Page 17 of Break Room

Assam’s tail circles clockwise as if to say, ‘You’re welcome,’ and off he goes downstairs.

Penny touches the book Assam left. He does have a point.

Why hasn’t she thought about re-reading this book?

It explains the origin of this big shopping street, the birth of the city, and most of all, the genesis of the DallerGut Dream Department Store.

If DallerGut values history, there is a good chance that the answers to his interview questions will be in this book.

Penny tucks the sheets of practice questions inside her backpack.

She finishes her remaining coffee in one go and straightens her back, then flips the book.

The Time God and the Three Disciples

Eons ago, there lived the Time God, who governed people’s times. One day during their usual relaxed luncheon, the Time God realised there was little time left to live. The Time God summoned three disciples and shared the news.

The First Disciple, gallant and daring, asked their teacher what they should do next. The vulnerable Second Disciple brimmed with tears, lost in the memories they shared with the Time God. The last Third Disciple stood there without a word, waiting for the Time God to continue.

‘My dearest Third Disciple, always considerate and cautious, let me ask you a question. If I divide time into three shards for each of you to govern, which shall you take – the past, the present or the future?’ the Time God asked.

The Third Disciple pondered and said they would choose whatever was left after the First and Second Disciples had chosen.

The gallant and daring First Disciple did not let the opportunity pass, and said they would take the future. ‘Please grant me power not to dwell on the past so I can govern the future,’ they added.

The First Disciple always thought a timely grasp on the future without looking back was the most beautiful virtue. So, the Time God granted them the future, with the power to forget the past.

The Second Disciple cautiously requested that they take the past. They said holding on to the memories would make them forever happy without remorse or emptiness. So, the Time God granted them the past, with the power to forever cherish all old memories.

Now, holding the shard of the present – so small and sharp compared to the future and past – the Time God asked the Third Disciple, ‘Shall you govern the momentary present?’

‘No, teacher, please distribute it to all people equally,’ the Third Disciple said.

The Time God was confused. ‘Throughout all my years of teaching, there was no particular time that you considered special?’ the Time God asked in disappointment.

This forced the Third Disciple to be candid.

‘The time I love most is when everyone is asleep, teacher. That is when we do not dwell on regrets about the past or anxiety over the future. But people do not consider sleep in the happy memories they cherish or the grand futures they look forward to. Even people asleep in the present do not recognise they are asleep. How dare I, a measly being, come forward and say I shall govern this piteous time?’

The First Disciple secretly scoffed at them, while the Second Disciple was mildly surprised. They both thought sleep was a waste of time. But the Time God generously offered sleep time to the Third Disciple.

‘Dear First and Second Disciples, do you mind if I take slices from your shards, past sleep and future sleep, and give them to the Third Disciple?’ the Time God asked, and the First and Second Disciples answered without hesitation, ‘Not at all, teacher.’

So, the three disciples took their portion of time shards and dispersed. The First and Second Disciples, who each received the future and past, were very satisfied with the powers given to them by the Time God.

The First Disciple and their followers let go of all the tedious things from the past and were soon excited to build a grand new future, venturing out to a land much bigger than their own.

Equally excited were the Second Disciple and their followers, who cherished the past, remembering their young, fair-skinned faces and loving memories.

But problems soon arose. The First Disciple was so occupied with the future that the sheer amount of the past they had entirely forgotten grew like a thick layer of fog in their land.

They could no longer recognise their friends and family through the dense layers of haze.

As memories with their beloved kinfolks were gone, so were their very reasons for aspiring to the future, which they could no longer remember.

They became oblivious to what lay right before them, and even more so the far future.

The Second Disciple and their followers were no different.

They were trapped in only the good memories, so they could not accept the passage of time, the inevitable partings and deaths.

The tears of their weak souls constantly flowed down to the earth, creating a large cave in which they eventually hid, burying themselves deep inside.

Having witnessed all this, the Time God waited until everyone was sound asleep.

Then, lit by the moonlight, the Time God snuck into their bedrooms. The Time God pulled out a sharp shard of the present and gripped it hard before using it to slice off their shadows.

Holding the shadows in one hand and an empty bottle in the other, the Time God left in the darkness.

First, the Time God put the foggy memories the First Disciple and their followers had abandoned in the bottle. Then, the Time God fetched in their arms all the tears the Second Disciple and their followers had shed. Lastly, the Time God went to the Third Disciple in secret.

‘To what do I owe the pleasure of this unannounced visit at night, teacher?’ the Third Disciple asked.

Without a word, the Time God pulled them out one by one and placed them on the table – the sleeping shadows, the bottle of forgotten memories and the teardrops. The Third Disciple could not fathom the teacher’s mind.

‘How shall I help people with them?’ the Third Disciple asked, but instead of an answer, the Time God picked up the shadows, saggy in deep sleep, and put them inside the bottle. The Time God added the teardrops to the bottle as the shadows struggled to open their eyes.

Then a wonder occurred. The tears gathered to become the eyes of the shadows.

The eyes opened wide, the shadows coming to life inside the bottle of memories.

‘Let the shadow of people be awake when they are asleep,’ said the Time God as they handed the bottle of shadows and memories to the Third Disciple.

As wise as the Third Disciple was, they had no idea what their teacher meant. ‘Do you mean to let people think and feel, even in their sleep? How would that be any help for them?’

‘All the memories the shadows will experience during sleep will strengthen weak souls, unlike the Second Disciple. And when they wake up the next day, they will be reminded of the important things and not forget, unlike the careless First Disciple.’

After the Time God had delivered this speech, the Third Disciple realised their time for the lesson was ending.

The Third Disciple shouted in haste as their teacher faded little by little.

‘Please enlighten me further, teacher. How can I teach people to understand all this? I cannot even begin to define what this is.’

The Time God smiled and said, ‘You do not need to understand. It is better that you do not. Time will come when people start to embrace it.’

‘Could you at least give this a name? Shall I call it a miracle? Or an illusion?’ the Third Disciple asked desperately.

‘Call it a dream. You will make them dream every night.’ And with that, the Time God vanished without a trace.

Penny closes the book, odd sensations stirring inside her.

The story had seemed distant and outrageous when she first read it as a child.

A fairy tale. But how many things in the world can you understand without believing in them?

Everyone in the city accepts the story as naturally as one accepts the circle of life – from nonexistence to birth, and from futile existence to death.

The very existence of people dreaming every night and the Third Disciple later founding the Dream Department Store, which was then inherited by their descendants and now passed down to DallerGut – all of th is is living proof.

Suddenly, DallerGut seems like a mythical figure to Penny. The thought of having a conversation with him one-on-one leaves her half excited and half nervous. She slightly shudders, a chill in her belly. I guess I’m done for today, she thinks.

Penny returns home with the pile of books in her backpack, and for the rest of the day, until she falls asleep, she doesn’t put down the book that Assam gave her. She reads and re-reads it for several days until D-day. She reads it so many times that she has memorised the entire story.

On the day of the interview, Penny arrives at the department store early, looking for DallerGut’s office in the lobby on the first floor.

People wear stretched T-shirts and loose shorts as pyjamas, or dressing gowns provided by the Noctilucas.

They are all looking at different dream products in the display corner.

Next to the ‘Best New Products’ stand, a customer in pyjama bottoms covered with stars is holding a dream box.

‘Oh, the new dream by Kick Slumber is here . . . “Becoming a Giant Tortoise in Galapagos”. Let’s see.

These snobby critics rated it four point nine?

That’s new. But what is this? “A spectacular abyss surrounding its carapace”?

Their blurbs are useless as usual.’ Penny has ten minutes to get to DallerGut’s office, but there is nowhere here that looks fancy enough to be the owner’s office.