Nora was one of the top reporters at the local paper, and drew the short straw to write the yearly puff piece about Mr. Brown’s Party. The paper’s gossip columnist had been stricken with a flu, but Mr. Brown didn’t know that. When he saw Nora at the party, he panicked, thinking he was being investigated.

Even when Nora admitted she wasn’t very interested in Mr. Brown, or his party, and would rather spend her night curled up and cozy, he didn’t believe her. But, she did give him an idea, and Nora wound up beneath the tree as a cozy teddy bear destined to be donated.

It was the first moment she realized that something was amiss with Mr. Brown, but Nora now found it hard to think about serious things with a head full of cotton.