I kept my tin soldiers and my stamp collection under that bed. I mostly collected stamps from the French colonies because they were big and beautiful, with pictures of people of different colors and wild animals. My stamp collection made me want to explore these far-away places. I would imagine myself being a daring adventurer, or a soldier in La légion étrangère. I had one stamp from Senegal that I particularly loved because it was triangular. I’d gotten it from one of the older boys at school. I gave him two cigarettes for that stamp. Two cigarettes I’d stolen from my father’s pack. Under my bed I also kept my marbles and my knuckle-bones. I liked playing these games in the street with the other boys my age, even though I rarely won. But the most important things I kept under my bed were my Jules Verne books. Ah, Jules Verne! Sometimes, during the night, when my parents were asleep, I would read one of Jules Verne’s books under the blankets with a little flashlight. My favorite was Michel Strogoff.
