Colt Skinner is a typical Canadian dad who spends his days giving up his seat on the bus and holding open doors for strangers. However, while he’s being polite he is also daydreaming about serial killers, eldritch monsters, and what it would feel like to be drawn and quartered. Inspired by his real-world experiences of being the lead singer of a punk rock band, nightclub bouncer, goat farmer, private investigator and well-rounded degenerate, Colt’s stories feature rich characters in down-to-earth situations highlighting that more often than not it is the people sitting next to us we should fear, not the creatures who go bump in the night.
His debut novel, The God Damn Dead, arrives in the fall of 2023, through D&T Publishing.
You can read more from Colt right HERE.
FRIENDLY FIRE
by
Colt Skinner
“Who do you think you’ll have for English this year?” Christopher asked.
Peter shrugged, then prodded the fire with a stick, sending a column of cinders into the air. “Doesn’t really matter.”
Hugging his knees, Christopher shrugged and slumped forward on the log he was seated upon. A breeze drifted from the lake, carrying the stinging scent of crisping leaves with it. Soon, the trees would turn colours and the waters would darken, but for now, summer still held sway over all living things in the woods and lake.
“You think Jessica Laramie’s tits are gonna be any bigger when we see her at school next week?” Christopher asked while picking up a long stick. He placed a marshmallow at the end of it, then held the delicacy over the remains of their once great fire.
Peter smirked, it was the first time he had in days.
“There we go!” Christopher cheered. “See, if I knew I could make you smile just by mentioning boobs, I would have been talking about titties as soon as we got to this cottage.”
As quickly as it came, the smirk on Peter’s face disappeared.
“Aww, come on guy,” Christopher whined. “What now?”
Peter looked away from his friend, and into the obsidian laced forest surrounding them. After a quiet moment, one which lasted far too long, he said, “I asked her out, you know?”
“Jessica?” Christopher grimaced. “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Peter recoiled. “I didn’t want anyone to know,” he grumbled.
“So, what happened?”
“Obviously, she turned me down.”
“Sucks. I’m sorry, man,” Christopher said.
“No, I’m sorry,” Peter said while wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye. “I don’t mean to be so pissy all the time.”
Another quiet moment followed, this one pregnant with worry and confusion and distance. As the swelling tension reached a crescendo, Peter shouted, “DUDE!” and pointed at the burning glob of sugar on the end of Christopher’s stick.
“AH FUCK!” Christopher screamed.
He pulled the delicacy out of the flames and mashed it into the nearby dirt. With the fiery treat snuffed out, Christopher stood, walked over to the fire, and kicked the remaining logs over, sending another plume of cinders into the air.
“What the hell,” Peter exclaimed.
Christopher walked away from the fire and stared out across the night-black lake. “You know, you could have told me you were gonna ask Jessica out.”
Peter sighed. “I couldn’t man.”
“Why not?”
“Cause…”
Christopher looked back at Peter, his eyes bulging and furious. “No, tell me why not! I thought I was your best friend?”
“Dude, you are my best friend, that’s why I couldn’t tell you!”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Christopher said with a wave.
Peter stood. “I knew she was gonna turn me down, okay! I didn’t tell you about it, because I didn’t want you to know what a nobody I am.”
Christopher dug the toe of his sneaker into the earth. “Shit,” he said, “it’s okay man, we’re both nobodies. At least you had the balls to ask a girl out.”
“She was such a fucking cunt about too,” Peter sneered.
“Really?” Christopher said with a grin.
Peter nodded. “She told all her bitch friends about it. They’ve been laughing at me all summer. Remember when we were in town, hanging out in front of Zeke’s, and I just got up and walked away?”
Christopher nodded.
“It was because Jessica and her crew were there, and they kept looking at me and whispering and laughing, and…,” Peter clamped his hands to the sides of his head. “GOD! Why am I such a fucking loser!”
Peter’s cry went into the night. A moment later, a light came on inside the cottage. Backlit in the bedroom window, Christopher’s father looked out. The boys felt their stomachs tighten under his gaze. Both half hoped that the man would simply turn the light off again, but both also wished that he would come outside and check on them. When it became apparent that Christopher’s father was waiting for the boys to dictate his involvement in their lives, Christopher gave the old man a thumbs up, which the silhouetted patriarch begrudgingly returned before finally turning off the light.
With the adult gone, Christopher walked over to his friend, and placed a tender hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You know, we don’t have to be nobodies. We could do it.”
Peter steadied himself, and looked deeply into Christopher’s eyes. “It? You mean…what we’ve talked about?”
Christopher nodded. “I know you said you didn’t want to before, but things are different now. Aren’t they?”
Peter was silent, neither asking his friend to continue, nor to stop.
“I can’t make it through another year, Pete,” Christopher said. “Not with everyone breathing down my fucking neck the way they have been. And, I’m not going to college either. My grades were shit all last year, and they’re not gonna get better with the tougher courses my dad made me take this semester. What about you? Are things better now than when we last spoke about it?”
Slowly, deliberately, Peter shook his head.
“I’m tired of being a nobody, Pete. Aren’t you tired of feeling like a nobody?”
Peter bowed his head, and nodded.
“We can be somebodies,” Christopher exclaimed. “And we can show everyone else what nobodies they really are!”
Afraid and timid, yet excited, Peter looked up. “When…when would we do it?”
“Next week,” Christopher answered immediately. “First day of school.”
Another breeze came from the lake, this one colder; an autumn wind without warmth or kindness. It made the campfire sputter, and the remaining flames smouldered into ash.
“Do you still have the combo to your dad’s gun safe?” Peter asked.
Christopher’s smile widened and when he nodded it was with glee.