Be a Genie in Six Easy Steps (4 page)

“N
ooooooooo!” Jason's muffled wail floated eerily out of the flashlight. “I can't spend the rest of my life wedged inside a plastic duck! What about the spell of release the book talked about?”

“Brilliant!” Michael turned back to the book and reread what it said. “…And from that moment on he or she is at the command of the wish-maker until the spell of release has been uttered.'” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don't believe it. It doesn't say what the spell of release is!”

“What?” Jason gasped. “Ask Skribble! Perhaps he can help.”

“Perhaps? PERHAPS?” A familiar head popped up from the page. “Of course I can help! But why should I, hmm?”

“Please, Worm!” begged Michael.

Skribble's eyes narrowed. “I, help a miserable microbe who scarcely believes I am real? That
magic
is real?”

“I do believe it, I do,” Michael gushed. “I guess I always did, but…” He sighed. “At my age, you're not supposed to believe in magic.”

“I wish I did not have to believe in someone as stupid as you!” fussed Skribble. “But
I
do not doubt the evidence of my own eyes. A valuable lesson, boy, yes, very valuable.”

“I'll pay you for it later,” said Michael through gritted teeth. “Now, why can't I get Jason out?”

Skribble sighed. “What metal is that ridiculous contraption made from?”

Michael looked surprised. “It isn't metal. It's plastic.”

“Exactly,” Skribble said. “And just what is plastic, hmm?”

“A man-made material, made from polymers,” Jason piped up from the duck. The squeaker gave a quiet wheeze.

Skribble shook his head and raised his voice. “You duck-brained dunces! The magic book knows nothing of your piffling plastics or polymers! Such substances did not exist when it was written.”

Michael felt his heart sinking. “So the magic's only meant to work with metal?”

“And now it's gone wrong,” Jason realized.

“How do we put things right?” Michael asked. “What's the release spell?”

“Oh, that's easy,” said Skribble. “Child's play! You
simply say, ‘Genie be free.'”

“Genie be free!” Michael shouted.

A belch of black smoke floated out of the duck's behind.

“Ooh!” said Jason. “That was like a shock going right through me.”

“I must be on the right track,” said Michael. He rubbed the duck and bellowed at the top of his lungs, “Genie be FREE!”

There was a flash of light, and the duck jumped out of Michael's grip. In a big cloud of smelly smoke, Jason suddenly appeared—all hunched up on the floor like he'd tried to curl himself into a ball.

“Jase!” Michael beamed. “I got you back! I did it!”

“I think you will find that
I
did it,” Skribble pointed out.

“But what did you do?” gasped Jason, rocking on his knees. He was still all bunched up. “I can't move! I'm stuck in this stupid shape!”

Michael tried to straighten Jason's arms but they were as hard as stone. He tried again with his legs, but it was the same story.

“The magic's still not working properly,” wailed Jason. “I'm stuck in the same shape as I was inside that duck. What if I stay this way forever?”

Michael groaned. “I'll be dead meat. Your mum will kill me! I'll be grounded forever!” He turned to Skribble. “Worm, you messed up! It didn't work.”

“
I
messed up? I, indeed?” The bookworm vanished back inside the book with a cross jostling of pages. “
You
got yourselves into this mess. And as far as I'm concerned, you can stew in it!”

“I'm gonna squash that stupid worm,” Michael growled, squeezing the tall, thin book into the back pocket of his jeans. “Guess I'd better get you out of sight before Dad and Ann see you.” He took hold of Jason by the ankles and hauled him over to the staircase. “It's okay, Jase; we'll think of something. We will!”

He felt the book vibrate in his back pocket, like something small and smug was laughing.

 

A little while later, Milly and Jess arrived back home and raced up the stairs. “Just wait till we show the boys the lamp!” Milly exclaimed. “Come on!

Jess followed her up to the landing. “Oh, stupid boy looo-sers…” she called.

Michael opened his bedroom door a little and stuck his head out. He looked pale. “Come in, guys!” he hissed. “Quick!”

Milly and Jess hurried into the room. At the same
moment, they stopped dead and gasped.

“Jason!” Milly exclaimed in horror.

Jason groaned. His back was aching and all his muscles felt stiff. “Magic…went wrong…”

Jess swung around furiously toward Michael. “What have you done to him?”

As Michael explained what had happened, Milly's and Jess's eyes grew wider and wider.

“Oh, Jase!” breathed Milly, dropping her parcel and flinging her arms around him.

“There must be something we can do to
un
magic him,” said Jess, feeling close to tears.

“Oh, Skribble, can you help us?” Milly asked, crouching down beside the book on the floor. “Oh, please, please do. You're so clever….”

There was a rustling sound as Skribble popped out of
The Genie Handbook
. “At last,” he said, preening himself. “Someone is talking sense.”

“You'll help us?” Jess asked breathlessly.

“Well, I
suppose
I could….”

“You didn't say that when I asked you!” Michael exclaimed.

Skribble fixed him with a beady stare. “Maybe
you
didn't ask properly!”

“We've got a lamp! We found it in a junk shop in town.”
Milly unwrapped her parcel. “Here it is!”

Scribble's neck moved from side to side as he examined the lamp. “Early fourteenth century by the look of things,” he said approvingly. “Well-wrought metal. Yes, it might just do….”

“How do we use it to help Jason?” Jess demanded. Skribble raised his tiny eyebrows, and Jess hastily adjusted her words. “I mean, please would you be so kind as to tell us how to help Jason, clever Skribble?”

Skribble looked pleased. “Very well. Firstly, one of you must invoke the powers of mortal-to-genie transmogrification.”

Milly stared. “Do what?”

“Say, ‘Genie me!'” Jason translated. “It puts you inside the lamp.”

“Then, the trainee genie must be conjured out by another rubbing the lamp,” Skribble went on. “The genie will be able to grant a wish restoring this unfortunate boy to his usual state.”

“Okay.” Jess looked at the lamp and hesitated. “Um…would you like to do it, Milly?”

“Yes, please!” Milly said eagerly.

“You're only letting Milly do it because
you
don't want to!” Michael protested.

“You do it, then!” Jess snapped back.

Michael went red. “Well,” he mumbled. “I guess if Milly really
wants
to go in there…”

“I do,” said Milly firmly. “I
must
.” She glanced at Jason, twisted into such a horrible shape. He looked so unhappy, but tried to give her a reassuring smile.

She glanced at Skribble. He nodded his little head encouragingly.

It's now or never!
thought Milly, holding the lamp tight.

“Genie me!” she cried.

T
here was a bright white flash and the next second the world seemed to turn upside down. Milly felt herself spinning around as if she were on the teacups ride at the fair. “Whoaaaa!” she cried.

Her voice echoed back at her with a metallic ring.

Milly blinked her eyes open. She was standing in a very dark, very musty place. She reached out and touched a wall on her left. It felt cold and as if it was made of metal. Groping blindly in the darkness, she stepped to the right. After a few paces, her outstretched fingers touched another curved metal wall.

I'm in the lamp,
she realized. Her brain reeled. She shivered, feeling suddenly very alone.

She became aware of warmth filling the lamp. “Someone's rubbing it!” She didn't know how she knew that was what was happening; she just did. Suddenly, feeling as if she was being sucked up by a giant vacuum cleaner, Milly was pulled upward through the spout.

“Wooooo!” she cried as she somersaulted through the air and ended up her normal size, standing on the carpet in Michael's room.

Jess, Michael, and Jason all stared at her.

Milly stared back at them, just as amazed as they were.

Then Michael started to grin. “Cool outfit, Mil!”

“What…?” Milly looked down. Her jeans and sneakers had been replaced by baggy gold trousers and a pair of red shoes with toes that went up at the end. Her T-shirt had turned into a strappy gold-and-red top. She twitched her mouth. She had a strange feeling, as if there was something bristly there. Her hands flew to her top lip and felt a thick carpet of hairs curving out at either side of her nose and curling upward.

Michael sniggered. Jess began to giggle. Even Jason, despite his predicament, looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“I…I've got a moustache!” Milly exclaimed.

Skribble frowned. “Well, of course you have. That's the way a genie should look, according to humans.” Milly looked at him blankly. “You can't choose what you look like until Step Two of the training. Then you'll learn how to change your appearance to suit yourself.” He sighed disapprovingly as he looked at Michael and Jess, who were
now clutching their sides and choking with laughter. “
If
you get that far!”

Milly glared at Jess and Michael. “It's not that funny.”

“Oh, believe me, it is!” Michael gasped.

“Stop laughing at me!” Milly told them furiously. “Or I'll go back into the lamp and stay there!”

“You can't do that,” said Skribble. “No going back into the lamp in Step One until you grant a wish, or attempt to grant one, at the very least. Those are genie training rules. At the moment, you are under the command of the older girl. Whatever she tells you to do, you must try to perform it.”

Milly turned to her stepsister in alarm. “Jess! I don't like this!”

Jess wiped her eyes. “Sorry, Milly.” She took a deep breath and tried to control herself. “I'll make the wish…. I wish that Jason was back to normal!”

For a fleeting second, Milly wondered how she could make the wish come true. But then
The Genie Handbook
started to shake on the floor, and suddenly her body seemed to act of its own accord. She felt a tingling sensation run through her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Her hands lifted into the air and her mouth jerked open as the words seemed to jump from her throat:
“Your wish is my command!”
Her voice boomed out as if she was speaking through a microphone. Then there was a bright silver flash.

Milly blinked. As she opened her eyes, she saw the others blinking too, the laughter gone from their faces.

And suddenly, there was Jason, back to normal! He stretched out his arms and legs, and wiggled his fingers. “You did it, Milly! Oh, thank you, you did it!”

“Wow!” Milly breathed. “I really did, didn't I! Just think what else I could do….”

“You have done quite enough for the time being,” said Skribble. “Now you must return to the lamp.”

Milly pouted. “Must I?”

Skribble nodded. “Picture yourself back inside the lamp in your mind. Your body will follow.”

Reluctantly, Milly did as he said. Soon, she felt the sucking sensation just as before—and found herself pulled back into the lamp! She had barely gathered her wits before she heard Jess's voice, as if from far, far away….

“Genie be free!”

Like a cork popping from a bottle, Milly shot out of the lamp and landed on the carpet, only this time she landed in a heap and her clothes were back to normal. She felt weak and her head was spinning. “What happened?” she gasped, her hands reaching up to her face.
There was no moustache!

“You have been released from the lamp, of course,” Skribble explained. “I divulged the phrase that would set you free to your sister—”

“Stepsister,” said Jess automatically.

Skribble bristled. “Whatever the piffling distinctions…Milly, you are no longer under her command.”

“And you look normal again!” Jess added.

Milly grinned at her. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.

“I'm normal again, too!” shouted Jason, running around the room, stretching and putting himself into funny ballet-style poses. “Look at me!”

“No, thanks,” said Michael. But then he clapped Jason on the shoulder. “Glad to have you back.”

“Thanks,” said Jason, with a grateful look at Milly. “If it hadn't been for you and Skribble…”

“That's okay,” said Milly. “But I wish I could have done more magic.”

“That is how all students feel the first time they grant a wish,” Skribble informed her. “But never forget, any of you, that you are students learning a serious craft—not infants playing games. The secrets of the book are not imparted lightly.” He looked sternly at each of them in turn. “Do you all understand?”

The children nodded. “Sorry, Skribble,” Milly murmured.

The bookworm's face softened. “Do not worry, my dear. You did very well.”

“And I guess the important thing is, you found a cool lamp,” said Michael quietly. “Fair play. You won.”

Jess nodded. “Girls are best!”

“At being annoying,” Michael conceded.

Jason was looking through the pages of the book. Everything after the first step was still in a mysterious language. He sighed. “We might have a lamp now but we still haven't passed Step One. I guess we shouldn't have used that duck flashlight, Michael. We should have thought about it more.”

Michael grunted. “I messed up. I think deep down, I didn't believe anything magic would really happen, so it didn't matter.”

“But it
does
matter,” said Jason.

Milly nodded fervently. “It matters more than anything.”

“I think we should
all
agree to be more careful in the future,” Jess said.

Suddenly, Skribble gasped. “There's something happening in the book! My tail's tingling! The words are changing.”

Jess bit her lip. “Maybe it's going to let us pass to the next step after all!”

Milly crossed all her fingers. “Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please!”

Strange lights and patterns seemed to flick over the yellowed paper. “Turn the page!” Skribble ordered.

Jason quickly flicked the page over and found that the words had turned into English. “I can read it!” he exclaimed. “We
have
passed on to Step Two!”

“Read out what it says,” said Milly.

So, Jason picked up the book and began to read….