Genie In A Bottle

Once a upon a time I was the most powerful genie in the world and had just been set free, then came Al. He tricked me and trapped me in my bottle. Yes, legend says it’s a lamp, but it’s not my home. My prison is a bottle. The bottle itself is not pretty. From the outside, it looks like an old dirty rum bottle, but inside it’s glamorous, like the sultan’s palace.

Lush red, gold cushions are everywhere, all different shapes and sizes, chiffons hanging over my lamps. I lined my walls with a rich purple Moroccan print. And a string of lights just to give it that warm, cozy feeling, considering the bottle is unbreakable and looks disgusting.

I was cleaning my bottle, trying to shine it from being enslaved for 100 years by this one horrid family, when Al found me by a spring. He had told me he knows a better way to clean my bottle and could show me as it would need elbow grease. And silly, naïve me. I let him take my bottle from me, and like they say, the rest is history.

Now I am a slave to Al, beck and call whenever he needs me. Most of the time, it’s turning his enemies into objects or creatures depending on their crime–disobedience–towards him. If I thought my last master was a tyrant, then Al must be the King of Hell, because he is far worse than anything imaginable.

Jazz isn’t much better than Al, but I have seen a softer, kinder side to her. I think she pretends to be so mean because she is afraid of Al. After all, he had me turn Jaffa into a golden goose that is hunted until the end of time just because Jaffa spoke up against Al. Jaffa was actually sweet and always tried to sway Al from hasty decisions, like me turning everyone into cockroaches or statues. And typical Al move, he made the people believe that Jaffa had tried to assassinate him, hence why he must feel what it feels like to be hunted.

Those who know the truth don’t dare speak up or whisper because Al has ears and eyes everywhere, literality, I had to make the walls and even servants speak when there were ill talk of Al. It would force them to come forth and confess if they themselves had spoken ill of Al or point those out that opposed to him. The walls would sound off like an alarm, alerting Al that someone had spoken up about him.

I sensed my bottle was being picked up to rub and I know that I would have to perform whatever wicked wish Al demanded of me. If there was only a way, I could get past his wish for me not to perform any trickery with him. He had been extremely clever about that flaw in the clause. Most genies could manipulate the wish and say the person never specified exactly what they wanted. But Al somehow figured that out and put a gag order on me. So, I had to perform my tasks as he stated exactly to the T, or I will be punished.

I learnt that the hard way when I tried to defy him once he made me snuff out Carpio, unweave him. I tried to beg and plead and say how having a magic carpet is far more worth horses or camels and that Al would be feared for flying, but he said he could make me conjure up another magic carpet if he pleased. And if I didn’t do it, then he would set Carpio alight. It hurt me badly, but I was able to cast a spell so that Carpio wouldn’t feel any pain.

I have been Al’s slave for almost 10 years now and I’m in more agony than what I was with my past masters that had me passed down from kin to kin for 100 years. I have to think of a way to escape Al and reverse every cruel thing he has done and make him suffer all the fates he enforced me to end.

I felt him rub my bottle and hastily appeared. If I let him wait a second too long, then he would whip my hands. He smiled as I appeared in full human form in front of him, kneeling.

“My master.” I said through gritted teeth.

I could feel him smirk as I stared at his fat feet.

“I want you to make me youthful again. Like the handsome prince I was, and turn the kitchen staff into a frogs’ for making me fat.” He commanded, shaking his fat, ugly gut.

I cringed but stood up and waved my hands with movements for conjuring up the spell and magic needed to do as Al wished. With wind and electricity in the air, Al transformed into his former glorious self. 6 feet tall, young bronze smooth skin with powerful hands and a 6-pack abs. If it weren’t for his egoistic narcist douchebag of behavior, he was actually very handsome, but it didn’t make up for all his evil.

There were screams and shrieks coming from the kitchen and throughout the palace as the kitchen staff transformed into toads. Al laughed, or should I cackle like a true villain before commanding the guards to capture the toads and boil them? He wanted frog legs for lunch. I all but wanted to hurl, but the guards were greener than I was. Al left me in the hall with his guards as he went to the dining hall, laughing the whole time.

I snapped my fingers until my quill and parchment appeared. I quickly scribbled on the parchment before showing it to the guards. Grab the kitchen staff and exchange them with the garden toads.

The one guard looked at me with sadness and fear. He knows me doing this will cost someone else their lives, but I know the one scullery maid is his niece. Al doesn’t know if any of the staff are related or not, not that he cares, but if he figured it out, he would abuse that power and truly torment the staff.

They’ll turn back after 2 days. I scribbled before making my quill and parchment disappear.

They let out a barely audible sound before leaving to the kitchens. I thought I knew what Al was going to do after he commanded me to turn them into toads. It didn’t take a genius to know what twisted thing he would come up with, but eating them, that’s a whole new level of evil. I had changed my spell so that it would only last 2 days on Al and the staff.

I had had enough of this evil tyrant and him using me for his dirty work, so I bought some time to come up with a plan, the idea was rough but 2 days would hopefully give me enough time to come up with a solid plan and end Al’s evilness even if I have to be trapped for eternity.

Genies can’t escape their masters if their misfortune enslaves them in any way. Most of them wish for eternity. Heaven knows why all mortals wish for immortality. A genie is tied to their masters until they die. That’s saying if they don’t wish you to serve their kin, which most do. So, you never escape them until the last of their kin die or do not wish to have you anymore.

As I wonder about the small maze in the gardens, the only place that I’m permitted to visit and get sunlight. I hear whispers and edge closer to the voices. It’s Jazz and Jaffa in his golden goose form. They were embracing each other with Jazz sniffing.

“Oh Jaffa. If there was only some way to kill Al and turn you human again, then we could leave and live our lives far, far away from genies, magic and palaces.” Jazz wept, hugging Jaffa.

So, she was only acting mean in order to keep herself safe from Al. I emerged from the shadows, making them gasp and shrink in fear. I held my hands up in surrender.

“I have an idea to rid Al of this world.” I whispered, sitting next to them.

“How?” she breathed, stroking Jaffa’s gold feathers.

“Trick him. He values youth and wealth. If I can create a fountain and you make him drink from it, I can turn him to stone forever.” I stated, showing images with my hands.

“But he has that gag order wish on you.” Jazz stated, frowning.

“Yes, but I am not the one who will deliver the news of a youth fountain to him. If he is as dumb and vain as we think, he will wish me to transport the fountain from across the world to him. I will conjure it up and change the waters to turn him into stone or ice whatever you want, and you will convince him to drink it. If he still does not, then I will make a special potion that you will put in your cup and drink. Then he will see the water is safe and drink from it.” I explained projecting images of the plan.

“What if he takes the cup from me before I can drink?” she asked with skepticism.

I thought for a second. She was right, he could take from her as a test.

“I will enchant the cup for your hands only. As soon as he takes the cup, the water will change to the poison water.” I said, nodding to myself.

That plan would work, and it’s no trickery. I have done it before with an old master who wanted to poison someone. He would drink from the cup to prove the drink was safe and when the enemy took the cup and drank, the drink turned back to poison.

“What will happen when Al’s turned to stone? What happens to all the magic and spells that he made you perform and cast?” she asked, staring into Jaffa’s eyes.

“They will break and everything will go back to the way they were, except for those that have perished already. That I cannot change.” I said with sadness.

“What will happen to you?” she breathed.

“I will be free.” I lied with a small smile.

Jazz nodded, then hugged Jaffa again.

“Ok.” she stated firmly, squaring her shoulders.

I nodded, then got up to leave. My time would be up for wondering about the maze, regardless. Al only granted me a few minutes.

Jazz waited until the next morning to run to Al, saying there was news from multiple sources of a youth fountain. She didn’t even have to do much convincing as he wanted the fountain for himself and could capitalize on it too, selling the water for land and kingdoms. He ordered me to transport the fountain to the palace. I waved my hands and conjured the fountain at the palace hall. The fountain landed with a loud thud and the water squished roughly in the bowl.

“Careful!” Al yelled at me as he ran to the fountain.

It was just a plain fountain with some ancient carvings in the bowl. Al wouldn’t know hieroglyphics, so I just made it as simple as possible, pretty much self-explanatory. The carvings were of a man drinking the water and becoming powerful and stay young. He walked around the fountain, frowning, then in awe.

“Finally. I will be invincible.” He sneered, looking at the all of us. “Get me a cup!”

I nodded discreetly at Jazz and she pulled out the cup that I had enchanted. Al all but snatched the cup out of Jazz’s hand before dipping it into the cool, crystal water. He lifted the cup to his lips and stopped from taking a sip, just as Jazz had predicted that he would. Al shoved the cup into Jazz’s hand and lifted the cup to her lips, forcing her to take a sip before pulling it away from her.

“Well?!” he demanded.

“It’s so fresh. I have never tasted such refreshing waters.” She said, licking her lips.

It was spring water from the northern mountains. The snow would melt and be the pure water. No one in the east has ever travelled north or tasted its waters. Smiling, Al lifted the cup to his lips again, satisfied that nothing bad has happened to Jazz. The enchanted cup just made her skin glow a little more to give that illusion of youth. He drank the whole cup and smacked his lips together with greedy eyes before dunking the cup into the water again and drank another full in one gulp.

Jazz glanced at me with apprehension, trying to keep herself composed when all of a sudden, the cup dropped with a loud clink on the stone floor and toppled over, clawing at his throat. I could see his eyes stare daggers into mine as they grew red along with his face. He tried to speak, but no words formed, only gargles. He tried mouthing a wish, but I too also know a clause in the genie code. I can grant no wish without being spoken clearly, for a genie could mistake their master’s lips and perform the incorrect wish.

I knew that if I didn’t take Al’s speech away, he would have commanded me to heal him and destroy everyone. Al squirmed around, trying to beg for help, latching onto Jazz’s foot. She shook him off in disgust. It’s at that moment he realized I doomed him as he began to turn into a salt statue.

See, stone would be too easy to break with another spell and set him free, not that I think anyone would be that crazy to set this tyrant loose into the world again. But salt there’s nothing that can change that, even if he somehow was able to be “reborn” again, he will stay as a salt figure and every step he takes his limbs and body would break, it would be like his bones are shattering into a million pieces and every grain of salt would have the effects of rubbing salt into an open wound. Cruel I know, but what he has done to everyone for years does not even compare to what he deserves.

Everyone stared in horror and satisfaction as Al had completely into a salt statue. We must have stood staring at him for hours because soon enough the sky had become crimson with the sunset. Jaffa flew fast and low into the palace and crashed into Jazz’s arms. Jazz was crying when Jaffa turned back into a human. Throughout the palace, there were shrieks and cries and laughter as all who had been changed into something started returning to their human form. I stood aside, waiting for the curse to take me and turn me into a salt statue too, but I didn’t feel any different. Strange, with everything returning to normal I should be feeling the effects of the spell, but I wasn’t?

“I had Jaffa find another genie.”

I gasped, clutching the marble pillar next to me, with fear and horror coursing through me. Jazz rushed to my side.

“He’s a free genie.” She explained quickly.

I still glared at her, unsure what to feel.

“I had him change your spell a little. Jaffa has heard tails on his journey of genies suffering the same misgivings as to their masters.” She confessed with a small smile. “I made him change the spell so that when Al turns, you’re automatically set free. ”

I stare at her, hearing the words and seeing her lips move, but I just couldn’t comprehend what she was saying.

“Your free Genie.” She exclaimed, hugging me.

I was still in shock and frozen in place. Jazz squeezed me tighter, and I slowly wrapped my arms around her as the news set in. I’m free! Finally, after years of being a slave, I’m a free genie again.

“How?” I asked, pulling away from Jazz.

And as if on cue, the genie appeared.

“Because only a free genie can set another genie free.” He boomed, standing tall and strong. “I’m Boris.”

“You have a name?” I whispered, getting up with Jazz’s help.

“I gave myself one when my master freed me.” He stated proudly.

“You can have one too.” Jazz said with a warm smile.

“I have never thought of naming myself even when I was free for a while.” I said, still in awe.

“Well now, you can.” Jaffa pressed, taking Jazz’s hand.

I smiled. “I have always liked the name Zahra.”

“Welcome to freedom Zahra.” Jaffa said, sticking her hand out to shake mine.

I smiled wilding taking her hand as everyone cheered and chanted my name, Zahra.