🐙 Olly the Octopus Learns to Say No

Deep under the glittering blue sea, in a coral castle full of swishy curtains and jellyfish chandeliers, lived a friendly little octopus named Olly.

Olly had eight arms and zero chill—he just couldn’t say “no” to anyone.

"Olly, can you help me rearrange my pebble collection?""Sure!""Olly, can you babysit my 27 sea snails?""Of course!""Olly, can you write a 4-minute song about plankton?""Absolutely!"

Before long, poor Olly was overwhelmed. His suckers were tired. His head was spinning. He hadn’t had a bubble bath or a snack in days.

So he swam to wise Granny Eel, who had been around since Atlantis was cool.

"Granny," Olly said, "I’m trying to be nice, but I feel like spaghetti."

Granny Eel chuckled. "Olly, kindness is wonderful. But saying no isn’t mean—it’s magic. It makes room for your yes to really matter."

Olly blinked all eight of his eyes.

The next day, he tried it out.

When Starfish Stan asked him to alphabetize his shells, Olly took a deep breath and said, "Not today, Stan."

When Clammy Clara invited him to her six-hour underwater opera, he said, “I’m gonna pass, but I hope it’s fabulous!”

To his surprise, no one exploded. In fact, his friends respected him even more. And best of all? Olly finally had time for his favorite things—blowing ink doodles and jelly-snacking in peace.