Quinn Cozens had a love-hate relationship with Christmas
Christmas and Quinn Cozens were the ultimate odd couple. Quinn used to be as excited as any other kid for Dec. 25 until he grew bitter toward it.
Not long before America fell, Quinn never missed the opportunity to wish a famous man a happy birthday on Christmas. Not directly, but he grew to associate the day with Tuomas Holopainen, founder of his favorite symphonic metal band Nightwish.
Still, Quinn hated Christmas when he was in his mid-twenties more than the Grinch hated it. Quinn, his parents, and his sister Jackie would ride together to his great uncle’s place in a small town that boasted 3,500 people. The place was so packed, Quinn swore his great uncle hosted every one of those residents.
Whether one walked into the living room, kitchen, or even the bedrooms, they’d be shoulder to shoulder. He had to wear a tank top there half the time, even toward the end of December, and he’d still sweat bullets thanks to all the body heat.
When he, Jackie, and Jonas were younger, they’d join their cousins in one of the bedrooms and play video games for between five and seven hours. In those early days, Quinn started the countdown in October, he looked so forward to going.
But as he got older, the novelty wore off.
Quinn Cozens let his bitterness affect everyone around him
If you read about Quinn’s fitness empire imploding, you’ll know a few things about him. When he entered his twenties, Quinn grew conceited, cunning, and ruthless toward others.
He took it out on those around him after he crashed and burned as a personal trainer. He’d see his extended family once a year at that Christmas party, and everyone lapped him in success.
Jackie and his younger cousins were in college. Jonas lived out of state and made big bucks, with a sports car to show for it. His older cousins had families, their own homes, and rewarding careers. Quinn was stuck working in warehouse jobs he hated, struggling to make ends meet.
One year, he planted himself on the couch and sat there the entire time. He avoided conversation, giving one-word answers (if that) if anyone approached him. Quinn seethed over how he got so behind in life, and how he let everyone move ahead of him.
Christmas became a constant reminder of Quinn’s struggles
Quinn didn’t struggle long. But that dark age between the collapse of his personal training “empire” and when he finally got his life together as an indie sports writer felt like an eternity.
Of course, the extended family saw Quinn as a cancer. He came in, took up space, and talked to nobody. When he hit it big, nobody in that extended family gave a damn. Why would they? Given Quinn’s behavior when times were tough?
If Quinn thought he fell on tough times during his “dark ages,” he had another thing coming. In Beyond the Lost Horizon, he’s on ground zero of a coordinated terrorist attack that throws the United States into the ninth level of Hell.
Now Quinn can complain about his life going down the drain. But if he stops and complains, a terrorist will catch up and blow his brains out. Plus, he’s got a K-pop metal idol to look after since she can’t look after herself. So yeah, Quinn’s screwed. Get Beyond the Lost Horizon now and find out how screwed he is.
