Genie in Charge

by Meredith Badger

  Aggi didn’t look convinced, so Poppy added, ‘And you wouldn’t be able to fly a magic carpet if you weren’t a genie, would you?’

  Aggi’s face suddenly crumpled up. ‘I can’t!’ she blurted.

  ‘You can’t what?’ said Poppy.

  ‘I can’t fly a magic carpet,’ said Aggi, her voice sounding all wonky. ‘Every time I try, I fall off.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that!’ said Poppy. ‘Everyone falls off when they start flying. It’s totally normal.’

  Aggi shook her head. ‘You don’t get it,’ she said. ‘I’m not just a bit wobbly like the other beginners. I’ve watched them. Every time they have a lesson, they get better. But I don’t. I can’t even sit up for one second without falling sideways. The moment the carpet starts to rise up, I feel all dizzy and I have to get off straight away. It makes me feel so stupid.’

  ‘So that’s why you said flying is boring,’ guessed Poppy. ‘So no-one would realise what was really going on?’ Aggi’s strange behaviour was starting to make sense.

  Aggi nodded slowly. ‘The last time we had a flying lesson, I pretended I wanted to do a jigsaw puzzle instead,’ she said. ‘I’ve been so scared that someone would find out and decide they’d made a mistake about me. That I’m not really a genie at all! That’s why I haven’t decorated my bottle either. I thought I might get told to leave, so I didn’t want to get too attached to anything in the Genie Realm.’

  ‘Oh, Aggi. You poor thing,’ said Poppy. It must have been awful for her, thinking she’d be told to leave the Genie Realm at any moment! ‘But it’s so weird that you feel dizzy whenever you get on a magic carpet. I’ve never heard of that before.’

  Aggi hugged her bottle to her chest. ‘See? That just proves it,’ she said. ‘I’m not a genie at all. I should probably just smash my bottle and give up, before Lexie or Lady Topaz find out.’

  ‘Aggi!’ said Poppy, shocked. ‘Don’t even talk about doing that.’

  Poppy wasn’t sure exactly what would happen if Aggi’s bottle was smashed, but she knew it was bad. Some tweenies said that without a bottle, you would instantly turn into a normie. But there was an even worse rumour than this – that if your bottle broke, you instantly disappeared forever! The thought made Poppy shiver.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said Aggi, sniffling. ‘I won’t really smash it. It’s just kind of horrible when everyone else can do something and I can’t.’ She sighed. ‘The only thing I’m good at is jigsaws. But jigsaws won’t help me grant wishes or fly a carpet or levitate. I feel completely useless.’

  Poppy nodded. ‘I know just how you feel.’

  ‘How could you know how I feel?’ said Aggi. ‘You’re a Golden genie. I heard you didn’t even need lessons when you started flying carpets. You just naturally knew how to do it.’

  ‘That’s true,’ admitted Poppy. ‘But there were other things I struggled with. Like levitation. It took me forever to work that out. And I used to fall over every time I travelled between realms or bottles.’ Poppy pulled a face. ‘Actually, I still do fall sometimes.’

  ‘Really?’ said Aggi, looking sceptical.

  ‘Yeah, really,’ said Poppy. ‘And you can imagine how embarrassing that is, when everyone thinks you’re some perfect Golden genie. But I find balancing really tricky.’

  ‘How did you get better at it, then?’ said Aggi.

  ‘I’ll show you,’ said Poppy. She climbed out of the basket and held out her hand to Aggi. ‘Come on.’

  Aggi hesitated, then climbed out too. She carefully placed her genie bottle on her desk. Then she turned to Poppy and smiled. For the first time since Poppy had met her, Aggi looked excited. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘I’m ready.’

  ‘I’m going to show you some balance exercises,’ said Poppy. ‘I learnt them in genie yoga and they’ve been really helpful.’

  The first exercise involved stretching your arms up and wriggling your fingers while standing on tiptoes. ‘This pose is called reaching for the biscuit tin,’ said Poppy.

  Aggi giggled. ‘Is that the real name?’

  ‘Nah,’ said Poppy, laughing too. ‘I make up my own names for the poses.’

  Aggi only held the biscuit-tin pose for a couple of seconds before crashing to the ground.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said Poppy, helping her up. ‘The next one is way easier.’

  Next she showed Aggi a pose where they had to stretch one leg out behind and both arms out to the sides. ‘I call this one the flamingo drying its wings,’ she said.

  Once again, Aggi could only hold the pose for a moment. ‘It’s no good,’ she groaned as she fell over. ‘Maybe I’ve got an unusually heavy head or something.’

  ‘We’re not giving up yet,’ said Poppy determinedly. ‘I just have to figure out what’s causing this problem. Did you used to fall over before you found out you were a genie?’

  Aggi shook her head. ‘I used to have great balance,’ she said. ‘It’s only been since I came into the Genie Realm and started dressing like a genie that it all went wrong.’

  Poppy examined Aggi carefully. Was there something about Aggi’s uniform that was making her fall? The badges she’d added, or the belt? Then her eyes travelled up to Aggi’s hair. As usual, her ponytail was positioned just above her ear. Poppy narrowed her eyes. Hang on … was that the problem? Quickly, she adjusted Aggi’s ponytail so that it was where it was meant to be – right on the top of her head.

  ‘Hey!’ protested Aggi, trying to duck away. ‘What are you doing? I like my ponytail on the side. It’s cool.’

  ‘Yeah, it is,’ said Poppy. ‘But maybe it’s the reason your balance is so wonky. Maybe our ponytails are kind of like that rudder thing that boats have. The bit that makes them go in the right direction. If a boat had its rudder stuck on the side, it wouldn’t go straight, would it?’

  Aggi nodded, her eyes wide. ‘You think that’s what’s happening with me?’

  ‘Let’s find out,’ said Poppy. ‘We can practise here on your bedroom rug. It won’t be the same as being on a real magic carpet, of course, but at least I can check if your balance is better.’

  Suddenly Aggi went white. ‘No, I don’t want to do that.’

  ‘It’ll be fine, I promise,’ said Poppy, pushing aside the half-finished jigsaws covering Aggi’s rug. ‘I mean, it’s not like the rug is going to start flying. It’ll just be practice.’

  But Aggi refused to sit down. ‘Let’s just forget it,’ she said, seeming very agitated and nervous all of a sudden. ‘You should go Poppy. I … I have to do something.’

  She must be afraid of looking silly, thought Poppy. ‘OK then, how about I just show you what you should do?’ she suggested.

  ‘No,’ said Aggi. ‘I don’t think …’

  But Poppy ignored her. Once I start she’ll see there’s nothing to worry about, she thought, sitting cross-legged on the rug. ‘Now, see how I’m sitting in the middle, right up near the front? That way you can easily reach the tassels, you see. And they’re how you control the carpet.’

  Aggi didn’t say a word. She was frozen to the spot.

  ‘All I have to do now is pat the carpet and say up,’ said Poppy, demonstrating. ‘If you were sitting on a real magic carpet, this is when it would rise up. But of course –’

  Poppy stopped talking because right at that moment something very surprising happened. Something that Poppy had not been expecting at all. The bedroom rug twitched – first one corner, then the other. And then, after flicking off one last piece of puzzle (an orange piece), it rose up into the air!

  Poppy’s heart began beating very fast as she tried to figure out what had happened. Maybe I somehow made this carpet magic! she thought. But that was very unlikely. It was almost impossible to turn a normie carpet into a flying one.

  ‘Hang on a minute …’ said Poppy, looking down. ‘This carpet looks like Lightning!’

  There was one difference, however. Lightning had always been a very brightly coloured carpet, whereas this one was very faded
. Parts of the pattern were hardly visible at all.

  Just to be sure, Poppy flipped over one of the corners. Yes, there it was. Sewn into the underside of the rug was a golden lightning bolt.

  With a quick tap, Poppy directed Lightning down to the ground where she slid to a stop at Aggi’s feet. Poppy jumped off and looked at her trainee. But Aggi couldn’t meet her eye.

  ‘Aggi,’ said Poppy seriously. ‘Did you take this carpet from the Genie High stables?’

  ‘I … I just borrowed it,’ whispered Aggi, going paler than ever. ‘I thought that maybe if I practised at home, I could figure out how to fly. I was going to take the carpet back tonight, truly. I didn’t think it would matter if it was only gone for a short time.’

  ‘You were wrong,’ said Poppy crossly. ‘It matters a lot. This is Lightning. She’s a twin rug and when twin rugs are separated, they start to fall apart until there’s nothing left. It’s already started happening to her twin, Thunder. And it’s your fault!’

  Aggi’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I didn’t know they were twin rugs!’ she said. ‘I never wanted them to be hurt, I promise. And Lightning still looks fine, doesn’t she? Just a little faded.’

  Poppy had to admit that this, at least, was true. Lightning hadn’t started to drop threads like Thunder, and she still looked thick and fluffy.

  ‘She might be OK at the moment, but let’s just hope Thunder is still around when we take Lightning back,’ Poppy said grimly. ‘I can’t believe you’d do something so stupid, Aggi.’

  Aggi looked miserable. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘It was a terrible mistake. I only did it because I was scared I’d never learn how to fly.’ Aggi knelt down beside Lightning. ‘I’ll roll her up for you.’

  ‘No, I’ll do it,’ snapped Poppy. She felt so cross with Aggi that she didn’t want her having anything more to do with Lightning.

  But the moment Poppy tried to roll Lightning, the carpet slipped out of her hands, did a loop in the air and then landed on the ground beside Aggi. That’s strange, thought Poppy, and she tried again to take hold of Lightning. The same thing happened, except this time Lightning didn’t land but stayed up in the air.

  ‘What are you doing, you crazy rug?’ said Poppy. ‘Stop messing around and come back down.’

  But Lightning didn’t come. Instead, she began flying around the room.

  At first Lightning flew slowly, but gradually she began speeding up. Soon she was zipping around the room at top speed, making the light-shade sway and the blinds flap and bang against the wall. Poppy watched, feeling uneasy. There was something wrong with how Lightning was moving. Usually carpets could fly well on their own without a genie to guide them, so long as they were only going in a circle or a straight line. But Lightning’s flying was all over the place. One minute she was on the ceiling and the next she was on the floor, quickly jerking away if Poppy tried to grab her. She would seem to be slowing down but then a moment later, she’d leap forward.

  ‘Stop it, Lightning!’ called Poppy, very worried now. ‘You’re going to hurt yourself.’

  But Lightning wouldn’t stop.

  Maybe she can’t? thought Poppy. Around and around Lightning went, weaving between the chair and the desk, circling the light and skimming low over the top of the bookshelf so that the covers blew up and the pages fluttered. A book toppled off one of the shelves.

  ‘Lightning! You have to stop!’ called Poppy.

  ‘Maybe I can catch her,’ said Aggi.

  ‘No,’ said Poppy quickly. ‘I’ll do it. I’ve had more experience with carpets than you.’

  ‘Please let me try,’ said Aggi. ‘I want to make up for what I did.’

  ‘No, Aggi!’ said Poppy. ‘Just leave it to me, OK?’

  Lightning approached, flying low. At exactly the same moment, Poppy and Aggi jumped up to catch her. Poppy’s hand closed around one of Lightning’s corners, but Aggi crashed into her, pushing her out of the way. The carpet slipped out of her hand. Poppy fell backwards and Aggi did too, her arms flailing as she bumped against her desk.

  ‘Look out!’ yelled Poppy as she saw Aggi’s bottle wobble. ‘Your bottle!’

  Aggi lunged, but it was too late. The bottle fell sideways and toppled off the edge of the desk, sparkling and twinkling as it fell. Then, when it hit the hard wooden floor, it instantly shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

  For a moment, everything was very quiet and still. Lightning stopped flying around and dropped to the top of Aggi’s bed.

  Aggi turned to face Poppy. ‘I just wanted to help,’ she whispered. ‘Have I … turned into a normie already? That’s what happens if your bottle breaks, doesn’t it?’

  Poppy suddenly felt awful for Aggi. She must be very scared. ‘Some tweenies say that’s what happens,’ Poppy admitted. ‘But it might not be true. Others say that you’re still a genie, and you just can’t go into the Genie Realm anymore.’

  Aggi looked horrified. ‘But that’s just as bad,’ she said. ‘Then I’d be stuck here, knowing there’s all that good stuff going on in the Genie Realm.’

  Poppy crouched down beside the bottle. ‘Maybe I can fix it,’ she muttered.

  The problem was that there were at least a hundred bits of glass, of all different shapes and sizes. Poppy picked up one piece. There was another bit nearby that looked like it might match. But when Poppy tried to press them together, the two fragments pushed apart – like when you try to push the wrong ends of magnets together. Poppy tried two more pieces, and another two pieces, but the same thing happened each time.

  ‘There’s no way I can work this out,’ she said crossly. ‘It’s impossible.’

  ‘How about if …’ But Aggi didn’t finish her sentence. She was staring at something over Poppy’s shoulder.

  Poppy turned to see a puff of smoke forming. Someone was coming!

  Quickly, Aggi grabbed a T-shirt from her laundry basket and flung it over the broken bottle pieces. A second later Lexie appeared, her eyes glued to the beeping carpet-tracker in her hand.

  When she finally looked up, Lexie seemed surprised to see where she was – and to see Poppy and Aggi. ‘What are you two doing here?’ she said.

  ‘It’s my bedroom,’ said Aggi nervously.

  Lexie looked back down at the carpettracker. ‘That’s weird,’ she said. ‘My tracker says it detected Lightning flying in here. But why would she be in your bedroom?’

  Poppy froze. Should I tell Lexie what happened? she wondered. If she did, Aggi would probably get into huge trouble. But if she didn’t, Lightning and Thunder might disappear. In the end she didn’t have to decide, because Aggi spoke first.

  ‘Lightning is here,’ said Aggi.

  Lexie’s face instantly became very serious. ‘How come?’

  ‘She’s here because …’ Poppy could tell that Aggi was very nervous, but she didn’t give up. ‘… Because I’ve been having trouble learning to fly, so I borrowed Lightning from the Genie High stable – so I could practise,’ Aggi admitted in a rush. ‘She’s over there on my bed. She was flying around just before, kind of crazily. And then she just sort of … stopped.’

  Lexie didn’t say a word. Instead, she ran over and sat on the bed beside Lightning. Poppy felt her stomach tighten. Because of the broken bottle, she’d almost forgotten about Lightning. What if it was too late now to do anything?

  Lightning flipped up one of her corners.

  ‘Is she OK?’ asked Poppy.

  ‘She’s very tired and a little faded,’ said Lexie, ‘but she’s in a much better condition than Thunder.’ Lexie stood up. ‘We have to take her into the Genie Realm immediately and see if she can be saved.‘

  But when Lexie tried to roll Lightning up, the carpet quickly slipped out of reach just as she had when Poppy tried before. Lexie tried again but once more Lightning escaped and slid over to Aggi’s feet, curling one of her corners around Aggi’s ankle.

  Lexie looked at the carpet thoughtfully. ‘Lightning’s taken a shine to you, Aggi.’
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  Aggi went red. ‘Even though I … borrowed her?’ she asked.

  ‘Twin rugs naturally like being in a pair,’ said Lexie. ‘Maybe she’s become attached to you because she’s away from Thunder.’ Lexie tapped her cheek. ‘There’s another possibility too. When Lightning was first made, she was a bit of a wonky flyer and crashed a lot. It turned out that her tassles were too long on one side. She was fine after we evened them up. If you’ve been having troubles flying too, maybe Lightning understood. Maybe she wants to help you.’

  There was a sudden rush of air as Lightning began flapping her corners – like she was showing she agreed with Lexie – and then re-curled herself around Aggi’s leg.

  Lexie nodded. ‘I don’t think we’ll get Lightning back into the Genie Realm unless you take her, Aggi. She won’t come with me or Poppy.’

  ‘I’m not sure if I can go into the Genie Realm,’ said Aggi, biting her lip. ‘I … I’m not even sure if I’m a genie anymore.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ said Lexie, frowning.

  Aggi glanced at Poppy.

  ‘You’d better tell her, Aggi,’ said Poppy.

  Aggi nodded, and slowly she pulled the T-shirt off the broken shards of genie bottle.

  Lexie gasped, and her hands flew up to her mouth. ‘What happened?’ she said.

  ‘It fell,’ said Aggi, looking like she might cry again. ‘While we were trying to catch Lightning.’

  Then Poppy noticed something about the fragments. Something she instinctively knew was very bad. ‘The pieces are going seethrough!’ she said. When the bottle had first shattered, the fragments were a strong, deep greeny-blue. Now they were much paler.

  ‘That’s what happens when a genie bottle breaks,’ said Lexie, her voice low and quiet. ‘They become clearer and clearer until they end up just like normal glass. When that happens, the bottle’s owner will turn into a normie. Forever.’

  ‘We have to fix Aggi’s bottle quickly then,’ said Poppy, starting to scoop up the pieces.

  But Aggi shook her head. ‘First we need to get Lightning back into the Genie Realm. It’s my fault she’s here in the first place. Fixing my bottle can wait.’