I’m Invincible!
The root of the word vincible is the Latin word for conquer. Veni, vidi, vici … I came, I saw, I conquered. Bold stuff there. The kind of thing impulsive tattoos are made of. We hardly ever use the word “vincible” which means able to be conquered or opposed. It’s probably how we really think of ourselves deep down under all our masks and bluster. But we only use the prefixed negative opposite “invincible” because who the hell wants to be vincible? Sort of like how deep down we all aspire to be gruntled in life, but we only ever talk about the disgruntled as they lash out at anything and everything they perceive to be stealing their peace.
Like the mighty builders of the Titanic before me, I’m prepared to declare myself unsinkable. Send the lightning Zues and Thor; I stand in defiance of your might, the powerful entropy of the Arrow of Time, and the inevitable Hand of Fate. No, I’m treating all of that like it is very, very evitable indeed.
I’ve lived through the violence of my father and my youth. I’ve survived polycystic kidney disease and full kidney failure to get a transplant. Earlier this year, I survived a heart attack. In cardiac rehab, I did a 34 minute 40 second 5k on the elliptical machine and walked 67 floors on the stair machine. The doctors only yelled at me a little. They still fear I’m vincible, I think.
My oldest son caught Covid on our latest trip. We all are vaxxed up. I’m three shots deep and preparing to get my fourth at some point. We holed up in our rooms, masked up, and ate separately. You’d think being confined to my room and office would facilitate getting more work done. I did alright, but it turned out it wasn’t ideal. I wouldn’t take as well to house arrest as I’ve always thought I would, I guess. Being immuno-compromised from my transplant meds, catching Covid would be a bad scene for me. My son weathered it well and the rest of us avoided it with everyone testing negative in the end. Invincible, I say!
My June and July writing schedules are pretty steep. I have a lot to get done if I want to get close the completing even the modest plans I have for this year. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m going for it. I’m treating it all like it is surmountable even though I’m realistically chalant about my chances. I face the coming months with my most sipid efforts because I believe all my challenges are ultimately delible. With the right eptitude, I can do anything.
Probably not, but I’ll get a hell of a lot more done if I fool myself into taking the “im” off of possible.
Here are some things you might be interested in:
The New Splatterpunks
by Jay Wilburn via LitReactor
David J. Schow is credited with having coined the term "Splatterpunk" in the mid-1980s. In hindsight, horror fans and writers view the Splatterpunk movement as a counter-culture response to the conservative views and policies of the time …
Author’s Note: I wrote this story for my youngest son on his birthday, I think it was. You have to write for your audience.
“Henry vs the Fart Monster”
by Jay Wilburn
Henry had a problem. It was farts. Not his farts. It was the fart monster’s farts. Booger Snot the fart monster had come into Henry’s room when he had the window open …
The ongoing Dead Song Legend zombie series follows the music collectors Tiny Jones and Satchelmouth Murderman as they record the music of the zombie apocalypse. In the process, they change the course of history and one of them becomes a legend. Start the series now.
Thanks, Everybody
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