KNIGHTSOFCYDONIA

(what? and miss my chance to poke fun at religion?)

i've decided to try my hand at crusading . . . you know, minus the sword, the armor, the knights in white satin, the catholic guilt, the bloodshed and the trips to the middle east.

here's the challenge: in 300 words or less, i'm supposed to tell you . . .

one secret
one lie
one interesting quirk
one annoying habit
one of my best character traits, and
one of my favorite things in the whole world

what follows here encompasses all of the requisites above, but in no particular order. it is not an entirely original piece--as i have written about this story before--but rather a summary of a previous experience, which neatly fits the bill, methinks:

when my niece and nephew were little, they asked their parents for a pet. initially, they requested a fuliguline companion, but their pool was too small. next, they petitioned for a rabbit, bloviating and extolling the virtues of hares, but all to no avail. in the end, they got a hamster.

coco was a delightful hamster. petite, loyal, slow to anger, quick to laugh, clever with a blade-like wit, capacious cheeks and long, pearly white teeth, she--like all nocturnal creatures (and mobsters)--became active at night.

since i often babysat and am a notoriously light sleeper, in the evenings we’d necessarily move coco from the guest bedroom to the adjoining bathroom. coco, being the ever-gracious hostess, slept in the loo with nary an objection.

one morning, i awoke at the unholy hour of 3am for my usual early morning tinkle. with no lights or wits about me, i rolled from the toasty cosiness of my bed to the icily tenebrous bathroom. in complete darkness, i sat down on the toilet, and as my eyes adjusted to the stygian blackness, i strained to see little coco in her cage. but she was nowhere in sight.

calmly, i looked about, pondering coco’s whereabouts.

but as i reached for some tissue, a sudden dread enveloped me. i'd checked everywhere for coco. that is, everywhere save the toilet on which i was sitting.

absurd! she couldn't have. could she? how could she even get in there?

using my kegels, i stopped midstream and listened. then came the most horrifying, indeed, the most sickening sound i could have possibly heard at that moment . . .

splish . . . splash . . . splish . . . splash . . .

IT WAS COCO!

and i had just given her a golden shower.

can you figure out what's what?

ANSWERS THIS COMING FRIDAY.