SnotGoblin

My name is Chester Charles Compton. CC to my friends. I am 27 years old. I am prisoner 4453478 at King’s Mountain Detention Center. My crime is Murder.

He was always a loner. Time was nothing to him. People came and went but he never changed. The darkness overwhelmed him at times but never to the point of completely taking over. I always thought he would be normal one day. I was wrong. He is my best friend.



It was clear day in Tazewell, VA. Odd for Autumn. Usually the winds came from the Northwest bringing their harsh cold from the Artic. The harvest was bountiful and downtown was teeming with open markets. Local farmers selling their surplus to other locals who somehow never found the time to sow. Autumn is always a beautiful time. Someone once said that for something that symbolized death, it was so pretty.

Today was a special day. Today was the start of something new. He was sitting at Hardee’s watching the traffic signal got through it’s rotation. Sipping his coffee and having his bacon biscuit. Extra butter. As he watched the signal, staring past it to the farmer’s market, he saw her.


Johnson was born Johnson Harriet Dempsey on March 12, 1980. His parents were good, hard working people. His father worked at the local coal mines as a long wall operator. His mother was a cook at the hospital. He had no siblings but the house was filled with love. I’ve always wondered what went wrong. When Johnson was 8 he killed his dog. Well, not just killed. He tortured it and then after he gave the death blow with his first “real” hammer he proceeded to skin it and hang it’s corpse from the neighbors mailbox. “Special Delivery” he said. He made me watch him do it. I cried the entire time.

When we got to High School we did what most boys done. Drink whatever type of alcohol we could get our hands on. Smoke any type of cigarette we could bum. And chase skirts as much as they would allow. I met Susan then. She was your typical small town girl. Sundresses. Shoulder length brown hair. Brown eyes. Sandals. We dated all through high school till….

While I was doing pretty good for myself with Susan. Johnson however, was not very good with the ladies. Not that he didn’t try. Try he did. But, he just never had the knack for talking to a female. He just couldn’t relate. I tried to help him but he would have none of it. He said that they were all just whores and that they didn’t need to be treated special. Why?? I have no idea. Just what he said. So, needless to say, he never really dated through school. Granted he did lose his virginity at age 14. Two years before Susan and I went down that path. So I can’t say that he never succeeded.

We graduated school in the middle of the class. I was 45th and he was 46th out of 118 total. Not bad I say. We had two choices for a career after school. Armed forces or Mining. We both chose mining since it paid very good, and had the night shift which we both like to work. Johnson followed in his father’s footsteps and became a long wall operator. My father left when I was 3 so I tried to think of a job he might of done. So I became a pinner. The most dangerous job in a coal mine. I liked the challenge.


Long hours and even longer weeks working in the mines. I mean, we were lucky since we worked nights. I always felt sorry for the day shift. They never got to see the sun except for the drive to and from work. Underground all day in artificial light. I figured it might be like working in an office building or something. At least they can look out a window. These guys can’t. You are 2000 feet below ground with nothing but the bolts I have drilled into the top of the shaft holding the entire mountain up. Think about it. 2000 feet. That’s over 6 football fields underground with nothing but ½ inch bolts that are 3 to 5 feet long and spaced out in a 4 foot square pattern all through the top of the shaft. Water is an ever present enemy. You are far below the water table and so the constant hum of sump pumps are your only music. Fresh air is another obstacle. They got to pump it in. Also, the ever present thoughts of cave ins and Methane Gas exploding. Other than all that, it’s not a bad place to work. Like I said, pay very well.

Me being a pinner, I was fortunate to see other workers throughout the day. Johnson was not so lucky. Being up on the long wall or the “face” was a different animal indeed. He had the whole day to himself. Occasionally the scoop man would come up and say Hi to him. He used to answer him. Finally the scoop man stopped going up there. 12 hours a day 6 days a week all alone with your thoughts. No wonder he bean to shun away. First it was his family. They tried to talk to him. It only pushed him away more.

But never me. He never pushed me away. We were best friends since 2nd grade. It's hard to break a bond like that.

SnotGoblin

He told me what he saw. He told me over breakfast one morning after work at Cotton’s Drive In. We were sitting in the corner booth. I was more concerned over my sunny side up eggs being slightly undercooked and the tear in the red vinyl seat pinching me when he began speaking. In a hushed voice he said that he had saw something at work the night before. I thought that was odd. He rarely whispered to me. Other people yes, but not me. So he sparked my interest right there. Staring at my undercooked eggs, he started.

“Last night, you know I was on the long wall and all. Well, I was running the machine and it was cutting well into the face. At the start of the shift I refilled the water tanks that blow the dust down from the face since Brian on dayshift had forgotten. Seeing that I had full water tank and one tank lasts two shifts, I decided to crank the pump up a bit to blast that face better. Well, side effect of that was I could see better along the face. That’s when I saw it.”

“Saw what, Johnson? Saw what?”

“Her.”

Sarcastically I said, “Waddaya mean her? As in a female I am assuming”

“Yeah no shit Sherlock a fucking female you dumbass!! Ahhh to hell with you!”


“Wait, wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me you saw a woman at the face? What the hell, man? I mean, are you sure that you weren’t kinda taking a little nap then?”

“NO! I was not taking a fucking little nap!”

“Hey, keep it own OK? You don’t have to yell.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s OK, so no shit? You REALLY saw some woman standing there. What did she look like?”

“She had this thing around her. Like one of those Taco Bell Chicken Wraps that you like so much.”

I finished my sip of coffee. “Like a gown?”

“Well, yeah. She had long red hair and had these….these green eyes that…”

“That what?”

“I don’t know OK?? It was like she was looking inside me. Shit, I wasn’t paying attention and almost cut too much off the face. That would have been to hell to pay from the Foreman.”

“Yeah no shit. But anyway, where did she come from? Did she say anything?”

“I know this sounds crazy, but she just came out of the coal seam. For real man. Just like she walked right out of coal. It scared the hell out of me man and you know I don’t get scared at nothing.”

“True.”

“She said something to me. I was like she was trying to tell me something. Ahh hell man. Skip it. Finish your eggs up and we’ll talk about this later.”

I was done with my eggs. Damn things undercooked. But that wasn’t important right now. What was important was what the hell was going on? Johnson had never lied to me as far as I knew. I had tried to lie to him once. That didn’t work out. So he was telling the truth. He definitely saw something. He called it a red haired green eyed Taco Bell Chicken Wrapped woman. Maybe he was napping at the machine. No, that was foolish.

He dropped me off my house after breakfast. I watched him drive down the street four blocks down to his house. Shit, he still needs to change that brake light. I might not mention that to him today. He’s got enough on his mind. Stepping up on the mud porch, I shed my coal dust infused coveralls. My boots caked with Lee County mud once again. Walking into the house in nothing but my underwear I glance at the mirror. Funny how coal dust makes you look like you have mascara on. Taking a shower may scrub off the dirt, grime, and coal off your skin. Alas, it doesn’t wash it away from your soul. I am only 26 and already my body creaks and moans when I lie down for bed. Oh yes, the glamorous life of a coal miner.

Johnson didn’t ever say if he ever saw the woman at the face anymore. Perhaps, he kept that info to himself. Who’s to say? All I know is the next couple of months went pretty smooth at work. Day in day out the coal poured out the mine. I would kid Johnson about the woman and he would just give me a look of don’t talk about it.

Saturday, July 16. The day my world came to an end for the first time.

It started out as a normal day like any other except I had gotten the day off. So I decided it would be a Susan and me would go out to Lincolnshire Lake and do a little trout fishing. Maybe have a few beers and then grill out for dinner. I had it all planned out till I walked into the living room.

I spoke to Susan about our upcoming vacation in August at the beach. She was lying on the couch with her head pointed away from me. She was dead.

The doctors told me that it was highly unusual for a 26 year fit and healthy female to just have a heart attack. Through the tears, I managed to sign the release forms for her corpse.

I am not going to talk about the funeral.

The mines were kind enough to give two weeks off paid instead of the usual three days you got for bereavement. That was very kind of them.


So, I was sitting at Hardee’s watching the traffic signal got through its rotation. Sipping my coffee and having a bacon biscuit. Extra butter. As I watched the signal, staring past it to the farmer’s market, I saw her.

The pain. I cannot begin to describe the pain that I felt. It was Susan. She was calling me. Her flowing red hair was blowing gently in the breeze. The burial gown was unsoiled. It was shining brightly in the morning sun. I wanted to go to her. But first all the pain I felt and all the sorrow must be shared.

I pulled my 9mm Beretta from my right jacket pocket. Then I checked my left pocket for the extra clips. Stood up, blew a kiss to Susan, turned around and opened fire on the customers. I never knew biscuits could really explode.