It was a cool autumn night, the perfect weather to stroll around in the streets. After a short trip around the neighborhood, I returned home and spotted something on my doorstep. It appeared to be a bulky box, but when I lifted it- to bring it in, it was significantly lighter than I had expected. Immediately, I tore open the box out of curiosity to reveal its contents: a chocolate-brown mass of fuzzy fabric folded neatly inside. I pulled it out to reveal a teddy bear costume, something out of the ordinary that I could not imagine anyone sending to me.

It had a lighter-hue of brown on its belly where the zipper ran. At the wrists and ankle portions of the suit were fuzzy paw mittens and socks with paw pads, sewn with the main outfit to cover most of my body, except my face. On the top of the hood were two cloth eyes and a bear muzzle with a pink nose. The bear costume’s tail was a ball of fluff attached to the tailbone area, soft and squishy to the touch. It was like a multi-layered onesie.

Placing the outfit aside on my couch, I inspected the box once more to find its sender or any return address, unable to find any after a brief search. Upon flipping the box upside down, a note fell out of it. I picked it up and it read, “Teddy Bear Suit: Keeps you warm and cuddly all night. It’s great to wear on an autumn day!” It was a strange coincidence since I intended to buy a set of warm pajamas for the coming winter and got one without ordering online.

After a quick shower, I changed into my thin cotton shirt and boxers, taking the teddy bear suit into my bedroom. Slipping myself into the suit, I did not realize how soft it was until the thick velvety interior brushed against my skin. As I slipped my legs in, I wiggled my toes into the sock-like paws and it wrapped onto my feet snuggly. For my arms, it was similar, my hands entered the mittens, surprisingly stretchy to give me flexibility to hold items. I pulled the zipper all the way up to the neck and flipped the bear hood onto my head, letting the material hug my entire body. The costume was making me feel all happy and upbeat for some reason, creating a smile on my face as I rested my head against the pillow and hugged myself to sleep.

Halfway through my sleep, something pounced onto my face and startled me awake, threatening to suffocate me. My eyes popped open to see a teddy bear hugging my face, muffling all my screams of terror with its plush body. I tried to pull it off, but my hands that were once in thin fleece mittens were now in bulky stuffed stubs, limiting my flexibility to grasp onto anything, including the zipper to exit the outfit. Lifting my head a little, my feet were in similar stubby plush appendages and the rest of the costume was thickened with cotton stuffing. Besides the puffed-up bear costume that I was now wearing, more teddy bears were clambering onto my bed and approaching me steadily with their little arms raised as though yearning for a hug.

While distracted with prying the stuffed bear on my face, the other bears flung themselves at me, somehow phasing through the bear suit’s fabric. More and more bears entered the suit like ghosts passing through a wall, all wiggling everywhere as the fabric of my bear costume was strained. Inside, sentient bears began ticking every inch of my body, some nuzzling my sides and belly button to cause me to squirm vigorously on my bed. I was beginning to sweat a little as they continued to pinch, nibble or poke me further. All my giggles were muffled by the bear still stuck to my face and all my tears from laughing too hard were absorbed into its fuzzy fabric.

Once the bears had their fun with relentlessly tickling me, they escaped from the teddy bear suit and scurried away into the dark corners of my room, leaving me exhausted with the stuffed bear on my face. While I was gasping for breath under the stuffed bear, it finally let go for me to breathe freely again. I thought for a moment. I was warm and felt overwhelmingly cuddled like the note said, and I was satisfied with the costume. However, my thoughts were interrupted by the warm softness on my front. I stared at the bear nudging my chest with its head and I could tell it was prompting me to hug it. Wrapping my costume-covered arms, I embraced it and slipped into the deepest, warmest slumber of the autumn.