Time for something fun: a story contest. The people below are not anyone I know. They are standing in front of a fairly popular roadside stop in the Midwest.

Your job is to come up with a creative and frightening story to explain this photo, while adhering to the following five rules.

Rule #1: It doesn’t have to have anything to do with the actual real-life subject of the photo.

Rule #2: It has to use the name “Jimmy.”

Rule #3: Don’t ask why I chose “Jimmy.” I’m the boss, that’s why, and I wanted to insert a random guideline into the contest. Also, Jimmy is a funny name.

Rule #4: Your story must contain five sentences. No more. No less.

Rule #5: Your story must be frightening, moody, mysterious, or otherwise scary in tone.

The winner gets a free signed copy of Pocket Guide to the Bible. Of course, at only $6.99 a piece, we’re all winners. Am I right, people?

The contest will last until 9 am central time tomorrow, at which point I’ll choose my favorite five-sentence story. To get things started, my submission is below. (It is prohibited from winning, however, as I already have plenty of copies of Pocket Guide to the Bible.)

A highway rest stop became a place of terror when Jimmy’s dog Scuppers suddenly disappeared. They found him a quarter mile away, licking an enormous hairball. Just as they began wondering what sort of beast had produced this monstrosity, a man shouted “Smile!” and took their stunned photo. The man disappeared before the flash had faded from their eyes. Seven years later, Jimmy died.