(prompt: - 'contestant'  4/10/2019)

"Supercalafragalisticexpialadocious..." I breathe heavily. "I DID it this time!." Thirty four letters. Didn't know I had it in me. But to be a contestant in the famous WLWSB (World's Longest Word Spelling Bee) required a leap of faith similar to jumping off the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Just kept telling myself 'if Julie Andrews and all those Von Trapp kids could say it, then so can I'.

Deep breathing and all the willpower I can summon relaxes my tightly balled fists. With the clammiest of palms, I push back my wet fringe, sticking unattractively to my sweaty forehead. Quietening the pounding heartbeat proves tougher as the nausea returns, despite my best efforts. Panic attack? The words pop up in my mind like numbers on an old-time cash register.

Inhale deeply and blow out a long, noisy breath. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Concentrate. Don't pass out, or vomit, or any other embarrassing stuff. Over and over like a mantra I tell myself - we shall overcome. And it works. I'm getting a handle on this phobia thing.

When I was younger, I had no problems; worked up slowly from five-letter words like... 'five', until I got comfy with ten-letter words, like 'precarious'. I still like that one - a lot! It perfectly describes how I feel about long words. Still, I always count to be sure. After years of practice, I mastered many fears and words - fifteen-letters, then twenty. 'Psychopathologically' and 'pseudoscientifically'. What a pair of rippers! That psycho/pseudo stuff was most challenging.

I've conquered my Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (thirty six letters!) before. I CAN do it again. How's the irony of my phobia's name being of such gargantuan (a tiny ten-letter word) proportions? The first time I saw it, sweat poured from my painfully prickling scalp and shuddering spine and thunder pounded in my ears. SO lucky, I'd had serious training at pulling logic into the equation. Sometimes it came reluctantly, but I learned to persevere against the odds; break it up into bite-sized pieces - that's what the psychoanalyst told me (twelve-letters) - a stepping stone (thirteen-letters if you hyphenate it) - along my path to recognition and acceptance (an eleven and a ten).

'Bite-size'? Well, Hippo- is horse in Greek and potam-os is river. So the first bit is a water horse or Hippopotamus - something very large. Monstr is old Greek for a monstrous being - huge, terrifying. And sesquippedalio is ancient Greek too, meaning measuring a foot and a half long. The word looked at least that long the first time I agonised through it. And phobos - morbid fear. Uh-oh... 'sweaties' start as I find myself in that precarious place... AGAIN. Quick. Break it up. Hippo/ poto/ monstro/ sesquipped/ alio/ phobia. See? All things ARE possible.

And the longest English word? Short puffs now, deep breaths, heavy sighs. I CAN do it! Mmm... but may need to 'study on it' for a L-O-N-G time.

It's a lung disease - FORTY FIVE LETTERS!

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

Author's Note: I know... some may recognise this (although re-written and pruned) from 3 years ago, almost to the day! Couldn't resist, especially when I played with it some and discovered it fit the 500 word suggestion - absolutely! Even the last word only counts as one! Go figure that!