just opened, and buy some hot butter croissants

99. and I’ll eat them slowly with a good latté.

100. What a glorious morning. It’ll have to go well.

101. The important thing is still here, between the blown-out stubs in the cake

102. and the clinking whiskey-glasses.

104. Life is good, motherfuckers!