Word Play and a Story

Word play on Coronavirus and apocalypse...

This began with a daydream about the coronavirus being the actual king that is to arrive during the apocalypse. A viral Christ. What does it do? It chases the moneylenders out of the temple, of course. And ushers in the expected deaths and chaos. I could only take it so far in my mind because I'm ADDed, but I decided for fun to just look up the etymology of the words and see where that led. Well...it led to a parlor game I played all by myself. I used the words and phrases from the definitions to make a short little story, with a theme of an actual apocalypse of a financial and political nature. I had sequestered fun.
That is all.
Apo 
off, away or apart
Calypso - (kalypsis, Latin and kalyptein, Greek) - cover or concealment, hide or hider
Tenth of the ten nymphs in Greek mythology who captured sailors and forced them to decipher enigmas as their only chance to be released alive. Odysseus refused to stay with her because to do so would 'cover up' his glory.

Kel
(Proto-Indo-European) also the source of the English hell. It forms all or part of: Brussels; caliology; calyx; ceiling; cell; cellar; cellular; cellulite; cellulitis; cilia; clandestine; cojones; Coleoptera; color; conceal; eucalyptus; hall; helm (n.2) "a helmet;" helmet; hold (n.2) "space in a ship below the lower deck;" hole; hollow; holster; housing (n.2) "ornamental covering;" hull (n.1) "seed covering;" kil-; kleptomania; occult; rathskeller; supercilious; Valhalla; William.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit cala "hut, house, hall;" Greek kalia "hut, nest," kalyptein "to cover," koleon, koleos "sheath," kelyphos "shell, husk;" Latin cella "small room, store room, hut," celare "to hide, conceal," clam "secret," clepere "to steal, listen secretly to;" Old Irish cuile "cellar," celim "hide," Middle Irish cul "defense, shelter;" Gothic hulistr "covering," Old English heolstor "lurking-hole, cave, covering," Gothic huljan "to cover over," hulundi "hole," hilms "helmet," halja "hell," Old English hol "cave," holu "husk, pod;" Old Prussian au-klipts "hidden;" Old Church Slavonic poklopu "cover, wrapping."

Kel (2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to be prominent," also "hill."

It forms all or part of: colonel; colonnade; colophon; column; culminate; culmination; excel; excellence; excellent; excelsior; hill; holm.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit kutam "top, skull;" Latin collis "hill," columna "projecting object," cellere "raise;" Greek kolōnos "hill," kolophōn "summit;" Lithuanian kalnas "mountain," kalnelis "hill," kelti "raise;" Old English hyll "hill," Old Norse hallr "stone," Gothic hallus "rock."
Colonel - from the French Coronelle, commander of a regiment.

Corona

1650s, "a crown," from Latin corona "a crown, a garland," in ancient Rome especially "a crown or garland bestowed for distinguished military service," from the suffixed form of PIE root *sker- (2) "to turn, bend."

With many extended senses in botany, anatomy, etc. A coronavirus (by 1969) is so-called for the spikes that protrude from its membranes and resemble the tines of a crown or the corona of the sun. The two "crown" constellations, Corona Borealis (according to fable, the crown of Ariadne) and Corona Australis, are both Ptolemaic. Astronomical sense of "luminous circle observed around the sun during total eclipses" is from 1809. As a brand of Cuban cigar, 1876. The brand of Mexican pale lager beer dates from 1925.

vbv

Sker

also *ker-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to turn, bend."

It forms all or part of: arrange; circa; circadian; circle; circuit; circum-; circumcision; circumflex; circumnavigate; circumscribe; circumspect; circumstance; circus; cirque; corona; crepe; crest; crinoline; crisp; crown;  curb; curvature; curve; derange;  flounce (n.) "deep ruffle on the skirt of a dress;" krone; ring (n.1) "circular band;" ranch; range; ranger; rank (n.) "row, line series;" research; recherche; ridge; rink; rucksack; search; shrink.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Latin curvus "bent, curved," crispus "curly;" Old Church Slavonic kragu"circle;" perhaps Greek kirkos "ring," koronos"curved;" Old English hring "ring, small circlet."

Virus

late 14c., "poisonous substance," from Latin virus" poison, sap of plants, slimy liquid, a potent juice," from Proto-Italic *weis-o-(s-) "poison," which is probably from a PIE root *ueis-, perhaps originally meaning "to melt away, to flow," used of foul or malodorous fluids, but with specialization in some languages to "poisonous fluid" (source also of Sanskrit visam "venom, poison," visah" poisonous;" Avestan vish- "poison;" Latin Viscum "sticky substance, birdlime;" Greek ios (What IOS?!) "poison," ixos "mistletoe, birdlime;" Old Church Slavonic višnja "cherry;" Old Irish fi "poison;" Welsh gwy" poison"). The meaning "agent that causes infectious disease" is recorded by 1728 (in reference to venereal disease); the modern scientific use dates to the 1880s. The computer sense is from 1972.

The old coronelle rested his head against the tree. This last careening jag had left him tired to the bone. He had no one to help him, no one to cry out to. He sucked in his breath, dry throated, and coughed. To go home would mean certain death, by hanging or worse. He slumped to the ground suddenly, eye meeting sky, skull hitting the hard bulging side of the tree. The sun a burning corona matched his state of mind. He flung his arm over his face. There was no reprieve from the thoughts, from the seeking for, what... solace, sense? Not so long ago, not so long ago... he had helped the king hide gold, secrets, other treasures. Many secrets, and much gold. He had been trusted, considered competent, wise. 
Sickness of mind made him roll over, breathing in dirt, the scents of root and leaf, crushed green. There was no way to explain the recent...turnings. The melting away, the flow of twisted time that had changed everything, everywhere. Everything. Looking up again briefly he spied cherries. A cherry tree. One stroke of luck, he thought, one that would not matter in one day, but thankful for it, he summoned one last ounce of strength, struggled to his feet and gathered a handful. Another handful. Chewing and sucking down the juice, he began to loll his head. To whomever I owe this favor, I give thanks, he thought. Speaking was out of the question. Speaking may never happen again. No more words for me, he thought. Lips cracked and dry he feasted several minutes then sank again to the ground. In a blink he was resting, clamlike, oblivious. It was worth it, he cried into his own hot skull. Then, dreaming...

Warm, in their bed. Fragrant orange embers dying in the soft night air. Eyes happily taking in the sleeping form of his wife, resting on the far side of the bed, her back lit golden. Wine, red in the cup on the table. The smell of home, their meal, of the people he loved. Their youngest child's whistling breath reaches his ears from the other room; goodness. This is goodness, this is everything, he thinks. Darkness, sinking into sleep. Then one briefly opened eye catches his wife stepping softly over his head. Her skirt ruffle briefly brushing his face.  "I'm getting up to make breakfast", she said in a smiling voice...

William, his one-time friend speaks into his ear, the sound of waves slapping the side of the boat: "It is going to happen, might as well follow orders. Your men have no idea what they are placing in the hold, we've seen to that. Keep your helmet close, the secret will be kept. You've kissed his ring. You know what that meant. You're trapped in birdlime, like the rest of us, my friend. Don't tell me you don't like the rewards." 

Calliope, his daughter: "Father, you can't stop this.  Don't try to deny what you know is right, it is too late to do nothing. Use what you've learned in those secret rooms. Fi on the king! His treachery and weakness are not yours unless you give up, you and the others.  Leave us and don't look back. You've got to make sure this gets exposed. Now, go. We've left provisions for you in the hillside, at the bend in the road. Look under the jutting rock.
And know that we love you. Even if we never see one another, again, there is no other option. Go!"...

He inhaled deeply. Sunrays in the green morning mist and the smell of damp earth. Another deep breath and he raised his head. A smashed cherry laid against a clump of mistletoe. He eyed it, rubbing sleep away. Goodness and poison. Years and years of it. He sat up and watched three crows fly across the sky.
~Oldgirl

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