A Heart Frozen Over

I'm playing hide-and-seek with my son when he locks me on the balcony. It's freezing outside, and my face turns blue from the cold.

However, all he does is laugh at me while I call for help. He makes ugly faces at me through the glass. "You look like the stray dog downstairs, Mom! You're so ugly!"

I die a frosty and terrible death. Before breathing my last breath, I see my son excitedly give my husband a video call.

"Mom has frozen to death, Dad. Can you take Ms. Cole home to be my new mom now?"

When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the moment my son wants me to play hide-and-seek with him.

"Mommy, will you play hide and seek with me for a little while?"

When the sweet voice of my son, Archie Palmer, hit my ears, my body stiffened instantly.

I looked down, and there was five-year-old Archie, lying on my lap and staring up at me with his big, round eyes.

The warmth from his little body was strikingly real. This wasn't some deathbed hallucination.

I was truly reborn.

I returned to the day when Archie tricked me into going to the balcony for a game of hide and seek, then locked me outside to freeze to death.

In my previous life, my relationship with Archie was anything but good.

He liked his easygoing father, Brandon Palmer, but he couldn't stand me meddling in his business.

So whenever I spoke to him, he'd lose it—smashing things, kicking, and hitting me.

The worst time was when he picked up an ashtray from the table and threw it at my head with all his strength.

I ended up with eight stitches at the hospital.

After being discharged, I gave Archie a good beating, but Brandon stopped me. He said the kid didn't know better and that I should be more understanding as his mother.

My friend, Kenna Sanders, tried to tell me that some children, even if they were my own, could never be truly raised as family. Some were just born ungrateful.

She said that with Brandon favoring Archie so much, I'd be better off getting out of that family as soon as possible.

But I wouldn't let go. I thought that since I brought Archie into this world, I should be responsible for his future.

But reality slapped me hard across the face.

In my previous life, I kept trying to repair the mother-son bond with Archie.

So when he suddenly sweet-talked me into playing hide and seek, I was overjoyed and agreed right away.

After all, who would've thought a five-year-old would have it in him to kill his own mother?

As we played, Archie kept sneaking off to the balcony to hide. I watched him carefully, and to keep him happy, I decided to hide where he hid when it was my turn.

But I never expected that the moment I stepped out onto the balcony, Archie would lock the door behind me.

Hearing the sound, I rushed back to the glass door and tried to get back inside.

The northern winter was bitterly cold. Snowflakes fluttered through the air. There was no heating on the balcony, and since I was inside just moments ago, I was only wearing a thin set of loungewear.

The cold wind swept through my clothes, and my limbs quickly stiffened. The icy pain gnawed at my bones, sending sharp, biting chills deep into my skin.

I pounded on the glass door, screaming and begging for help.

"Open the door, Archie! I don't have a coat! If you don't let me in, I'll freeze to death!

"Archie Palmer! The game is over! Open the door now!

"Archie, please, I'm begging you. Open the door. I promise I won't bother you again."

My voice grew weaker with each plea. Behind me stretched a vast expanse of white.

Inside, Archie sat on the couch. He glanced at me briefly, then grabbed the remote and cranked up the TV volume. He then went to the cupboard and pulled out some sweets I usually didn't let him eat.

He munched happily while watching cartoons, completely indifferent to whether I died.

That was the moment it hit me that my own flesh and blood really was trying to freeze me to death.