Spread the Warmth- Oh for a cold winter night’s sleep!

A run up to an invention you all will love…

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Christmas was round the corner, Yuletide was a lovely time of the year! But cold!

Gary’s teeth chattered violently as he dug his mitten clad palms deeper into his fleece jacket.

He thoroughly enjoyed his evening walk, come rain or shine. But this evening in Denver, Colorado was terribly cold. Gary’s feet were numb and hurt, as his toes stiffened inside those thick suede shoes and cotton socks.

He breathed hard with every step, watching his exhalation vaporize. "I could have been a fiery Chinese dragon" Gary thought! His nose hurt as his nostrils leaked with gay abandon, like a toddler with an acute runny nose.

Wiping his upper lip and nostrils off with a swift, sleek practiced movement of the woolen mittens, he trudged along the spectacular jogger’s avenue. 

The Fort Knox Road was choc-a-bloc with the evening traffic. "Must have been a tradition since the Gold Rush days", Gary thought.

A few children snaked around the jogger’s pavement in their skate-boards. Bandanas, wrist bands, ear-studs, I-pods- quintessential punk gear! Not to mention the first sprouts of masculine imagery.

There were familiar faces too, ones that Gary smiled at, and the ones that smiled at him. It was a heart-warming outwardly symbol of recognition, a diligent routine over the years gone by. But today, each face seemed cold, stiff with discomfort!

The smiles were stifled, as they hurried past eager to be done with the rigmarole, Gary presumed.

The sun disappeared in the far end, leaving behind a hue that was ever so beautiful, but never the same. He had been a witness to this solar event, every day over the last 1006 days.

Gary was smitten! He loved this Rocky Mountain town ever since he moved here to join the Coors Brewing Company as an Industrial Production Engineer. Having grown up in Seattle through his formative years, Denver was a culture shock. But he grew into it or rather Denver grew into him.

When you sweat outdoors on a breezy cold evening, it is just what the doctor ordered. Gary shivered from his own sweat.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

The sweat drops that ran down his spine froze midway, forming what seemed little icicles. They seemed to stay there to heighten the effect. Gary dug his hands deeper into his pockets as the goose-flesh stiffened out his hair follicles.

Rushing back home, Gary wasted no time, hurriedly switching on the room heater. "I could do with some warmth", Gary thought aloud literally hugging it. 

A Christmas tree stood guard in a corner of the house; the trinkets and lights really spruced it up. Gary loved Christmas with all its fun and frolic!

A full 5 minutes later, the heater was still frigid. The darned thing had stopped working!

Coffee! Oh the very mention of a hot steaming cup of caffeine on a chill-my-bones evening. Aroma, flavors and strength can be a very heady concoction! Intellectual stimuli could wait, Gary needed warmth. He let the coffee pot boil on a slow fire as the smell of coffee wafted across the room.

Quickly undressing, he jumped into the bath-tub. A hot shower, now how’s that to shoo away winter blues?

All Gary needed was 5 minutes of hot shower to thaw his frozen bone marrow. He turned on the faucet; the jet of water hit his back?

Bl***y freezing S**t! Coooooooooooooooold! That must have been close to freezing temperature he could swear!

Gary screamed, his shivering cold soul nearly ran out of his body! He had forgotten to switch on the Geyser! Yet another blooper! What’s happening?

A few minutes later, Gary was at his balcony sipping his hot Coffee- Caf? Americano! God bless Caffeine!

The ‘hot’ brown concoction circled in his mouth before sliding down ‘still warm’ into his gullet. The warmth was spreading through him and it felt really nice.

It was drizzling outside; Denver looked so verdant and fresh in the rains. The rains formed little puddles on the roads that danced rhythmically as if welcoming every drop that joined them.

The vehicles, now with their eyes in high beam trudged along the road, as their whiskers swooshed violently across their foreheads. Back and forth! Back and forth!

A silent dinner of oven baked lasagna with Chicken Bolognese; Roasted beef and fried potatoes- Gary loved his own cooking. His friends too loved staying over the weekends while Gary whipped up a 5-courser replete with wines for every course and some Grappa too! The food was of course a show stopper!

Meanwhile that evening, it was still too cold to be comfortable. And the parquet flooring seemed colder than ever.

Gary plonked himself on the corner sofa; the beige leather contraption had turned a tad colder than he had thought. Gary winced!

Pulling his blue fleece blanket on, he felt the warmth. For a good 3 minutes he covered himself from head to toe, breathing heavily inside. His breath felt warm, warmer than ever!

The fleece blanket was his Mom’s gift on his first job many winters ago and his prized possession now!

"Denver gets cold during winter son, you might need this", Mom had a foresight that very few could match. It was indeed very cold that night.

Gary was a voracious reader. He loved Philosophy. It was Khalil Gibran season over the past couple of months. He wanted to pick the half read book, but it was too cold. He had to slide his hands out of the warm blanket. A shame!

Gary waited, motionless like a predator that had spotted its na?ve prey in the dead of the night. Swap! The Khalil Gibran was in his hands, in a vice-like grip.

Gary suddenly realized that he had a major problem, A Catch-22. For reading meant braving the cold with his hands out of the blanket and Gary didn’t have the heart or the heat to do it!

Not tonight. No ways!

"Sorry Khalil Will see you tomorrow ", Gary muttered under the warmth of the fleece blanket. It was indeed a wise thing to do.

"What do I do now"? Just as Gary pondered, he remembered. His heart did a joyous flip. That felt warm!

There was a big game on tonight, the local sweethearts Colorado Rockies were taking on the Seattle Mariners ? Gary’s home team from up West.

The Rockies had been reinforced by the addition of third baseman Vinny Castella and outfielder Jeromey Burnitz earlier that month. And boy, it was a game indeed! Gary bet his green-bucks on the Mariners.

"Thank God for Television", Gary said aloud, warming up to the thought of watching this game at home, nursing a scotch.

"Where the hell is my remote? Where is she? God!" he screamed. She was nowhere in sight. Gary’s travails for the day seemed endless.

…Gary had conceived one of the most simple, yet most effective inventions known to man-kind...

Operation Find- her- the freaking-remote.

He had no choice, but to get out of the cozy corner and the fleece blanket. A good ten minutes later, Gary found her, hiding under a heap of newspapers.

He had always referred to the remote feminine because ‘She’ was the only thing that could ‘turn HIM on’.
‘HIM’ was his monstrous projection TV- an invention that seemed to be created as a by-product of the insatiable male libido. Industrial Production Engineers were licensed to think on those lines, Gary justified his thoughts.

The Match was abandoned before half time, weather playing spoilsport ? literally!

Gary tucked himself in bed, rather grumpy and unpleasant with the events that had unfolded since the evening.

It was Cold, very cold!

The rain drops kept pelting with clinical precision on the French Windows as Gary shuffled in bed!

Sleepily, Gary started tossing himself around under the Blue fleece blanket.  Still breathing warm, Gary’s sub-conscious mind got to work.

Gary had conceived one of the most simple, yet most effective inventions known to man-kind.

His gift to the freezing himself?..Spread the warmth, Gary hummed as he curled up, readily warming to his thoughts this time.  His music system softly crooned his favorite Christmas Carols. It was still cold, freezing cold! Gary slept like a baby that night.

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold

Said the king to the people everywhere,
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere!
Listen to what I say
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

**** To find out if Gary is real and what his invention might have been; Keep watching this space for an exclusive interview with the man himself and his invention?

Presenting _ _ _ and his_ _ _.

I am sorry; I can?t let you into this secret, not yet! Keep waiting! It will be worth it, I promise you! Meanwhile, please keep yourself warm!

Author: Amarnath Bantwal- Kuwait