Cozy Season's Coming

Eliza, freshly in her pajama pants and sleep t-shirt, slouched into her recliner, exhausted. The Halloween bar-hop used to be one of her favorite nights of the year. She’d painstakingly make an elaborate costume and enjoy a night of compliments, people buying drinks just to show how impressed they were with her craftsmanship.

But now, at twenty-eight, it was beginning to feel so juvenile. This year, she’d put off construction for so long that she eventually caved and bought a costume off the clearance rack at Spirit Halloween: a train conductor.

“I didn’t know you were into trains,” her friend Aaron had said.

“Oh yeah,” Eliza had lied, “I’m a huge train fan.”

Now she kicked her feet up and looked at her phone, trying to decide whether she should text to cancel her brunch plans tonight or if it’d be easier in the morning to pretend she woke up with a cold.

But as she stared at it, the phone rang. An unknown number.

Eliza rarely accepted calls like this, but being so tired, she tapped the answer button without thinking and said, “Hello?”

“Hello,” a strange voice said on the other line. “I have some questions I’d like to ask you.”

“Oh, sorry,” Eliza said. “It’s late, and I don’t really want to do a political poll right now.”

“This isn’t about politics,” the voice said. “It’s about movies.”

“Oh, um, okay,” Eliza said. “Fire away.”

“Do you like… scary movies?” the voice said.

“Sure,” Eliza replied.

“Do you like… funny movies?”

“Yeah,” Eliza said.

“How about true crime documentaries? Or mysteries with a quirky amateur sleuth?”

“Listen, man,” Eliza said, sitting up a little straighter. “What’s this about?”

“It’s about what’s coming for you,” the voice said.

“Excuse me?” Eliza said, a chill running through her.

“You know, the winter,” the voice clarified. “Colder days spent inside. Longer nights. It’s a good time. To watch movies.”

“Oh,” Eliza said.

“There’s something you should see,” the voice said, “on the front porch. Go ahead. Take a look.”

Eliza put down the recliner’s footrest and crept to the front door. When she switched on the outdoor light and looked out the window, she gasped. “What is it?”

“It’s a two-pack of wearable blankets,” said the voice. “They’re kind of like blankets, kind of like robes. Very cozy. You’ll be comfortable in them. When you watch movies this winter.”

“Huh,” Eliza said. “Thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome,” the voice said. “Happy Halloween.”

“Happy Halloween,” Eliza said, and hung up.

She spent the next month waiting for one of her friends to confess to the prank, but none did, and she never found out who the caller was.