Albert Rasmussen invites the whole town of Bounty over to his house one winter to say goodbye before he and his two kids go into "human hibernation." Albert has a grease heater that he invented plus vitamin C pills and other supplements to prevent sickness. He decided to go into hibernation after the death of his wife Jeannie, who was killed by a seventeen-year-old drunk driver during a winter storm. Al and his two kids sleep through the winter, despite everyone's doubts. When Al comes back from hibernation, he looks more refreshed than he has since his wife died. Gradually, other townspeople decide to hibernate. They realize that if they sleep through the winter, they will save money and lose weight. The hibernation at first lasts from the day after Christmas until March, but when parents realize that if they hibernate during Christmas they do not have to buy presents, the hibernation is extended to almost five months. Everyone in the town begins to hibernate with the exception of Mrs. Pekola, who celebrates Christmas in the church by herself. One year, she freezes to death in the church because the pastor turned off the electricity for the hibernating town. When word gets out that sales have gone down ninety-five percent in the town during the winter, local news crews investigate. They can hardly believe that human hibernation could be possible. However, no one can visit during the hibernation — snow piles are too high to drive through, and the residents do not plow them because they do not wake until the snow melts. The townspeople are proud to be from Bounty, and a documentary is filmed about them. In it, Al's daughter Dee says that she remembers how it felt to be cold before the hibernation. Now, they are not cold.