Wrapped Up Warm

She hadn’t been cold. Some goosebumps, sure, but nothing uncomfortable. Well, maybe a little uncomfortable, but life needs a bit.

It was enough for her to try and find a nice sweater for a short time.

She tried on a cotton one. Practical, bare minimum. She wasn’t a huge fan of it, but thought that it wasn’t for the long haul anyway so might as well use it. Eventually it started to fray, but she knew that was going to happen and wasn't mad when the sweater left to do its own thing.

She also had a pretty one. She tried it on a couple of times and knew she looked cute in it. She thought it’d be warmer.

There was one she kept seeing in the window. It was a bit expensive, but looked quite soft. One day she got especially fed up with the pretty sweater and its lack of actual warmth and went into the shop to try out this soft one.

She ran her hands over it and it was even smoother than she imagined. It was beckoning her to enjoy herself in its sleeves, to wrap herself tight within it. She knew it was expensive though. She left the shop.

She didn’t expect to keep thinking about how good it made her feel. Even feeling safe in it...

She went back to the shop, tried it on one more time and decided it was worth the cost. She walked out, getting used to actual warmth. She thought about the loss of money for a while. Wearing it longer though, the sweater convinced her it was worth it. She came to believe it.

God, it was actually nice to be comfortable. She didn’t realize how bad she had wanted it. She forgot how nice it was.

Well, mostly comfortable.

It was a little tight on her shoulders, preventing her from reaching up all the way. She tried to stretch it but it would just get itchy. She wasn’t sure how long she was going to keep this sweater, so might as well be okay with the lack of some movement for now.

It was also a little tight on her waist. She tried to loosen it, but it seemed to get insulted and think she didn’t want it on her at all. She insisted she did want it on, just not so tight, please?

Lastly and absurdly, it didn’t always want to be worn. That's when she wanted the warmth even more than previously realized.

It didn’t want to be worn? Fine. She hung it up.

It hung for a couple of days. She didn’t even want to look at it. She wanted it to feel her avoidance and regret it. She could deal with a little shivering.

When she was ready, she nuzzled her face against it. It was cold now. She ran her hands over it like but it wasn’t as soft anymore. In the couple of days she left it alone, some dust had clung onto it and refused to unstick. She hung it up again, hoping that in the morning it would have shaken itself off and be as warm as it had once been.

She woke up and it was gone. It couldn’t have gone far. She wanted to tell it that being hung up was not supposed to be a punishment - not completely.

She hoped it merely hid itself in the back of the closet. It wasn’t there.

She hoped it merely moved to a different room, only needing more space.

Nope.

With diminishing hope, she checked that it was still in the house at all. She came up empty.

She couldn’t quite believe it, but she needed to walk back to the store. She wanted to be wrong.

It was there, not at the window, but still on a hanger, price tag back on even quicker than she thought possible.

She took it off the hanger and tried it on again but it barely got past her elbows. She wasn’t going to get it to budge. She didn't want to rip it. It was time to leave.

The goosebumps came back, even stronger than before. She was more uncomfortable than when she started, but life needs a bit.

She was going to leave soft pieces for a while, trying to find comfort in a breeze that chilled her and enjoy that her skin could still feel something.