Personal Thursdays: A Captured Crusader (First Crusader Challenge)

The Challenge

In 300 words or less, tell us:

· one secret

· one lie

· one interesting quirk

· one annoying habit

· one of your best character traits, and

· one of your favourite things in the whole world.

The post can be in any format, including poetry (for those poets among us), but must include the random words, “bloviate,” “fuliguline,” “rabbit,” and “blade” (tee hee).

Finish your post with something along the lines of, “I may have revealed something about me that isn’t strictly true, can you guess what it is?” (this last bit isn’t included in the word count). And don’t forget to tell us the answer in your next post!

Once you’ve posted your Challenge post, pop back here and link directly to it in the linky tool below (make sure you include the direct link to that post, not just the link to your blog).

Entries in the First Crusader Challenge will close next Friday, February 25th (at 11.59pm EST), so make sure you get your post in the linky link before then!

A Captured Crusader

(Flash Fiction)

The chains clanked around my wrists. I blinked in the dim light when my captor removed the blindfold.

"You crusaders are breeding blog followers like a rabbit on fertility drugs. I won't stand for it." The masked man slapped the wall beside my head, and I winced.

"My fellow crusaders are awesome, but I won't bloviate about them either. We're simple writers who want to build our platforms, nothing more," I said.

"Tell me your secret word."

"Never."

He removed a dagger from its sheath. The blade gleamed in the single overhead bulb. "Tell me."

"Fuliguline."

"Very good. Now tell me your deepest, darkest secret."

I felt the blade slice gently into my flesh. "I-I like Britney Spears music. I don't know why, but it's so catchy."

"A quirk and an annoying habit?"

A bead of blood appeared. I didn't want to say more, but I had little choice. My life and the crusaders depended upon it. "I twitch when I get stressed out, and I have a tendency to repeat myself. I don't think people listen to me, so I sometimes say the same words or phrases over and over again. I—"

"What is your best character trait?"

"M-my character trait? Well, like my Chinese zodiac sign, I'm a very loyal puppy dog, even though I'm more of a cat person."

"Tell me more, and it better be honest."

"One of my favorite things used to be singing in the choir. I loved when we would fly out and give performances like at Disney World and in Central Park. My favorite thing now is to write. There's nothing better. It keeps me sane, alive."

"Enough! I know you lied somewhere in here." He turned to the crusaders. "Find the lie, and I might let your fellow crusader live."

My life depends on you crusaders to figure out the lie. The stunning conclusion will come in tomorrow's Flash Fiction Fridays.