A lower-middle class couple and their two children head out to a rental house way nicer than their place in the city to enjoy a late summer vacation. There's a late night knock on the door, and the owners show up... something's happened, and can they please come in? An unidentified, unnamed disaster hovers over the two unwilling households forced to coexist in this novel about bourgeoisie culture (with its tempting, numbing comforts) and the very real limits of nature and humanity. By the end, readers will start to see a deeper meaning behind the story's title and reflect on the ways in which they, too find themselves frozen at a time when action might be the better course.