The Freeze

Did someone open the door while he slept?

The temperature outside wasn’t supposed to drop below freezing in the morning, but it did.

Kind of like yesterday, it was supposed to rain, but it didn’t.

Tanner pulled the thick blanket over his shoulders because he could tell it was cold in his apartment, much colder than it should’ve been.

The thermostat was set at 70 but he was sure something was wrong or maybe he had programmed the AM for PM or PM for AM incorrectly. No way was it 70 in his place.

But, in order to check the temperature and thermostat, he’d have to venture away from the bed into the living room where the digital thermometer would certainly read 52, max. That would require a series of steps Tanner was just not ready to make this morning.

After all, it was Saturday. No plans or agendas. Nothing on his schedule except maybe to sleep.

He glanced over at the clock and it read 6:13. The sun was peeking through his Venetian blinds. Tanner was sure the temp inside had dropped another few degrees from the time he started thinking about it. If he waited long enough, he’d certainly be in a second Ice Age inside his place.

With every glance at the clock was another couple of minutes he’d be wasting in bed. Just because he had no plans didn’t mean he could lay in bed all day.

He had to shower, eat, get to the gym, shop for groceries, relax, watch some football, play video games, go out with buds, and do it all over again tomorrow.

It would all begin, though, with him tossing off those blankets and popping into that shower. He knew the hot water awaited him, and it would feel great right about now.

By now he imagined icicles throughout his apartment and all the doors frozen shut because it was so cold. Tanner looked over at the clock and it was 6:42.

No better time than the present.

He flung open the blankets, grabbed some clean clothes, and ran to the bathroom.

It was clearly arctic temperatures inside, and he certainly wasn’t dressed for it.

Before he jumped into the shower, though, he had to know; he just had to know.

He dropped his clothes on the bathroom floor and ran down the hall to check the thermostat. Tanner heard the heat kick on but the thermostat read 70.

Seventy degrees, just like he had programmed it.

Tanner returned to the shower, turned on the water and waited as the hot water made its way through the pipes and out the shower.

That’s just not possible.

How is it still 70 when it feels like a freezer in here?

Maybe I’ve got a faulty thermostat. Dying batteries?

He stayed under the steamy hot shower spray for 10 minutes at least. His insides were now as warm as his outside was.  

Tanner returned to the bedroom and went to flip on the light. The switch was already on, but the light wasn’t.

The ceiling fan, however, was whirling away on high.