Three Evil Wishes (4 page)

I
toppled backward onto the grass.

“Ooof!” I landed hard on my back. Nearly knocked my breath out.

No time to scramble away.

The big creature pounced.

It jumped on top of me. Its heavy paws thudded onto my chest.

Pinned me to the ground.

Another roar burst from its open jaws.

I shot up my hands. Struggled to push it away.

Its hot breath swept over my face. Its pointed teeth gleamed above me.

“Hellllp!”

My cry was smothered as the beast lowered its enormous head—and licked my nose!

“Barky—get off!” I shrieked.

The giant dog licked my cheeks and forehead.

“Barky! Off!”

I pushed the excited dog away and scrambled to my feet.

Jesse had backed up to the trunk of a willow tree. His eyes were wide with amazement. “Barky is a giant too?” he choked out.

“Sit, Barky! Sit!” I commanded.

The big dog obediently sat down, but his enormous tail continued to wag, sending up clouds of dust.

I turned angrily to the genie. “You messed up!” I shrieked.

His purple face darkened. He glanced away.

“Look at me! Look at Barky! You messed up!” I wailed.

He shrugged. “Must be my eyesight,” he murmured, still avoiding my stare. “You know. A hundred years of staring out through a brown bottle.”

“But—but—but—” I sputtered.

“I thought I was changing you and your brother,” Gene continued. “I didn't see the pooch standing there.”

That made me totally lose it. “But
look what you did to me!”
I shrieked. “I'm a freak! A giant, muscle-bound freak!”

He rubbed his chin. “You said you wanted to be bigger and stronger than some other kids. So I made you bigger and stronger.”

I opened my mouth to speak. But no sound came out.

I was too furious to speak!

I stared at Barky—nearly as big as a horse. And then my eyes moved to my tiny little shrimp of a brother.

I waved my fist in the air. Big muscles rippled up and down my arm.

“Change me back,” I told the genie. “I mean it. Change Barky and me back the way we were.”

“I'm sorry,” he said softly, eyes lowered to the ground. “I can't.”

“Y
ou can't?” I cried. “What do you mean, you
can't?”

“Okay. Okay,” Gene said, motioning for me to calm down. “Stop shouting. Hoo. You're giving me a splitting headache.”

“Change Barky and me back!” I insisted.

“All right,” he finally agreed. “I can change you back. But it will cost you a wish.”

“Excuse me? No way!” Jesse protested. “You're the one who messed up! Why should
we
waste a wish because you made a mistake?”

The genie stuck out his purple chin. “Those are the rules, kids. Want to change back? It costs a
wish. I don't write the rules. I only carry them out. It's a job, you know.”

“A real genie would admit that he was wrong,” I grumbled. “A
real
genie would change us back for free. I guess you're just a big fake—with a capital F.”

The genie's purple eyes flashed with anger. “You shouldn't call me names,” he scolded. “I'm trying to teach you a few things here. You shouldn't whisper, and you shouldn't call names.”

A wave of hot air swirled around me. Choking me. I gasped for breath. Behind me I heard the lake water bubble and churn again.

I felt weak and dizzy. Sweat poured down my face. “Okay! I'm sorry!” I cried. “You're
not
a fake!”

The genie waved a hand, and the waves of heat disappeared.

A cool breeze brushed against my skin. I took a deep breath and let the fresh air wash over me.

“You okay, Hannah?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” I told him.

That settled it. Now I
knew
we had to stay on Gene's good side. He was powerful. Very powerful. And he could use that power against us even if he said we were the masters.

“I have decided to give you a break,” Gene said finally. “I admit there was a tiny mix-up. So I'll
change you and the dog back. But next time you'll have to use a wish!”

Gene bowed to Barky and me. Then he closed his eyes and started to hum. He tilted his face up to the sky and waved his arms in the air. He began to dance his crazy hula.

I held on tight to Barky as the tornado of swirling purple gas blasted out of the sky and covered us both again. The prickling sensation spread over my skin.

Barky yapped furiously. I held him in place with my huge arms.

As I struggled to keep Barky close to me, I had a terrible thought. What if Gene messes up again? What if he makes me
too
small this time? Or even bigger?

I buried my face in Barky's fur. Get it right this time, Gene, I pleaded silently.

The purple smoke cleared as quickly as it appeared. I glanced down at my feet. They appeared normal again. I felt my neck.

Yes! As scrawny as ever.

I turned to Barky. He barked and wagged his tiny tail.

He was back to normal too.

I sighed and stretched my arms above my head. It felt good to be back in my own body.

I turned to my brother. “I don't know about you,
Jesse, but I've had enough of this wish stuff for one day.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Jesse agreed. He dusted off his jeans and picked up his soaking-wet backpack.

“Come on, Gene. Back inside the bottle.” I picked up the bottle and held it out to him. “Jump back in. We'll bring you out again later—after we have some time to think about our next wish.”

Gene folded his arms across his chest. “Sorry.” He shook his head.

“What do you mean?” I demanded. “We're the masters, right? What we say goes, remember?”

But Gene didn't budge. “I am
not
going back in that bottle,” he argued. “I have such a pain in my neck. And my knees still ache. No way I'm going back in that cramped little bottle. You will have to take me home with you.”

“Huh? You can't come home with us!” Jesse cried. “Our parents would freak!”

I poked Jesse in the ribs with my elbow. “Don't make him angry,” I whispered. “We don't need any more of his hot air.”

I cleared my throat and turned to Gene. “What Jesse means is that you would be kind of tough to explain to our parents. You see, we don't often meet
genies.”

“We
never
meet genies,” Jesse backed me up. “So you'll just have to get back in the bottle.”

“Are you deaf?” the old genie rasped. “Maybe your second wish should be for a hearing aid. I am going to live outside my bottle—with you—until you have made all of your wishes.”

“But my parents—” I started to say.

He raised a hand to silence me. “Don't worry about it. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve,” he said. “Watch.”

The old genie closed his eyes. A wisp of purple smoke rose up around him.

Panic made me cry out. What did he plan to do? Something horrible?

I squeezed my eyes shut. “No! Don't!” I yelled.

But there was no heat. No boiling lake. I opened one eye. Then the other.

Gene had disappeared. A boy our age stood in his place. A stocky boy with blue eyes and curly brown hair. He wore black velvet shorts, a ruffled shirt, and shoes that buttoned on the side.

“Gene? Is that you?” I cried.

He nodded. “Hoo. Is this a thrill? Now I'm a kid again! My heart is going pitty-pat. I may dance a jig.”

“Whoa! That's awesome,” Jesse shouted. “But, Gene, what are you wearing? You look like—a
girl.”

Gene fluffed the ruffle on his shirt. “I do
not
look like a girl. These clothes are very fashionable,” he insisted.

“Maybe a hundred years ago,” I told him, shaking my head. “Gene, this is never going to work.”

“It must work,” he replied. “It is the only way you will receive the rest of your wishes.”

Jesse shrugged and carefully picked up his muddy backpack. “I guess he's right. It'll have to work,” he told me.

“Have you lost your mind? What are we going to tell Mom and Dad?” I asked.

Jesse slipped the bottle into my backpack and then handed the pack to me. “We'll think of something,” he said cheerfully. “Besides, we have two wishes left! We can't just forget about them!”

“Yeah, well, the first wish didn't turn out so great,” I reminded him.

“So we'll be a little more careful next time. We'll get our wishes, and then—poof!—Gene will be on his way. Right, Gene?”

“Whatever,” the genie muttered. “If I'm a kid, how come I've still got such heartburn?”

“Well . . . all right,” I gave in. “I guess Gene can come with us.”

But as we made our way home, my mind filled with dread.

How could we just bring a new kid home to live?

How could we ever explain this to Mom and Dad?

And what if the genie wasn't as nice as he seemed?

What if this was some kind of trick? What if he really was evil?

“T
his is Gene,” I told my parents.

Gene gave them a little bow.

We made Gene change into modern clothes before we reached the house. He looked pretty good. But his skin was still a little purple. I hoped my parents wouldn't notice.

“How are you, Gene?” Dad shook his hand.

“Actually, I've got pretty bad heartburn,” Gene complained, pounding his chest. “Hoo. Have I got heartburn.”

“Heartburn?” Dad narrowed his eyes at our guest. “A boy your age?”

“Have you got any seltzer?” Gene asked. “I've really got to burp. I think it will help a lot.”

His eyes were flashing around the kitchen. I knew he was admiring all the fancy new appliances. After all, he hadn't been in a kitchen in a hundred years.

Dad shook his head. He reached into the fridge for some club soda. “Weird friend,” he whispered to me.

“He's Jesse's friend,” I whispered back. “Not mine.”

Gene gulped down the club soda in a single swallow. A few seconds later he was burping his head off. It was really gross.

I thought there was no way my parents would let Gene stay for dinner. But they did. Jesse and I have really nice parents.

“We're only having pizza,” Mom told me. “You've got about half an hour.”

Jesse and I led Gene up to Jesse's room. “Houses have changed,” Gene murmured. “No butter churn.”

I turned to him. “Will you
try
to be more normal?” I whispered. “You don't want my parents to think that you're weird, do you?”

“Weird?
Me
—weird?” he replied, his eyes wide with shock. “I'm the most normal genie in the Lost Kingdoms of the Great and Golden Raj!”

“Well, try to act like a normal twelve-year-old
person,”
I pleaded.

“There's no such thing,” he muttered. He picked up the remote clicker to Jesse's TV. “What's this?”

“For the TV,” I explained.

“Don't spell your words out,” he scolded. “Don't whisper, don't call names, and don't spell out your words! It drives me crazy!”

I pointed across the room. “That's called a
TV,”
I said. “You can watch things on it.”

“Here. I'll show you,” Jesse offered. He took the remote clicker and turned on the TV.

Gene smiled as the picture appeared. A Bugs Bunny cartoon.

“You watch for a while,” Jesse told him. He shoved me toward the door. “Hannah and I will go talk about our next wish. Okay?”

“This TV is some kind of magic,” Gene said, staring at Elmer Fudd. “How does it work?”

Jesse and I closed the bedroom door behind us and made our way to the end of the hall to talk in private.