Some Kind of Space-Age Material

[rinue]

The hostel where I live is generous enough to supply us with towels - one per person per term, ordinarily, to be laundered by us. My towel has just been unexpectedly replaced by housekeeping, and the new towel is something special. I can run my face back and forth across its entire surface, and my face will still be wet. It is perhaps made of an unabsorbent soft plastic which only resembles cotton.