The Deep Freeze

Part 1

Frozen, scared and all alone....Michael groaned and clutched his head. "It's so cold in here." He shivered. His face numb from the arctic blast coming from above. It was dark except for the glimmer of light coming from the window of the freezer door. His hand was swollen from the handle of the shovel being vibrated as he hit the door repeatedly. He felt raspy. The screams didn't help much either. A thought went through his mind; "I'm going to catch Hell for this." A light joke helped. "I better just get comfortable until I see the lights come back on in the morning. If I am going to be in here all night, I can't use all my energy on a useless knock that nobody will hear. That much is obvious."

"I'm no queer but I sure could use a pair of those ruby slippers that Dorothy wore in The Wizard of Oz." He thought as he shivered even harder. He remembered watching it with his parents a few years ago. "That would be a nice place to return to if I had a choice." He pondered. "There's no place like home! There's no place like home!".....It didn't hurt to try but alas, there he was, still frozen. Michael crouched in the corner of the freezer. "I've got to figure out what to do or I will freeze to death". The worried look in his face was painful. It was time to do something drastic before he also became a frozen slab of meat. "There has to be a way to get out of this place, but how?" He picked up the shovel again and started whaling it in every direction. "I wish I had more strength." Something snapped! It was the power. "Thank God!" and he threw the shovel and slouched into his corner hanging his head down, exhausted. Michael was breathing so hard he felt pain in his lungs. His hands lay flat on the floor with his palms facing up. His arms and legs were stretched all the way out as if they would never move again.

The freezer stayed at a constant temperature....Cold as Hell. "Cold as Hell? Well if that isn't an oxymoron statement I don't know what is because I'm not connecting the two. In fact, I would definitely take Hell over this cold right now." He thought about Meg. The simple flash picture that went through his mind warmed him. His feelings for her ran deep. He felt a tingle downstairs and felt movement in his pants. It didn't seem too appropriate for this to be happening at a time like this but it sure got his blood flowing. The freezer seemed warmer than ever. The fan was no longer blowing and Michael finally got up and moved around a bit. The window was his only outlet to the world even though the world beyond it was empty also. Michael could see the food in some of the isles and started wondering why people ate some of it. "What is organic anyway?" Michael wondered. "An egg is an egg to me. Same with vegetables and rice or any other stupid branded food they call organic. I mean, do people really give a shit or is it the hype that sells that stuff?"

"What was that?" The noises started to get to Michael. He was dilerious from the cold and stress. The storm outside was whipping and blowing snow that would make a blind man see again. Michael had no idea the storm of the century was happening. The amount of time he would be spending in the freezer was much longer than he realized. Time seemed to stop for Michael. He knew it had to be close to morning. The freezer was not as cold now and the light coming from the window seemed more natural as if the sun was slipping under the front door licking the window and teasing him.

He heard something. This time it was in the freezer. As he opened his eyes he could see something coming at him. He ducked to avoid it and held his arms over his head. Something struck him. Crash! One of the meat trays came crashing down, throwing meat everywhere. "It has to be the freezer thawing?" He questioned.

He caught something from the corner of his eye again. He braced himself, ready for more meat trays to come tumbling down, tossing meat all over him. He looked up; Still nothing. Again...there! Wait. It wasn't the trays this time. His heart started racing. He didn't know what to think. He had to be imagining all of this. "Stress does weird things to people right?" He hoped as he realized how much he had on his mind already. "If I close my eyes it will go away" and he started rocking back and forth, crossing his arms and tucking his hands underneath them as tight as he could.