Camilo Canegato

Camilo Canegato is a middle-aged man who lives in a boardinghouse. He is small in stature, pale, and very plain. He has lived at the boardinghouse for twelve years, since his father died, and he considers the proprietress and her daughters to be like his family. He has no other friends or relatives. When he arrives at the boardinghouse he takes pills and syrups with his meals to help his brain, but Mrs. Milagros convinces him that he doesn't need it.

In his loneliness and to Matilda Milagros, Camilo invents a beautiful woman named Rosa. He writes letters to himself from Rosa and makes up very involved stories about their romance. Mrs. Milagros and the other women at the boardinghouse become obsessed with the romance. One night, though, Rosa, the invented woman, arrives at the boardinghouse, and Camilo begins to lose his grasp on reality. He believes...