The Boy They Left in the Freezer

On the morning of the entrance exams, my parents locked me inside the family freezer to keep me from outshining Ethan. They thought they were saving him from a

prophecy. By the time they realized the prophecy was a lie, I had already frozen to death with my hand still raised against the door.

My limbs felt like they had been filled with lead. On the other side of the door, I could hear Ethan Voss, Ethan.

"Mr. Voss, Mrs. Voss, just let Caleb out. His grades are amazing. You can't make him miss the entrance exams..."

"Shut up!" Mrs. Voss's voice was sharp and furious.

"How can you stand there and defend him? Have you forgotten what he did the year he got first place? How he was standing right in front of you, showing off?"

I knew exactly which time she meant. I was ten. I had scored a perfect 100 on the math test, 20 points higher than Ethan. I ran home holding the paper up, so excited my face was flushed.

"I'm better than Ethan," I had said.

Ethan went pale. Mrs. Voss burst into tears on the spot, and Mr. Voss came at me and slapped me so hard that I was knocked to the floor.

Blood ran from my nose, dripping onto the test results I had been so proud of. That night, they locked me in the freezer to think about what I had done and, by the time they let me out the next morning, I could not feel my hands or feet anymore.

"He's always been calculating. He knew about that prophecy and still came running home to wave it around. He did it on purpose!" Mrs. Voss's voice was ice-cold.

I slumped against the door. I did not even have the strength to shake my head anymore. 

That was not true. I was ten years old. I was just a kid who wanted her to be proud of me. I understood that she was afraid of losing Ethan, but why did she have to treat me like the enemy? I was her child too.

My hand kept slapping against the door. I was trying to tell them they had forgotten to turn the freezer off.

"Mrs. Voss, come on. I'm not a kid anymore. I'm not that fragile. Do you really think I'd get depressed just because Caleb's smarter than me?" Ethan's voice was tight with worry.

"What if that fortune-teller was making it all up? You can't lock Caleb up over something like that."

Mr. Voss cut in right away. "That's enough, Ethan. We're not letting you take that risk."

He turned toward the freezer and his tone dropped, heavier now, more measured. 

"Caleb, we're doing this for the whole family. You don't want to watch your brother jump off a building because of you, do you? Just stay in there. Once Ethan finishes his exam, all of this will be over, okay?"

I could not answer. The cold had already seeped all the way into my lungs.

My chest ached like the frost was cracking it open from the inside. I pulled together everything I had left and hit the door one last time.

Mrs. Voss came storming over and kicked it. "Caleb Voss! What the hell is your problem? Do I need to come in there and deal with you myself?"

Then she opened it. The door cracked open, just enough for a sliver of light to get through, and my heart jumped into my throat.

Was I saved?