Cold comfort

Cold and moist was the feeling around James’s body as his mind drifted in and out of consciousness. His eyes shut unwilling to open as he drifted further into darkness, he could pick up on the muffled voice of a woman, calling to him.

“James……. James!

As the voice grew louder, James’s eyes opened as he found himself blinded by the light of the sky that lay above him. It took him a while to regain his focus as he launched himself up, wondering what was going on only to be greeted by the faces of his wife and children along with another face, one that James didn’t recognise.

“Erica?”

James spoke in a half-conscious tone.

“Oh, thank God! He’s awake”

“See I told ya it was nothing to worry about, aint that right little bro?”

James looked even more dazed and confused

“Bro?.... wait.. what happened, why am I on the ground?”

As James rubbed the back of his head, he could feel the icy coldness left by the surface he had been lying on, prompting him to look down and notice they were on frozen water.

“You don’t remember?”

Erica said in an oddly devoid tone of concern

“I remember what daddy was doing! He thought he could cross the Ice, but he slipped and bumped his head!

Yea I saw it too! He looked silly on the ice!

Both kids started to laugh, as Erica joined in on there laughter hugging them both

“Aww Was Daddy being really silly again?”

“Alright, alright. I think your daddy’s taken enough of a beaten for today. Come on let’s get you up”

As both Erica and the stranger claiming to be James’s brother helped him up towards there cottage that lay beside the frozen pond. James took the time to observe his surroundings. It was strange, the weather was very bright for a pound or any water deposits to be frozen over. Not to mention that his wife and children where all dressed quite lightly. Even the colours seemed to of been too exaggerated or cartoonish, but James simply put that down to his fall.

Time passed as James sat within his family’s holiday home, warming himself up beside the fireplace whilst drinking a cup of tea. For whatever reason, James couldn’t shake this coldness that had latched to his body since waking up on the pond, not to mention feeling so floaty, as though he was out of sync with his own physical body. In his mind, he had simply put it down to the concussion he sustained on the pond. What worried him more was the fact he had no recollection of the man claiming to be his brother. Before he could ponder anything further, his session of deep thought was interrupted by the soothing voice of his wife.

“You still not warmed up yet?”

“Afraid not, seems like this chill won’t leave me alone. In fact, I think it’s getting worse”

“You don’t think it’s a flu or something?”

“Nah probably just a bad cold well, hopefully nothing for you to worry your head about” James let out a comforting smile, Erica returned the same.

“Well, I’ve put the heating on as far as we can take it but with the way the weathers been I’m surprised you still haven’t felt a difference?”

“Me too. In-fact, there’s been quite a lot of odd anomalies around here I’ve noticed”

“Yea, Like what?”

“Well, the pound for starters. I mean how come it’s so frozen up. I mean it’s been nothing but sun beams and heat since I woke up on it and yet there’s not a single crack or breakage on it”

“Ponds always been weird, besides I thought you’d be used to the odd things that go on around here”

“I’m not even sure where here is to be exact”

“Awk don’t be stupid of course you do”

“No I’m serious. I mean when did we ever own a cottage on the side of a pond. I mean sure I grew up in one when I was a kid, but that was before… ”

Suddenly James had an odd realisation that stopped him dead in his tracks. Erica follows up with a concerned response

“Before what Hun?”

“Before... before the accident, my brother Lee he, drowned in a pond just like the one outside. when we were younger.”

“That’s not true. Sure, you seen Lee today when you bumped your head on the ice. Hell, I just seen him off an hour ago he can’t be dead”

“That man’s not my brother, he can’t be no way!”

Erica let out a slight laugh finding the situation funny compared to James’s accounts

“That fall must of really did a number on your head”

“I’m telling you somethings off. It’s like everything I remember has been muddied up or forgotten. I don’t even remember why I was on the ice in the first place”

“Does it matter James?”

Erica crouches down in front of James taking each of his hands with hers and looking lovingly into his eyes.

“I mean look around you? you have a home, a family that loves you, and a brother who is defiantly not dead”. Erica gives of a comforting laugh

“You have everything you could possibly need to be happy here, including me. Now why would you want to go and doubt that huh? Because you hit your head of some ice and feel unwell? or because of a bad dream you think is real? This is where you belong, James. In here with me and everyone else.

James takes in the look of gratitude and happiness on Erica’s face. Her smile was enough to kill any worry in the world that James had.

“Maybe your right dear, maybe it is just nothing”

“Trust me I know it is. Now come on, let’s keep each other warm in bed. We can discuss this all tomorrow and see if Lee can run you up to the doctors for a cheek up”

“What about the kids, shouldn’t we check on them?”

“There fine! I made sure they where fast asleep”

“Oh? Well, I guess il join you soon once the fires dies down”

“Don’t keep me waiting”

Erica Left James with a loving smile before heading of for the bedroom. It took the breakage in the conversation for James to realise his hands became even cooler than before. As the fire died down, James climbed into bed with his beloved and both cuddled as they fell asleep. Though all was not well for James, as he could barely feel any warmth under the sheets, with each pull and tug of the blanket feeling more like frozen sheets of ice on his skin, James even started to experience excruciating pains as though his skin was being burnt with a cold flame. He jumped out of the bed, hoping to rush to the kitchen to run some hot water, all before being stopped by the odd beaming light that lay outside, coming from under the ice.

“What in the world?” James thought to himself, he shuffled on his slippers and went out to the source of the light, coming from underneath the ice. As he approached it with great caution, he could hear odd, muffled voices echoing below it.

“What’s going on down there?” James shouted with a tone of fear and confusion.

Not wanting to waste time in case there was a life at stake, James rushed into the house and took the nearest shovel or tool he could find that could help break the frozen pond open. The rattling and clattering of all the tools awoke his wife and children.

“What’s going on James?”

James too focused on finding the right equipment to break the ice respond quite panicked

“I’m not sure but someone’s stuck under that pond”.

On finding a shovel strong enough to break through the ice, James quickly ran back outside trying to keep his balance as he made his way over to the light. Already he could tell something was off, as the light seemed to give off a feeling of heat and stability on James’s body.

“Hang in there, I’m breaking through now!” James shouted to whoever was trapped below

With each slam of the shovel, James could hear a large echoing noise as though the frozen pond was some sort of bell. The sound echoed across the whole area with James trying to battle with the sudden cold wind. As he took each dig at the frozen ground, he noticed how much of the Ice had become solid ground, at least around the areas where the light was fading away from. This pushed James to go harder and harder on the part of the ice with the strongest intensity of the light, eventually leading it to crack open.

“Hello!?” James shouted down the cracked hole. Eventually a response came flooding up. One that sent shivers down James spine

“No... it can’t be!” James thought to himself

The voices where of Erica’s and his children, calling for him to wake up. James took few steps back in shock, feeling an icy pierce of dread go right through him, all before a voice spoke from behind him, breaking his confused state.

“It is not worth the hurt my brother”

James spun around shocked to see the middle-aged man that had been masquerading as his brother the whole time.

“What are you?” James spoke in a shivering tone

“Does it matter James”? Spoke the stranger in a stoic tone.

“We can be whatever you want. We can love you, help you, support you” As the strange man spoke, he circled the family James once believed was his, eventually approaching the left side of the Erica that stood on the pond

“But most importantly, we will never leave you James. Come, join your family and be happy forever, in this world of fantasy”

While taken back by the whole situation, James noticed the cottage that once stood visibly behind them vanish into the night as though consumed by the darkness itself. The ice around the broken hole also began to slowly reseal itself up leaving less room for him to jump down in.

“I’d rather take my chances in the real world, no matter how harsh it may be!”

With James response finalised, the family of imposters turned their expressions from optimism into sorrow.

“So be it brother, so be it.”

Suddenly their physical forms faded off into the darkness leaving only the white glow of their eyes to peer from the consuming blackness. “It was time to act now!” thought James and so he jumped into the light.

Just as it had started, James awoke to the sky above him, this time a more clear and grey tone as a man and a woman stood above him shouting his name

“JAMES!” shouted the real Erica. As James tried to speak, his throat coughed up water that had drowned him under the frozen pond.

“He’s alive!” shouted Erica to the stranger that stood with her as he helped James up onto his back to better cough up the water. After a brief recovery period, James spoke to Erica on what had happened.

“So, I came out here by myself to do what again?”

Erica responded “Like I said we had a falling out; I ignored your calls because I was mad at you. and you came up here by yourself to pay your respects to your brother and you slipped and drowned”

James was taken back by everything that she said, it all came flowing back, the bad fallout they had, the miserable state he was in, even coming up to the pond to speak with his brother. It all had a connection with the unconscious dream he had, making him feel grateful for having made the jump and taken another risk on his love for Erica, rather than dream in cold comfort.