You open your mailbox and look inside. The only thing there is a yellow slip of paper, left by the postman. "Package Pickup," it says. There is a check mark in the box beside the line that says, "Package too large."
"I'm not expecting any packages." you say out loud. There's nobody around to hear you but you don't care. You double check the name and address written in the "addressee" box. There is no mistake. It is addressed to you. It is too late to go to the post office. You will never get there before closing time. You will have to wait until tomorrow, after work.
You can't stop thinking about your package all day long. You keep looking at the slip and trying to imagine who could have sent you something in the mail. You spend the entire day wracking your brain. Try as you might, nobody comes to mind. Time drags on as you trudge through your work. It seems like five O'clock will never come.
Finally! It is quitting time! You finish your work and make a mad dash toward your car with the little yellow slip of paper in hand. "Location: Central Post Office," it reads. You will have to drive all the way across town to get there. With rush hour traffic, you know this will be a long trip.
You feel insane with anticipation as you weave your way through the clogged highways. It is no picnic, driving in this traffic! The lobby closes at 6:00 P.M. You arrive, just in time. The surly postal worker is there, getting ready to lock the door just as you dart inside. Still, there are about twenty people standing in line.
"It's just one thing after another!" you say to yourself. The woman standing in line must have heard you say it under your breath. She turns around and gives you a dirty look, as if to say, "Wait your turn, buddy!"
It seems like an eternity but you finally reach the counter. You hand over your slip. The clerk barks out, "I.D. please!" You pause for a moment with a confused look on your face. "Sign here!" she growls. You fumble for your wallet and pull out your driver's license. She scrutinizes your photo like a border guard at Checkpoint Charlie. She tosses your I.D. back across the counter, turns around and goes off to find your package.
She returns with, not one, but two large cardboard boxes! They are about two feet square and almost three feet long! "Tell your friend that the post office isn't supposed to handle packages this large!" she says in an irritated voice. "I'm sorry..." you mumble back as you fumble to pick up the boxes.
The boxes aren't very heavy for their size but they are bulky and difficult to maneuver. They are a little bit too large to get both arms securely around. You have to grip them from the sides and stack them up. The surly man at the door grunts as he pushes it open for you. "Thanks!" you call back. You stumble across the parking lot and plop the boxes down on the trunk of your car. They are just small enough to fit. All the way home, you keep trying to think of who would have sent you those packages. There is no return address on them. You know you haven't ordered anything from the internet.
You almost drop your boxes several times, wrestling them up the stairs and into your apartment. You have to set them down on the floor in front of your door while you fish your keys out of your pocket.
"Must be nice!" your neighbor winks, playfully, as she passes by, noticing the large packages you are hauling inside. You smile politely but your mind is focused on getting the door open and moving the boxes inside. You barely get the door closed behind you before you start tearing into the boxes to find out what is inside. You tear off the label and rip open the packing tape. There is still no indication of who sent these packages or why.
You open the box. You reach inside. Your heart races and you let out an audible gasp as your hand sinks into something soft and furry. You tear away the tissue paper covering. There is a large, soft fur covered pillow in the box!
You are quite knowledgeable about fur but you still can't tell what kind of fur the pillow is made from but it is definitely the softest you have ever felt. It is long and soft and silky smooth. Your hands sink in and completely disappear into the fur. You look back into the box. There is another pillow exactly like the first.
You pick up both pillows and hug them close to your body. You rub your face into the fur. It is soft and warm and inviting. It feels like the pillows are filled with goose down. They are squeezably soft!
You immediately begin to have sexy thoughts about the fur. You are beginning to get excited. You have an uncontrollable urge to feel that wonderfully soft fur all over your naked body but the other box beckons. You waste no time in opening it.
Inside, there is more fur, just as you imagined. This time it isn't in the form of a pillow. You tug on the corner and pull. Out comes a huge fur blanket. It is made from the same kind of fur the pillows are made of. You pull and pull as more and more fur comes out of the box and piles into your lap. There seems to be more fur than could possibly fit into a box this size. It is almost like magic. The more you pull, the more fur comes out of the box. You finally reach the end and realize you are surrounded by an ocean of fur!
You look back into the box again. There is still more fur inside! "How can this be?" you marvel. You start pulling the fur out of the box again. It is another fur bedspread but, this time, there are elastics sewn into the edges. It must be a fitted mattress cover.
A sweet, leathery scent of fresh pelts surrounds you and invades your senses. You become obsessed with the fur all around you. Several minutes pass while you gently stroke the fur and imagine yourself swimming naked in it. You temporarily lose track of time. Suddenly, you come to your senses and decide that the best place for all this fur is on your bed. You force your mind to stay in reality long enough to pick it all up in your arms and haul it to the bedroom. There is so much fur it takes you three trips.
You pick up the empty boxes and the packing and you inspect everything. There is no letter or invoice inside. There is no paperwork of any kind, nor is there any sign of its origin. You can wait no longer. You stack the boxes by the back door. You plan to take them out to the bin in the morning. The tent pole in your pants reminds you that you've got better things to do right now. You make a beeline back to the bedroom.
You strip the old blankets, pillows and sheets of the bed in seconds flat. You toss them into the closet and shut the door. You slip the fitted cover right over the bare king sized mattress. It fits perfectly. You smooth out the cover a little then you fold out the fur blanket. It has fur on both sides! It goes all the way down to the floor on three sides. There is still enough fur left to fold down the top edge. You plop the pillows into place then you quickly make one last pass to fluff and straighten the fur. You stand back to admire your handiwork. This is one hell of a fur bed! You can hardly wait to crawl into it.
You quickly run around the apartment to lock the doors and turn off all the lights. You close the window shades and take the telephone off the hook. You stand in the bedroom, looking at the shadowy outline of your new fur bed as you begin to strip off your clothes.