I remember it was so cold that morning that it took a while for my arms to pull the covers closer. Either way it was unbearable; and as much as I tried to sleep, I couldn’t. With reluctance, I glared at my morning adversary. 7:15 it told me. I turned around to fall back asleep until my alarm went off or maybe even a little after that. It’s not like I set it for anything important; it was just so I didn’t sleep the whole day away. For the past couple weeks that’s all I’ve wanted to do. I had no plans, there were invites to parties, but I guess I forgot to respond in time. Not like that was a bad thing; recent experience had taught me it’s best to build a wall around you and society with no doors. If no one could enter, no one could hurt you.

I sat up, sick of lying still, and looked at the clock again. It was supposed to go off at 7:15! Why wasn’t it going off? The red dot on the corner of the illuminated numbers reassured me that I did set the alarm. I shrugged it off; I was up anyways. My eyes shifted to the window, to see if the sun would reassure me that the day was going to get better. Apparently it wasn’t. The panes of the window were blanketed with a sheet of frost.

I cursed as I jumped back, banging my head against the headboard, which like all my other junkie furniture was already on its last leg. It was June! Nothing was allowed to be frosty in June; it’s a federal law here in California.

I got up, walking over to my door. My fingers stuck as I grasped the handle. I twisted it. No budge. It was also then I realized my hands were stuck. I frowned, jiggling the doorknob, pushing, pulling. Nothing. Finally, by pushing my foot against the door, I was able to pull my hand back. I screamed; I expected to find layers of skin attached to my doorknob.

‘Nope, I’m just a wuss,’ I thought, ‘nothing out of the ordinary. Except…’ I glanced at the still shut door. From what little light that escaped the glazed window, I could see the whole door was iced.

The phone rang. I raced to it hoping the person on the other end would be crazy enough to believe what was going on.

I slid on the floor, gliding over to my nightstand, and nearly knocking over the table along with the phone in the process. Glancing down, I realized the wooden floor was slick.
I frantically pressed the talk button, “Hullo? Hello?” The phone rang loudly in my ear. I jabbed the button continuously, “Hello?!” The phone continued to ring until gave up, transferring to my answering machine.

“ ’ey Cody, it’s me Ty.” Ty sighed, “Look, I know you’re still upset about… well what she did. But that doesn’t mean you should’ve ditched Jackie like that. Jackie’s not like her one bit. In fact, this stupid hermit attitude has gone on for too long.” He sighed again, this time, more tiresome and frustrated, “What I really wanted to ask was if you could pick me up for work, but seeing that you don’t even bother to answer your own phone- I’ll see you later.”

“Wait! Ty!” I shouted into the phone, my bright pink finger desperately stabbing the button, but it was too late. I chucked the phone against mattress and watched its coating of plastic shatter into a million shards.

I looked around the whole room everything glistened with a thick sheet of ice. The once spartan walls were clad in icicles, to the imaginative eye, it would have seemed like I had stolen some of Frosty the Snowman’s furniture. I was trapped in a mini replica of the North Pole, and yet all I could think of was the phone call.

Ty had no clue what he was talking about. He didn’t seem to understand that after going through one disaster of a relationship, facing another one was right under ballet dancing on my list of things to do. But he had no clue, and as much as I protested and whined, he set me up with my next door neighbor Jackie. Literally a brunette and yet stereotypically blonde with a deer in headlight kind of look, Jackie was capable of creating a headache a bottle of aspirin couldn’t cover. Even if he set me up with a girl whose name I could say without retching, I still would have stood her up. I just didn’t want to make another mistake. No one was going to make a fool out of me again. I would make sure of that.

I shuttered, the room temperature had dropped. I was going to die of hypothermia and there would be no one here to save me. Just me, all alone.
‘Blankets.’ I eyed my dull colored blankets that seemed more depressed than before. I tried to pry them off my bed, but they refused. My closet and dresser wouldn’t budge either. Oh, crud.

‘Well, you’re not dreaming,’ throbbed my finger still pink from the collision with the phone.

No one was in my house, my phone didn’t work, but I could still try the window. Just me;all alone. The internal winter bit harder than the external.I frantically searched for something to smash it with, but everything was frozen together. Death was a certainty but the leading factor was a tie between the cold, and insanity.

I began banging on the window, hoping someone was conveniently outside with a pickax in hand, “Help! Help me please!” I banged on the window one last time and pressed my forehead against the cool sticky window.My fright fueled the cold and my frustration was only only adding to it. I was going to die all alone, living the life of a hermit. ‘I s’pose that’s not much to take away,’ I thought, pitying my concluding fate.

‘You can blame yourself for that,’ said another thought, ‘you wanted alone, and so you are. But is it as safe as you had hoped?’

I directed my energy from shivering to pondering. I did this. I avoided the world, pushed away my friends, and yet expected a whole search team of them to aid me.

I looked at the window and saw Jackie walking her dog right in front of my window. I pounded and screamed for her, but gave up; she wouldn’t be able to hear me. Even if she could, it was too late. I could barely move or think any more. With what I had left, I crept over to my bed, but couldn’t get up. I collapsed on the wet floor, dreaming of the life I could’ve lead if I’d done things differently.

As I began to drift, I felt warm inside and at ease. I was no longer shivering, and the cold began to die away. I assumed that it was complete numbness setting in. And yet, someone was calling my name.

A drop of water woke me up, followed by another, and another. Irritated from being awakened, I sat up and looked around. Water streaked the walls and some gathered in pools on the floor. The sun was plunging through my window like a blade.

I was alive! I could start everything over again, and this time fear couldn’t veto my request. I would make sure of it.

SMASH! Shards of ice spiraled across the room, and groaned in their sharp high voices on the floor.

I gaped at the window to see a curly brunette head peak in. The girl’s pretty big green eyes scanned the room worriedly.

“Cody? Cody!”
“It’s ok, Jackie. I’m fine.” I walked over to the window only to see her holding a shovel with one hand.

“Whoa! Where’d you get that?!”
Her face flushed and her voice went over the English language speed limit, “Well I- You were hurt weren’t you?! I heard you screaming and when I came closer you were lying on the floor-right?! So I ran in my shed and grabbed this.” She waved her shovel, “And- I promise I’ll pay for the damage. I promise, I promi-”
“Jackie.” I hushed her, “It’s ok, really. I was in trouble. I-”
I looked around the floor, but there was no evidence of the incident at all.
“I just was having a nightmare; A really horrific nightmare.”

“Oh,” Jackie laughed hesitantly looking around in the room. Her eyes stopped and she laughed more whole heartedly.

“I guess I wasn’t the only one who went destruction happy,” she pointed to the remnants of my phone on my bed, “what did you do, throw it against the wall?”

“Yeah,” I chuckled, “ uhh…persistent telemarketer. Hey, do want to get coffee,” I looked at her sternly, “for real this time?”

It was then I noticed how pretty her smile was, as she nodded her head in agreement.