My mother rarely told the story, and then only under duress. Every time she did she looked at me a little uncertainly, a little askance.
It happened when I was a child. In the winter when the world was dead and cold, the stars brilliant points of frozen light.
I remember only that I was running, breath steaming, hearing their voices calling to me through the mist. They were shouting, calling my name.
Later, when my mother asked me why I had jumped into the freezing lake, I told her that I “had wanted to play with the other children”.
Author bio: Wednesday Silverwood is a horror writer from North London, England. She has had recent work published in 100 Doors to Madness from Forgotten Tomb Press and in SNM Horror Magazine. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association. Please see her website at www.wednesdaysilverwood.co.uk for more information.
Frozen is part of 101 Fiction issue 2.
