Every autumn, the town of Cedar Grove braced itself for the annual Pumpkin Spice invasion. Otherwise, known as The Season When Everything Tastes Like a Sweater.

But this year, things got spicy.

It started at Sweater Weather Café, where barista Luna tried to create a new Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe with a secret syrup she’d found buried in an old spice shop. The label read, Beware the spice of eternal autumn.

With a shrug, Luna added a generous splash.

Customers lined up, sipping the latte, and exclaiming about its robust flavour and notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and impending doom.

By mid-morning, the syrup began to ominously bubble and the pumpkins decorating the café started glowing an angry orange.

Twitching their noses in unison, squirrels gathered outside before storming the café wielding acorn grenades. Leaves swirled into tiny tornadoes and trapped patrons in a whirlwind of spice-scented chaos. One of Luna’s coworkers turned into a giant cinnamon stick, and the espresso machine began shooting pumpkin seeds like confetti.

The local weather forecast switched to a Spice Storm Warning with Mayor Thompson declaring a state of emergency.

Meanwhile, Luna brewed one last cup, hoping to counteract the spell with a double espresso.

Instead, she accidentally summoned a pumpkin demon named Spicegeist who demanded pumpkin flavored souls and a lifetime supply of oat milk. The squirrels formed an uneasy truce with the demon after a particularly intense staring contest. 

Deciding to leave the ‘spice’ to friendly competitor Bean Me Up, Sweater Weather Café decided to shutter their doors for good. While Cedar Grove survived, the phrase pumpkin spice was banned until further notice.