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Nutkin and Hazel were a pair of siblings whose lives revolved around the annual autumn nut-gathering. It was a race against time, with squirrels from all over the forest competing for the tastiest acorns and walnuts. This year, they were off to a terrible start. The best nuts were being scooped up by their rivals, the Chippers.

One afternoon, while foraging near an abandoned picnic blanket, Nutkin found something strange: a small, black object with lots of buttons. It was a television remote control. He sniffed it, then accidentally pressed a button marked "PAUSE."

Suddenly, the world went still. A startled blue jay was frozen mid-flight, a gust of wind hung motionless in the air, and a rival squirrel was suspended, one paw just about to grab the most delicious-looking acorn. Nutkin blinked. He wiggled his tail. The world was still. He nudged Hazel, who was also frozen.

He pressed the "PLAY" button. Everything started moving again. The blue jay flew on, the wind rushed by, and the other squirrel snatched the acorn. Nutkin and Hazel stared at each other, their little squirrel brains working overtime. They had discovered a time machine! Well, a time-pausing device.

They started to use the remote for their nut-gathering. They'd spot a prime pile of walnuts, hit "PAUSE," and then leisurely stroll over and scoop them all up. Hazel would use the time to organize their nut stash into neat little piles, while Nutkin would occasionally use the remote to briefly un-pause his sister just to ask where she wanted him to put a particular chestnut. It was glorious.

Their nut pile grew larger and larger. The other squirrels were baffled. The Chippers were particularly confused. "How are they getting all the nuts? It’s like they're faster than light!" one of them exclaimed.

Nutkin and Hazel, meanwhile, had a different problem. They had gathered so many nuts that their tree hollow was overflowing. The remote also had an interesting side effect. Nutkin accidentally paused the world right as he was about to sneeze. He and Hazel had to wait, unmoving, until Hazel could scurry around and press "PLAY," so Nutkin's sneeze could finally come out.

The squirrels decided that while pausing time was fun, it was also a little overwhelming. They had enough nuts for the winter and a whole lot of weird, paused moments to remember. They put the remote away, deciding that a good old-fashioned nut race was a lot more fun, even if it meant a smaller haul.