Reading your entry, I see once again what an unmeasurable abyss separates the native from a nonnative speaker. Your phases are so much more flexible and the word usage is so gentle, rich and, at the same time, precise as if you are doing the open-heart surgery on the body of the story.

For example, "squalid place".
(of a place) extremely dirty and unpleasant, especially as a result of poverty or neglect.

I never heard of this word before. Yet, what is especially priceless is that out of all the possible synonyms describing the same thing you pick the word that is most precise and the most fitting stylistically by ear. This seamless aerobatics is what makes every "friking fernet" envious. )))