Invisible ink

The only redeemable feature of my ugly handwriting is that it is illegible. A secret code that only I can read (and sometimes so secret that not even I can read it). What consternation, then, to be presented with a “Secret Agent Pen” that writes in invisible ink. The task was to write down responses to feedback that I do not wish to be read. Writing without leaving a trace and therefore honestly. But this is a ploy for children and the ink is not really invisible. It becomes visible in the light of the small torch that comes attached to the pen. And even the most illegible hand can be deciphered with the right amount of patience. Just as James Joyce could pride himself on writing two sentences in a day, so I can take pride in fishing two lines out of a tangle of cancellations even if it takes me all week.