Johnson County Library is pleased to announce the winners of our Scary Story Youth Writing Contest. "Counting Candy" by Scarlet He won in the 11 and under age category.
Counting Candy
by Scarlet He
“C’mon, we should be heading back to the house now, Gabby.”
“Alright, Walterson, let’s go then.”
Walterson and Gabby quickly strode back to Gabby’s house, where her mom was awaiting their arrival. Walterson looked up and he was met with a navy blue swirl of stars, lit by the moon (or the glowing circle of cheese, as Gabby called it). Suddenly, Gabby stumbled and fell, scattering her candy around. Some pieces fell into an oddly colored puddle, and Gabby was quick to scoop them up and put them back in the basket. Walterson was disgusted, and he tucked his brown hair behind his ear before saying, “Gabby, that’s revolting! That was on the ground, you know.”
“Five second rule!” Gabby replied, shaking a finger at him.
Walterson rolled his eyes before continuing on the way, leaving Gabby to catch up.
“I got more candy than you!”
“What?! No fair, Gabby! You went to way more houses!”
“Nope, I’m just better! PHHBLT!”
Walterson flinched as Gabby sitting opposite him blew a raspberry at him, the glistening globs of spit landing on his cheek. He shook his raspberry colored bangs out of his face before scrunching his nose.
“Ew! Control yourself!” He screeched while feverously wiping his cheek. Gabby smirked and popped a pepper drop into her mouth. Walterson knew that she was finally ahead of him at something for once, and she wouldn’t be letting it go for a long time. While chewing her peculiar flavored pepper drop, she put her arm on the table and exclaimed with the candy still in her mouth, “So how many pieces have you got? I got 67!”
Little bits of the candy flew across the table. Walterson looked down at them, disgusted by the obnoxious behavior. He composed himself and stared at his friend with a disgusted look on his face. “51. Not much less than yours.”
“Still less though.”
Gabby started unwrapping a piece of soggy candy that had fallen into the puddle earlier. Walterson watched with genuine interest, because he knew that she had dropped it in that puddle, and there was something definitely wrong with it. He wanted to tell her that she should be careful, but he couldn’t.
“You probably shouldn’t be opening that.” Walterson began, waving his hands in front of his face as a grotesque smell arose from the treat. Gabby must’ve caught a whiff head on, because she flinched heavily, turning her head around and sticking out her tongue for the second time that night. It reminded Watterson of when they were little, playing thumb war. He always won back then, but it was because he was strong back then too. Nowadays, it was a mixture.
“Gabby! Don’t open that-“Walterson began in a panic, but it as to no avail. With one fast movement, Gabby ripped apart the wrapper like an envelope. Her hands caught on something slimy and grotesque. She screamed, grabbing her own body in an attempt to escape, the writhing thing growling fiercely. They stared with gaping mouths as the creature arose from its slumber, thunder crackling in the sky. He had only one thought in his mind: they were going to die.
Walterson and Gabby exploded from the house, bolting down the street as if they were in a triathlon. As he and his friend were running down the street, panicked, Gabby turned around to see her house practically explode due to the sheer force of the tentacles, bricks and debris flying through the air, crashing and disturbing the peace in their little town. Gabby’s eyes widened in surprise, rather than shock. Walterson noticed she was lost in thought, stopping in her tracks to stare at the chaos, and he quickly pulled her away. She determinedly ran back, and Walterson was forced to follow her.
Gabby dashed back towards the house, gasping from the chemical toxin that was now filling the air.
“Gabby, wait!” Walterson coughed and wheezed, falling to his knees as he looked at the silhouette of Gabby near the house. She picked up a fire extinguisher, and thrusted it at the lovecraftian thing that was inside her house. It simply bounced off, releasing its dry powder into the air. Walterson rushed over to help her up, and that’s when he spotted a cleaver lying in the remains of the kitchen. It still had a little tomato sauce on it. The knife that Gabby’s mom was using!
Walterson crawled over to pick it up, and he spotted a little glowing lump where all the tentacles were sprouting from. He lifted the knife in the air, and with a loud thud, he chopped the lump in half. Suddenly, all the tentacles retracted and disappeared into the lump, which morphed back into a piece of innocent candy. Gabby limped over, the fire extinguisher in one hand, her scrunchie in the other.
“What..? What just happened?” Gabby whispered in shock this time, her mouth agape.
“..Don’t expect me to know.” Walterson merely mumbled back, sinking down to the floor in exhaustion. The tentacles were gone- but possibly not forever.
“Oh. My. Gosh. Walterson J. McKurney, you are a HERO!” Gabby tackled him to the floor, smiling and overrun with glee.
“Not really- haha!” Walterson grinned, pushing Gabby off, laughing. He realized that despite their flaws and fights, they were still truly one team.