Disappearances

One of Pliny the Elder's famous cures for a headache was to wear a woman's breast band round his head. It is quite amusing to think of the stern old Roman doing this, and at the same time intriguing to wonder what made him think it would work.

Anyway, this morning I woke up with a headache and decided to try Pliny's cure for myself, rather than take a pill. I chose an azure blue sports bra with fluoro pink straps and put it on my head, then lay down on my bed and began to read my novel, The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell . Immediately I began to wonder what I must look like. I got up at once and went to look in the bathroom mirror. Charming. The sports bra was sitting on my head like a floppy beret, with only the bright pink straps giving it away as not being a real hat.

I lay down and recommenced reading. Nothing was happening on the headache front. Perhaps my headgear was not tight enough. I folded it behind my head and pressed into the pillow so I could feel just the slightest pressure on my brow. A cool breeze blew in through the transparent curtains. I got up and closed the window, almost. Then I started reading again, the famous duck shooting scene at the end of which Justine goes missing. At least I suppose it is famous.

Soon I had finished part 3 and it was lunch time. I stood up, removed the blue and pink women's breast band and voila! my headache was gone.

Now why did that work? and do I dare broach the subject with Pliny ?