Page 16 of Break Room

THE THIRD DISCIPLE’S HISTORIC STORE

Bobbed hair all soggy and puffy, wearing a comfortable shirt, Penny is sitting on the second floor of her favourite café.

This morning, she received word from the DallerGut Dream Department Store that her application has passed the screening, and there will be an interview next week.

She went straight to a corner bookstore to buy job interview books covering everything from guidelines to prep questions, and now she is in full prep mode.

But something has been bothering her for a while. A guy drinking his tea at the next table has been tapping his feet, showing off his colourful fuzzy socks with every bounce, distracting her like crazy.

He is in a thick dressing gown, sipping his tea with closed eyes. Its fresh forest scent carries over to her table whenever he blows on the tea. He must be having a special herbal tea, good for fatigue.

‘Hmm, very nice . . . warm . . . how much . . . refill?’ The guy mutters under his breath as though he is sleep-talking, then goes back to tapping his feet, smacking his lips.

Penny moves her seat to block his socks from view. Many others in the café are wearing pyjamas. Sitting next to the staircase leading to the first floor is a lady in a rented dressing gown, scratching the back of her neck and occasionally squirming as if she is feeling uncomfortable.

For centuries, Penny’s hometown has been famous for its local sleep products, which have driven its growth, and now it has evolved into a metropolis with a surging population. The locals, including Penny, who grew up here, are used to seeing outsiders roaming around in sleepwear.

Penny sips on her now-cold coffee. The awfully bitter caffeine goes down her throat, and it instantly seems to mute the distracting background noise and calm the air surrounding her body.

The extra charge for two Calm Syrup pumps is worth it.

She pulls a prep question sheet toward her and re-reads the last question, which she has been struggling with.

Q. Which dream and dreammaker won the Grand Prix at the 1999 Dream of the Year Awards by a unanimous vote?

a. ‘Crossing the Pacific Ocean as a Killer Whale’ by Kick Slumber

b. ‘Living as My Parents for a Week’ by Yasnoozz Otra

c. ‘Floating in Space Gazing Down on Earth’ by Wawa Sleepland

d. ‘Teatime with a Historical Figure’ by Doje

e. ‘An Infertile Couple’s Dream Foretelling the Birth of Triplets’ by Babynap Rockabye

Penny tries to work out the answer, chewing on her pen cap.

It’s tricky: 1999 was a long time ago. Young dream directors like Kick Slumber or Wawa Sleepland might not be correct.

She strikes out the two choices with her pen.

When did Yasnoozz Otra’s ‘Living as My Parents for a Week’ come out?

If Penny’s memory serves her right, it was fairly recent.

Otra’s dreams usually get huge promotions before the release, and one of the catchphrases from their ads is still vivid in her memory – their model saying vivaciously, ‘Still bothering to scold your kids? Make them live like you for a week in a dream, and everything is solved!’

Penny wavers between the two remaining options and finally goes with ‘e’, Babynap Rockabye’s ‘An Infertile Couple’s Dream Foretelling the Birth of Triplets’.

She is reaching for her coffee to take another sip when, out of nowhere, a furry paw slaps down on her question sheet, catching her so off guard that she almost knocks over her mug.

‘No, the answer is “a”,’ says the owner of the big paw without an introduction.

‘Kick Slumber debuted in 1999, and it was historic because he won the Grand Prix in his first year. I saved up money for six months straight to buy his dream. It was the most vivid dream I’ve had in my entire life!

The feeling of my fins crossing the ocean and the view under the waves.

It was so real that when I woke up, I was mortified that I hadn’t been born a killer whale!

He is a genius. You know how old he was then?

Just thirteen!’ The owner of the paw seems to burst with pride as if he were talking about his own accomplishment.

‘Oh, it’s you, Assam. You scared me.’ Penny pushes away the mug out of harm’s way. ‘How did you know I was here?’

‘I saw you coming out of the bookstore with a bunch of books. I knew you would hang around here. You never study at home.’ Assam glances at the pile of books on Penny’s table. ‘Prepping for the job interview?’

‘And how did you know that? I just heard from them this morning.’

‘Nothing in this area goes unnoticed by us Noctilucas.’

Assam is one of the Noctilucas working on this street.

Their job is to make sure the sleeping customers don’t go around taking off their pyjamas.

They chase after any naked customers, carrying a hundred dressing gowns on their shoulders.

Their oversized paws, their claws, which are long enough to hang on to several dressing gowns at once, and their warm, furry bodies all make the job a good fit for them.

The irony is that they don’t wear anything either, but on second thought, Penny thinks the naked customers would feel more comfortable being chased by equally naked furry creatures than by well-dressed humans.

‘You don’t mind me sitting here, do you? My feet hurt from bustling around all day.’ Assam plops down in the seat before Penny can answer. His fluffy tail sticks out through a hole in the back of the chair, wagging.

‘This is hard.’ Penny looks at the question again. ‘How old are you if you know all this, Assam?’

‘That is a rude question to ask a Noctiluca,’ Assam says primly.

‘I once studied hard to get into those stores too, but I quit. I thought this job suited me better.’ He brushes down the gowns on his shoulder.

‘Anyhow, I can’t believe this is really happening.

Clumsy Penny, getting an interview at the DallerGut Dream Department Store! ’

‘I guess my good karma finally comes into play!’ Penny genuinely believes it is a miracle that she has passed the screening.

Working at the DallerGut Dream Department Store is a job coveted by every young person.

The high pay, the glamorous architecture that is a city landmark, the various incentives and the thoughtful employee benefits of free dreams doled out on special occasions – there are just too many reasons to want to work there.

The locals are familiar with the long pedigree of the DallerGut family.

In fact, the family is the origin of the city.

The prospect of working with Mr DallerGut makes Penny’s heart swell so much that she thinks her whole body might swell up too, like a balloon.

‘I really hope I get in,’ Penny says, clasping her hands together as if in prayer.

‘And you’re studying just these books?’ Assam holds up one of the prep books and skims through it before putting it back on the table.

‘Thought I should memorise whatever I can. You never know what they’ll ask.

It could be naming the Legendary Big Five, or the highest-selling dream of the decade, or what time of day is popular among what customer demographic – who knows?

I learned that the shift I applied for has a lot of West Australian and Asian customers.

I even memorised all the time zones and datelines.

Fun fact: do you know why our city has a constant influx of customers twenty-four seven? ’

Penny is eager to launch into a long lecture right there and then, but Assam is also eager to avoid it, vigorously shaking his head. ‘DallerGut would never ask such a boring question. Plus, any middle-schooler on the street would know the answer.’

When Penny turns glum, Assam holds out his paw to pat her on the shoulder.

‘Don’t worry, buddy. I’ve heard a lot about DallerGut after a decade of working here.

’ He is quick to continue before Penny can ask him his age again.

‘And I hear he loves to ask ambiguous things about dreams, so I don’t think his questions will have a clear answer.

Speaking of which, I actually came here to give you this.

’ He drops the heap of dressing gowns from his shoulder on to the floor and starts rummaging through them.

From among the mountain of gowns, he produces a small bundle.

He unpacks it, and out come dozens of fuzzy socks.

‘Wait, no, these are for the customers who have cold feet . . . Ah, yes, there it is!’ Assam pulls a small book from the bundle. It has a hard, pale blue cover, and the elegant gold titling reads The Time God and the Three Disciples.

‘I haven’t seen that book in ages!’ Penny recognises it at once. In fact, everyone else should know it if they grew up here. It is a popular book that is on the children’s must-read list.

‘DallerGut could ask about this story, you know. If you haven’t read it since you were little, you should read it again – carefully, this time around.

This is one of the most important stories of DallerGut, after all!

’ Assam pulls his seat closer toward Penny, his face right next to hers.

‘And just between us, I hear DallerGut gave this book to all the employees at the Dream Department Store.’

‘Is that for real?’ Penny asks, taking the book from Assam in a hurry.

‘Of course! That proves how important he thinks this boo—’ Assam stops abruptly as his eyes move from Penny to the view outside the window.

‘Oh goodness! I should get back. I think I just saw a person roaming around in underwear.’ His chestnut nose twitches.

He rushes to pick up the pile of gowns while Penny helps to put the fuzzy socks back in the bundle.

‘Good luck, Penny. Let me know how the interview goes.’ Assam stands up, but his eyes are still preoccupied with the view outside. ‘At least that guy is wearing something,’ he mumbles.

‘Thanks, Assam,’ Penny says.