The Sunlit Hospital

Nature improves and heals the human body. A shaft of sunlight, provided it be distinct, is a healing vector. To obtain consistent shafting, a grove of ample dimensions must be cleared in established forest.

A clear, grassy path of commodious width is made, to lead to a new clearing sprinkled with tall elms. The base plane is composed of a mix of innocuous grasses, fragrant herbs, and florets that dissipate lightly under the heel. One hears throughout the surrounding forest light rustlings and scamperings; this is the sound of ministering priests gathering the necessary ingredients for their poultices, mustards, tisanes, and decoctions. One by one, the priests arrive from the shadows, and return to their pots and teak tables to sort, wash, and stir; when their labors are complete, they summon nurses to administer the arrived-upon herbal aid.

The patients are borne in on canvas biers, then fitted upon stainless-steel armatures that have been driven into the ground at convenient intervals. They gently moan and flirt with great washes of fever, their swathed bodies cool and dappled, until such time as the prescribed cure begins to take hold. They are then issued a single crutch and allowed to depart with soft expressions of gratitude back along the cut path.