Challenge Fun #92 - Win a 3 Month CM or Points!
Write a horror story (400 words max) including the following words:
Excitement
Travel
Ladybugs
Hamburger
Snow
Midnight
Bowtie
Deadline is Monday Feb. 15th The winner will get a 3 month core membership or the equivalent 1200 
Prizes will be awarded within the first two weeks of the following month
We pulled up to the side of the gas station. Finally.
We had been on the road for hours, but still had many miles to travel. My back and my thighs were drenched with sweat from having been sitting on the leather seat for so long. I grabbed my sore, wet neck, taking off my bowtie, as I turned back to look behind me. Bella had her little eyes closed, her head nestled against Caleb’s booster seat. These little angels had lost all their excitement to the sweltering heat, and were utterly exhausted. I then turned to Ruth.
“We sure miss the snow back home now, don’t we?” She nodded her head, cracking but half a smile. I kept my voice low, to not wake the kids. “Listen. Maybe, we shouldn’t stop at the inn. It will only set us back more. And we have about a single day to make it there.”
She glanced over at the kids. Her hand gently caressed Bella’s hair. “I’ll take the wheel come midnight. But we should get snacks while we’re here.”
With heavy weakness in my arm, I opened my door. My nostrils dried up from the rush of hot air that engulfed them. As she stepped out, leaving the kids asleep, I took a look around and was at a peculiar ease by how vacant it was.
We approached the front of the store. There were long, deep cracks on the wall. The windows entrapped an eerie darkness from inside. I opened the door, and as we stepped in: the sound of silence.
The only light on was that of the setting sun’s rays peaking in from the glass. Dust covered the tile floor. There was no one at the register.
As I walked up to the counter, I noticed a pair of dead ladybugs, their shells perched by the phone.
“This is weird,” said Ruth. “Let’s make this quick, because I don’t like this place very much. You look for the drinks, and I’ll get the hamburger buns.”
I began to make my way towards the back, where the drinks were.
But as I got closer, I caught sight of a haunting message on the refrigerator door:
Help Me
I slid it open.
And I reached for the last apple juice, only to uncover a bloodied, severed human finger lying behind it.
When Miss Bua first laid eyes on her newborn, her first reaction was to scream. She had caught sight of that thing on her son.
Confused, Joe had looked up at his mother, blinking at her terrified expression. Then, he looked down at what his mother was looking at. Still, he did not know why this protrusion between his lower legs made his mother weep and scream. Before he knew it, he was forced to travel to the Den, where all defective children were sent.
The ladies there were kind to him. They ensured him that he will return to his mother as soon as he was “cleansed.” The only food offered there were hamburgers, but Joe didn't mind, as they didn’t taste too bad.
Finally, it was the day of his cleansing. The ritual had to be done at midnight, when the moon was high, to signify the start of the cleansing. The one who was to be cleansed had to wear a blue bowtie to the ritual. Joe did not quite like the bowtie tradition. It was tied too tight for comfort, and he resisted the urge to pull on it. Still, it did not stop his excitement from overflowing. He had wanted to return to his mother since the day he had arrived at the Den. As he waited at the ritual circle, he watched in awe as white flakes fell from the sky. It was the first time he’d seen snow.
A lady finally arrived at the circle. She smiled warmly at Joe, before reaching out, ripping the bowtie from his neck and tearing it to pieces. Joe looked on, baffled. Why bring the bowtie when it was just going to be destroyed? Before he could ask, the lady brandished a blade, and put it next to the flesh that had made his mother scream during his birth. Suddenly, he felt very afraid. Joe tried to move away, but his limbs wouldn’t let him. As he watched the blade dig deeper, her realized he did not want to go home.
A scream ripped through the sky. Red blossoms bloomed through the wet snow. The sky blurred as tears streamed out of Joe’s eyes. He looked up at the lady, who was still smiling.
“Congratulations,” she spoke, softly, “You have been cleansed. You are now a truly one of the ladybugs.”
A twist fit for M. Night Shymalamadingdong.
"They could be anything" he said.
Later we all bought hamburgers and I left mine to go to the bathroom. When I returned my hamburger was gone, someone must have eaten my hamburger! My friends were secretly pulling a prank on me, they put a bowtie into my bottle and when they all looked away it turned to snow,
"Guys, I think the evil ladybugs are here!" I shouted.
Later at midnight we were all asleep, it was very hot. My friend picked up the bottle and drunk it. Suddenly he started screaming as blood poured out his mouth,
"I drunk the bugs..." he said before he collapsed and died. The bugs tore through the skin of his chest and crawled into our beds.
When the police found the body, we were all put in prison for murder.
The end.
P.s. Farand FAlLURE PuzzledHeartBox Shikeyy Sinny needs nice, supportive writer friends!
i need core membership more 
Can't help you there.. I've barely got any points.
Aight.
The plane landed just before midnight but the initial excitement over my month long travel getaway turned sour when I discovered the only food in the remote Canadian town I was visiting was bowtie pasta made from ladybugs and hamburger made from murdered eskimos served with a glass of snow.
