The theme of this week (“I’m so cold my bones have frozen”)
is appropriate, as winter temperatures seem to be here forever, at least for
author Cathy MacKenzie. Her most recent publication, BETWEEN
THESE PAGES, is a compilation of 18 short stories. The book
is available on Amazon and Smashwords:
Frozen in Time
Until Vivian heard her
husband’s voice, she wondered if she had actually spoken.
“What?” John said.
Despite the cold, warm
relief rushed through her body at his reply. She yearned to touch him, but her
arms were bolted to her sides. Icy crisps filled her mouth when she attempted
to speak, but she made another attempt.
"So cold.
Freezing."
"You're always
cold," John said.
“No, it’s truly cold,
John. It is. So cold I can barely breathe." She swallowed more frosty
crystals, which melted as they cruelly descended down her throat. John was a raging
furnace, especially in bed, unlike Vivian who was continually chilled and
craved his warmth on winter nights. A vision of the two of them snuggling in
bed formed before her.
Panic set in when he
didn't reply. "Can you hear me? John?”
“I hear you.”
“Cold. Very cold. Where
are you?” Vivian said. The arctic hardness weighting her down was colder and
longer-lasting than any other she had experienced. She hated the cold, always
had.
“Vivian?”
“I’m here. Can’t see.”
Though it took great effort to open her mouth and Vivian felt she should
conserve her energy, she had to talk to her husband. Had to know he was near
despite the glacial dankness.
Vivian heard a muffled
reply. At least she thought she did. Had he spoken? Why couldn't she see him?
“Can you see me?” she
said.
In the muted silence, time
remained still. Frozen. Could they be? Or was it just her? Vivian remembered
the day—or thought she had. Had she and John gone skiing, as they usually did
on the weekends? It was still winter, right? To whom was she talking? Was John
there?
"John?"
"I'm here."
"What's happening?
Where are we?"
"I…not sure,” he
said, hesitation and uncertainty obvious in his voice.
"Are we in a dream?
Am I dreaming? I can usually wake myself out of a dream, when I want to. I want
to now. But I can't."
“Vivian, that's hogwash.
If you can do that, then you're not really asleep. I've told you that
before."
“Just
humour me. Try to wake
yourself up, John.”
Vivian heard nothing in
response but the cold. Could one hear cold? Certain she could, she shivered
though tightly encased in her arctic prison. Pressure numbed her ears as liquid
trudged down her eardrums.
John was trying to wake
up, she knew it. Both of them must awake from the horrid dream they were
immersed in. But when had they ever shared the same nightmare? When had they
ever discussed dreaming within a dream?
“No, I’m still awake,”
John said. “Or asleep. Whatever I am. Nothing’s changed.”
Vivian would have sighed
in desperate resignation, had she been able to. But a swallow of another clump
of ice crisps was all she could muster.
“Vivian...I...love...”
Silence ruled. Although
it seemed a lifetime elapsed, Vivian knew it was merely minutes. How could a
life pass by that fast?
“Vivian, you there?” John’s
voice sounded weaker.
“Yes...here. But... I’m sinking, John. Sinking somewhere...not
sure where... I...” She closed her mouth, then parted her lips. The life sucked
from her. Although unable to utter her last words—“I’m so cold my bones have frozen”—she
suspected John already knew.
***
The
Spot Writers- our members:
RC Bonitz
http://www.rcbonitz.com
http://www.rcbonitz.com
Val Muller
http://www.valmuller.com/blog/
http://www.valmuller.com/blog/
Catherine A. MacKenzie
http://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/
http://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/
Melinda Elmore
http://www.authormelindaelmore.blogspot.com/
http://www.authormelindaelmore.blogspot.com/
