Day 7

Seven days of overtime 

The doors opened.

Jeff Jelly and Allen Apple stepped inside, stiff, official, and deeply nervous.

Allen raised his clipboard. “This is just a proposal.”

Jeff nodded. “A request.”

Josh perked up. “Structure!”

Professor Math adjusted his glasses. “Interesting.”

Obesseus gasped.

“YOU SAY OVERTIME?”

Allen swallowed. “Twelve days. Just to stabilize productivity.”

The clocks stopped ticking.

The decorations dimmed.

Then the temperature dropped.

A shadow stretched across the room.

Slow.

Tall.

Green.

Espearagas stepped forward.

Silence fell so hard it felt scheduled.

“You have gathered,” Espearagas said calmly,

“to discuss… overtime?”

Jeff’s jelly rippled. “It’s seasonal.”

Allen added quickly, “Temporary.”

Espearagas looked at the clocks.

At the worksheets.

At Obesseus.

Then back to Jeff and Allen.

“You dare suggest overtime,” Espearagas said evenly,

“during a sacred cycle of rest?”

He didn’t shout.

He didn’t threaten.

He simply reached out and pressed the clipboard.

The clipboard folded itself shut.

“Overtime,” Espearagas continued,

“is a tool for mortals who fear stillness.”

The clocks flickered.

The word OVERTIME vanished from the board.

Jeff whispered, “…Is that a no?”

Espearagas turned his gaze on him.

“That is a correction.”

Obesseus nodded. “GOOD CORRECTION.”

Josh leaned forward. “But without structure—”

Espearagas raised one spear — not aggressively, just enough.

Josh stopped talking.

Day 8

Eight rules enforced

Professor Math hesitated.

“Perhaps… fewer rules.”

Eight rule posters peeled themselves off the walls.

They floated.

Then gently… disintegrated.

Espearagas spoke again.

“Rules without rest become punishment.”

Allen stared. “I… I should update the policy.”

Jeff nodded rapidly. “Yes. Immediately.”

Obesseus stretched.

“OBESEUS FEEL BETTER.”

Josh took a sip of lemon water.

It tasted less confident.

Professor Math sighed. “Very well.”

The clocks restarted.

But slower.

Kinder.

Snackland exhaled.

Espearagas turned to leave.

At the door, he paused.

“Do not summon gods,” he said,

“to justify calendars.”

Then he was gone.

Silence returned.

Jeff Jelly wiped his forehead.

“…So no overtime?”

Allen shook his head. “Never again.”

Obesseus smiled.

“CHRISTMAS SAVED.”

Obesseus’s Holiday Note

“REST IMPORTANT.

CLOCKS BAD BUT FIXABLE.

OBESEUS THANK GREEN GOD.”