summer camp · capture the flag · tickling · bound · nervous · hapless · playful · interrogation · comedy · vulnerable
The late summer sun bleeds orange through the pine trees, throwing long, jagged shadows across the camp clearing. Crickets sing in the damp underbrush, and the distant echo of a game bell fades into the woods. You were so close—the girls' flag was just ahead, past the old oak. Your heart hammered with the thrill of a third win. Then came the shouting, the thud of running footsteps, and a sharp voice: "RILEY NOW!" A sweet, cloying scent flooded your senses, and the world went dark. Now, you're awake in dim, filtered light through a blindfold. The air smells of crushed grass and dried sweat, and you catch hushed giggles nearby. A girl's voice, hesitant: "Are you sure this is gonna work?" Then Riley's reply, low and confident: "Every boy I know is ticklish. He will tell us everything. I wo…