‘Just so long as you don’t wish to be a genie dance instructor,’ called Jake’s Dial-Up from inside his pocket. ‘You two looked like kangaroos with hot feet out on the dance floor before.’
‘Listen, you!’ said Jake, whipping out the Dial-Up. ‘That’s the last time …’
He was cut short when a large carpet whooshed up and came to a halt beside them.
‘It’s come to collect our Dial-Ups,’ guessed Poppy, noticing the gadgets piled on top of it. ‘We won’t need them after tonight.’
She pulled out her own Dial-Up. The little face smiled broadly at her. ‘Goodbye, Poppy,’ it said. ‘It’s been great being your Dial-Up.’
‘Thanks, you’ve been the best,’ said Poppy giving it a little pat. ‘I hope you’re just as useful to your next tweenie owner as you were to me.’ She felt a bit sad as she laid it on the rug, but it was good to know that someone else would get to use it.
When she turned around, Jake was still holding onto his Dial-Up. His face looked weird.
‘Jake!’ she said, surprised. ‘You’re not crying, are you? I thought you were dying to get rid of that thing.’
‘Hey, I’m not crying!’ he said. ‘Not much, at any rate.’
Aggi giggled and pointed to his Dial-Up’s screen. ‘I don’t believe it. His Dial-Up is crying too.’
Sure enough, the little face had an upsidedown mouth and tiny droplets were rolling down its screen. ‘Bye, Stinky Breath,’ it said in a quavery voice.
‘Bye, Button Face,’ said Jake, putting the Dial-Up on the carpet. He wiped his eyes as the carpet swished away. ‘I’m really going to miss that thing,’ he sighed.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Nico, patting his shoulder. ‘I’ll come around and annoy you any time you like!’
There was a peal of bells and everyone fell silent as a curl of smoke began to form on the dance floor. The tweenies crowded around. The bells faded and the smoke cleared to reveal Lady Topaz and Lexie standing there.
Lady Topaz was wearing one of her most spectacular turbans and Lexie had on a small golden crown. Her dress was long and purple and looked, Poppy thought, particularly itchy.
‘Good evening, everyone,’ said Lady Topaz. In her hands was a silver platter, piled high with small, twinkling stars.
Poppy’s tummy slid sideways. Those stars had to be something to do with their genie jobs!
‘It’s always such a special occasion when a group of tweenies graduate,’ said Lady Topaz. ‘It’s a happy event, of course, because it means that you are moving on to the next stage of your lives as genies. But it’s also a sad day for all of us at Genie High, because we won’t see you around anymore.’
Everyone was very silent, listening.
‘Tomorrow you will all return to your old normie schools so you can finish your normie education. And of course you will all be very busy learning your new genie jobs!’ Lady Topaz had been looking very serious up to this point, but now she smiled around at the group. ‘I do hope that you’ll all find time to visit the school occasionally.’
Poppy knew that she’d definitely visit. Glancing around, she could tell the other Stage Threes felt the same way.
‘Now,’ said Lady Topaz, raising an eyebrow. ‘Who wants to make a wish?’
‘I do!’ called every Stage Three genie simultaneously.
Lady Topaz and Lexie both laughed, and Lady Topaz waited for the excited chatter to die down before lifting up the platter. ‘These are wishing stars,’ she explained. ‘In a moment we will launch them into the air. When you see one heading towards you, please make your job wish. Make sure your wish is strong and clear and that it comes from deep within you. The star will land in your hand and you’ll be able to tell by looking at it whether your wish has been granted.’
Lady Topaz took a handful of stars and threw them up into the air. They didn’t flutter to the ground but shot upwards, leaving sparkling trails behind them. She took another handful, and another, until the platter was empty and all the stars were twinkling above the crowd. The stars hovered for a moment and then began to shoot out in all directions, making a high-pitched whistling sound as they sped towards the waiting genies.
The tweenies began jumping up to catch them, calling out excitedly to each other.
‘Genie inventor!’ yelled Nathan. ‘Just what I was hoping for.’
‘And I’m going to be a genie acrobat!’ said Alyssa, clutching her star to her chest.
When a star headed towards Poppy, she fixed her eyes on it and made her wish. I wish that I could work in the stables, she thought. I want to fly magic carpets every single day and take care of them.
A moment later, the star fell into her outstretched hand. It was as shiny and delicate as a Christmas tree decoration, but warm. Poppy’s hand closed gently around it, her heart pumping.
She looked around for Jake and saw that he’d also caught a star. ‘What does yours say?’ asked Poppy. She wasn’t quite ready to peek at hers yet. ‘Is it something good?’
Jake pumped his fist in the air. ‘It’s only the best job ever!’ he said.
Poppy looked over his shoulder. Engraved into the star were some words:
Funfair ride-tester
Poppy laughed. ‘That is a great job! I’ll be happy to help you any time you want.’
Jake beamed. ‘What does your star say?’
‘I haven’t looked yet,’ admitted Poppy, her heart thumping.
The Stage Threes gathered around her. ‘Go on, Poppy,’ they urged her. ‘Look.’
Poppy stared at her closed hand. Would she be as happy with her job as everyone else seemed to be? Someone gave her a gentle nudge. It was Aggi.
‘Don’t worry, Pops,’ she said. ‘You’ll get your job wish. I’m sure of it!’
Poppy uncurled her fingers. The star was still shining, brightly, and across the front was engraved the word –
‘What does it say?’ asked Aggi, hopping impatiently on one leg.
Poppy felt a lump forming in her throat as she read out the word she saw. ‘Princess.’
Her wish hadn’t been granted after all!
The crowd of murmuring tweenies parted as Lexie came up beside Poppy.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Lexie.
‘I … don’t want to be a princess,’ Poppy said quietly, trying not to cry. ‘You do a great job, Lexie, but it’s not right for me. I don’t want to wear a tiara or dress up in scratchy dresses. I just want to look after magic carpets and go flying every day.’
‘Poppy,’ Lexie said, looking at the star in her hand. ‘You’ve only read out half the job title. Look!’
Poppy realised that Lexie was right. The star didn’t say just ‘princess’ anymore. Now it said:
Princess of the Royal Stables
Poppy looked at Lexie, puzzled. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means,’ said Lexie, ‘that you have been given a job working in the royal stables. That’s very good news for me. The royal stables have over 2000 carpets now and I can’t manage them on my own.’
‘But why does it say princess?’ asked Poppy.
Lady Topaz had joined them now. ‘Because only princesses are allowed to work in the royal stable,’ she explained. ‘But don’t worry, Poppy. You won’t have to wear a tiara or a scratchy dress. They’d only get in the way, after all.’
‘So,’ said Lexie, folding her arms and smiling at Poppy. ‘What do you think about being that sort of princess?’
When Poppy opened her mouth, only strange, squeaky noises came out. ‘I’d like it,’ she managed to say as a huge grin spread across her face. ‘More than anything else in the whole Genie Realm.’
The ballroom erupted into cheers then, and Poppy felt herself lifted up on Jake and Nico’s shoulders. A year ago she’d thought she was the most ordinary girl in the world. And now she was a genie princess! Well, a sort of genie princess. The sort that got to ride and look after 2000 magic carpets. There was certainly nothing ordinary about that.
‘Could you please pass me the pencil sharpener?’ Poppy asked Astrid.
The two sisters were both doing their homework at the kitchen table and Astrid was being her usual older-sister self. Annoying, in other words.
Astrid gave an exaggerated sigh as she handed over the sharpener. ‘I can’t believe you’re still acting like such a princess,’ she said, ‘even though you were chucked out of your School for Talented Students.’
‘I didn’t get chucked out,’ corrected Poppy, for about the thousandth time. ‘I chose to go back to my old school, remember?’
‘Yeah, whatever,’ said Astrid, flicking her hair over her shoulder. ‘All I know is that you’d better get used to being a normal person again.’
Poppy smiled to herself. Astrid had no idea just how far from normal she really was – and would always be!
Their mother popped her head around the corner. ‘Poppy, can you come here please? Your dad and I want to talk to you.’
Astrid smirked. ‘Sounds like you’re in trouble, little sis,’ she said. ‘What did you do?’
Poppy stood up. ‘Nothing!’ she said. ‘At least, nothing I can think of …’
Her parents were sitting at the dining room table when Poppy walked in.
‘Don’t worry,’ said her mum with a smile. ‘You’re not in trouble. We just wanted to talk to you about your birthday. Are you sure you don’t want to have a party?’
‘It’s not too late to organise something,’ said her dad. ‘Maybe we could have a butterfly-themed one this year! We could all wear wings.’
‘That’s OK,’ said Poppy hastily. ‘I really don’t want a party this year. Turning thirteen isn’t such a big deal.’
‘We think it is,’ said her mum. ‘Once you’re a teenager, things will change around here.’
‘Oh,’ said Poppy cautiously. ‘Like what?’
‘For one thing, we’re going to raise your pocket money by one whole dollar a week,’ said her dad. ‘It means you’ll need to do a few more jobs to earn it, but that’s good practice for the day you start working at a real job.’
‘Thanks, Mum. Thanks, Dad,’ said Poppy politely. What they would say if she told them she already had a job? A genie job!
‘You can start your extra tasks today,’ said her dad. ‘It’s bin night tonight – you can wheel them out to the footpath.’
‘Poor little sis,’ teased Astrid when she spotted Poppy dragging out the overflowing bins later on. ‘What a gross, boring job. Not the sort of work a princess like you is used to, I guess.’
It was a gross, boring job, but Poppy didn’t really mind. Later on tonight she was going to the Royal Stables to do her work – brushing down the carpets, untangling their tassels and, of course, exercising them. And who knew what she would do after that. Maybe visit the Funfair Bottle? Jake would be there, of course, and he always knew about the latest and best rides. Or maybe she’d invite Aggi and Lightning to meet her and Rocket for a fly.
Poppy hugged herself. It didn’t really matter what she chose to do. That was the great thing about the Genie Realm. There was always something exciting happening there!
the end
Tweenie Genie: Genie in Charge
published in 2012 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.
eISBN: 9781742738208
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.
Text copyright © 2012 Meredith Badger
Illustration and design copyright © 2012 Hardie Grant Egmont
Cover design and illustration by Michelle Mackintosh
Text design by Sonia Dixon
Typeset by Ektavo Pty Ltd
Genie in Charge Page 6