There were two brothers. They were both young and each weighed under 50 lbs. They shared a small room together, and the room was cold. It was winter. And because of the cold, the room was outfitted with a small space heater.

The space heater was both small in size and intended to operate efficiently in small spaces. It did a fine job. On a typical night, the boys were barely cold--the younger of the two, never, and the older staying warm so long as the heater was right next to the bed and blasting hot air on him.

In addition to the space heater, the boys also kept warm blankets. The smaller of the two, and incidentally the youngest, had a down comforter. His older brother used a light quilt as an underlayer and a 25 lb. weighted blanket on top of that. The weighted blanket wasn’t intended for warmth, but it certainly did the trick as it pinned him down to the mattress. He only weighed 47 lbs. for crying out loud.

The boy received the weighted blanket as a gift from his parents. They had read in an AI overview on their cellular telephone devices that people with autism like being pressed down on. Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental condition affecting social skills and communication. The boy didn’t have autism. He just hadn’t yet seen the point in “wasting his time.” He would, when he started dating, but not tonight. Tonight, they were getting ready for bed.

The younger boy curled up under the comforter and tucked himself in. His older brother pulled his quilt up to his armpits and then reached down for the weighted blanket, tightened all 47 lbs. of him, and yanked it overtop. To his surprise, though, the blanket was light. As in, glowing. The cotton cover was on fire.

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