They Locked Me in the Freezer and Forgot I Existed Chapter 1
The day of the school field trip, I had a hundred-and-four-degree fever.
Mom didn't care whether I lived or died. She took my brother and walked out the door.
Before leaving, she turned to Grandma. "Keep an eye on her, Mom. Don't let her make a fuss."
Grandma came into my room. She looked at the sweat soaking through my sheets, and her face twisted with disgust.
"What a nuisance," she said. "It's just a fever. You're not dying. Stop being so dramatic."
She ripped the blanket off me, grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of bed.
"A little cold will knock a fever right out. Doctors and medicine are just a waste of money."
I stumbled and fell to my knees, kowtowing frantically, my forehead cracking against the tile floor with dull, hollow thuds.
"Grandma, I'm sorry, I know I was wrong, please, don't put me in the freezer. I'll die!"
She ignored me completely. She opened the chest freezer, shoved me inside, and pushed the lid down.
"You're not going to die. Take a nap, sweat it out. I'll let you out when I get back from my card game."
Bang! The lid slammed shut. Then came the click of the padlock snapping into place.
I pounded against the walls with everything I had, but my breathing was already slowing. Every sound I made was swallowed by the steady drone of the compressor.
I didn't know how long it had been.
Ice crystals formed on my lips. My vision blurred. My eyelids grew unbearably heavy.
Before I lost consciousness entirely, only one silent, delirious thought remained.
Grandma.
Kate Dickerson knows she was wrong.
Next life, I promise I'll never get a fever again.
...
I thought my life was going to end right there.
Then came the sound of a key turning in the front door.
"Herbert! Honey! Mom! I'm home!"
That familiar voice. It was like a spark catching fire inside my chest.
It was Dad.
Dad was home!
But almost instantly, my heart sank.
How could it be?
It had to be a hallucination.
Dad was away on a business trip. There was no way he was back.
Mom had taken my brother out. Grandma had gone to play cards.
There was no one home.
Despair swallowed me again.
Through the haze, I heard footsteps drawing closer.
My eyes flew open.
Riiip.
The crisp, wet sound of my frozen eyelids tearing apart rang in my ears.
My body was encased in ice. I couldn't move at all.
A desperate idea surged into my mind.