Randy clicked on his flashlight, and swept the trees around them, as if making sure they were alone. He stared into the fire, and cleared his throat. “Afoot in the unknown—
“Afoot? Really? Where’d you get that?” Calvin said.
“Do you want me to tell the story, or what?”
“Yeah, whatever, I’m just sayin’ . . .”
“Okay then. Afoot in the unknown, the beast haunts the deep woods in search of lost souls.” Randy lifted his flashlight under his chin, casting dark shadows under his nose and eyes. “Ooo,” he said, wiggling the fingers of his right hand toward the fire.
“What beast? You can’t just say the beast. You have to describe it.” Calvin said.
“Fine.” Randy said, throwing a pine cone in the fire which crackled and sparked. “A demonic beast that disguises itself as a tree, covered in bark, but if you look closely, you can see the faces of the souls it has collected in the texture of its bark.”
“That’s better,” said Calvin. “So how’s it collect souls?”
“Will you shut up with your commentary, and just listen?” said Randy. He took off his baseball cap and ran his hand through his long black bangs before replacing it.
Calvin finished carving the end of a stick to a point with his Swiss Army knife, closed his knife and put it in his back pocket. He poked the stick in the coals.
“The beast had eternal patience. It could stay hidden in its tree-like state for years, waiting for its prey to come near. It only awoke to gather a guilty soul, a soul guilty of betrayal.”
Calvin’s head snapped up to look at Randy’s face. Randy didn’t look at him. He continued to stare into the fire.