Hot spring

"The rock's slippery. Careful getting in."

"AAAH. THAT's good."

"OOOH, good for the rheumatism. Actually, this fixes anything."

"ANYthing?"

"Well, almost."

"You could be right. Even my panic attack seems to be subsiding."

"Not bad, is it."

"And FREE! Hot pool in the middle of a field. Stars above. PARAdise!"

"Bit different to hot pools in Japan?"

"They have all kinds. Generally have someone at the entrance and you pay through the nose."

"Not many people here tonight. Sometimes it gets a bit crowded. Locals bring their visitors."

"So you have to wait to get in?"

"OCCASionally, it's a bit of a squeeze. There was one chap who had a strategy for clearing the pool of non-locals though. Old John. Big fellow. He'd sink into the pool and say, 'AAAH, good for the BOILS.' People would make space and get out PRETTY quickly."

“There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them.” Sylvia Plath.

“It is a mistake that there is no bath that will cure people's manners, but drowning would help” Mark Twain.