Freezer Discipline | Short Story

A job worth doing is a job worth doing properly. But what if it’s no longer worth doing at all? What if this is an appliance better on the kerb and waiting for the council to uplift?

This was an easy task six months ago, but with every freezer tray left slightly ajar, the frost has crept in, in the cold, in the dark, some fluffy experiment escaped from the lab/from the space between those spilled peas and that last, lonely fish finger that no-one’s ever going to eat.

This is a proper job now. This is a bread knife job, or a pile-the-freezer-food-together-and-run-the-plastic-trays-under-the-tap job. One thing’s for sure – you’ll never let it get in this state again. No sir. Freezer Discipline is going to be your double-barrelled middle name – dated labels, a hard-headed approach to stray fish fingers, and a no-mercy approach to the sastrugi of the freezer drawers.

Enjoyed this? Sign up to my blog below. Recent short stories include ‘His the Night‘ and ‘Philosophising‘.

Matthew J. Richardson’s fiction has appeared in publications including Golddust MagazineFlashback FictionClose to the BoneShooter, and Idle Ink. His work often explores psychological tension, place, and the quiet edges of human behaviour. He lives in Scotland and holds a Professional Doctorate in Education.


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4 thoughts on “Freezer Discipline | Short Story

  1. As I read, I waited for the freezer burned human hand or foot to poke out from under a bag of frozen peas.
    I need to look up that S word you used, too—once I learn to spell it.

  2. Oh, fabulous, fabulous, Matthew! I can’t stop laughing about that freezer thing. Plus a new word: sastrugi – excellent. But where can I put that word? Hmm.

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