by Aisha Saeed
“Well, go on, then. What’re you waiting for? Hand it over,” he growled and took a step forward. He thrust out his hand.
It was now or never. Abbas took another step toward Aladdin. And then, Aladdin dove, rushing Abbas as hard as he could. He charged at him with his entire body. Abbas’s eyes widened. He yelped as he lost his balance on the slippery terrain. Before he could recover, Aladdin yanked the carpet out from under his arm. The man stumbled as he tried to get up and fell again onto the ground with a thump.
Aladdin tucked the carpet under his arm, but before he could run, the man lunged. He tackled Aladdin’s leg. Aladdin fell to the ground with the carpet still wrapped tightly in his arms. Just then Aladdin saw the glint of metal. Abbas pulled out his knife. Aladdin rolled away, and the knife narrowly missed his torso. He ducked as the knife swung over his head.
“You think it’s that easy to get one over me?” Abbas yelled, marching toward him. Aladdin’s eyes widened. Behind him were the jagged cliffs, and in front of him was the man with the raised knife heading straight for him. But suddenly, Abbas’s eyes widened. He fell to the ground, then visibly winced and cried out.
Aladdin straightened to see Jasmine smiling at him, her foot stuck out.
“Whoops.” She raised an eyebrow.
The man writhed on the ground and howled in pain. Aladdin could see blood dripping from his knee. The knife was on the ground next to him, bloody. He’d cut himself.
Aladdin looked at Jasmine. “Run!” he shouted.
With the carpet under his arm, they raced through the boulders and down the gravel road, toward the kingdom. The golden minarets loomed in the distance.
“How far away is he, you think?” Jasmine asked. “He was injured, but I don’t think that wound is going to stop him from coming after us.”
Before Aladdin could reply, they heard a bellowing shout.
“Where is he?” Aladdin wondered as they picked up their pace.
“Hard to say.” Jasmine glanced about. There were caves all about them.
“At least he can’t run too fast now.” But with the carpet in his arms, Aladdin knew that their own pace was slower than it could have been. The injured magic carpet was heavier than he’d imagined. “We just have to make it back to the city. Once we’re there, we’re safe again.”
“But can we really outrun him? He’ll know all the shortcuts out here, at least better than us.”
Aladdin’s pace faltered. She was right. They couldn’t risk getting caught. Not when the carpet was in no position to fly. And they had no weapons. Their best chance for safety was to evade him. Footsteps echoed in the distance now.
Aladdin spotted a large cave ahead. “There!” He pointed. It was dark and big enough to fit all three of them. “Let’s wait him out.”
Jasmine followed his gaze. “Are you sure? What if he peeks inside and finds us?”
Just then they heard the crunch of gravel nearby.
They ducked into the cave and were instantly enveloped in complete darkness.
“I know you’re hiding here somewhere.” Abbas’s voice floated close to them now. “Don’t hear your footsteps anymore, but you can’t be on the main road yet.”
In the darkness, Aladdin reached out and took Jasmine’s hand in his. She squeezed it and moved closer to him. He doubted the wisdom of slipping into a cave now. Perhaps they should have just kept heading toward the kingdom and hoped to simply outrun him. It was only a matter of time before Abbas peeked in and found them.
“Could we fly it back to Agrabah from this cave?” Jasmine whispered. “I know the carpet is injured, but even if it can just manage to take us to a nearby island, we will be safer than we are here.”
He looked down at the carpet, and though the darkness concealed its exact appearance, Aladdin could feel it writhe in his arms.
“The damage from the burn was bad,” Aladdin said. “I could see right through its center straight to the ground. And the hook didn’t help matters, either. It can’t take us anywhere with the way it is now.”
The sound of crunching gravel grew closer.
“I was only going to take the carpet and be on my way,” the man shouted. “But now I’m going to have to make you both pay personally for this. Stabbed myself in the knee and gashed an elbow on a rock when I fell. Someone’s got to be accountable for that. I know these caves like the back of my hand. Don’t worry. I will find wherever you’re hidden. I’ve got all night.”
Aladdin’s stomach sank. What was he going to do when the man inevitably found them? They were boxed in now.
“Hey,” Jasmine whispered all of a sudden. “It’s the spider.”
Aladdin was about to ask her what spider she was referring to, but there it was—in the dark of night, the glittering black creature perched at the edge of the cave’s opening. It was Genie! Or rather, it was Genie the spider. In all that had transpired, Aladdin had nearly forgotten about the lagoon they had visited and the form he had taken when he met Jasmine. It almost felt like a lifetime ago.
“What’s he doing here?”
“I’m not sure,” Aladdin said. Was Genie here to give them a message? Or were things so bad that Genie had come to forcibly make him use his wish? But the spider wasn’t paying any attention to either of them as they spoke. Instead it was perched at the top of the cave’s opening, spinning thread across the entrance.
“It’s…I think it’s building a web.”
Jasmine was right! Aladdin watched with fascination as the glittering spider Genie wove a web, thick and dark, covering the entire opening of the cave in a matter of seconds.
“How did he do it so quickly?” Jasmine whispered. “It looks dusty.”
“He’s protecting us,” Aladdin said, realizing what was occurring. “With a web that old-looking still intact, Abbas will walk right by without glancing in; he’ll think we can’t possibly have gotten in here without disturbing it!”
Moments later, the spider had finished, and the cobweb looked so thick Aladdin could hardly see through it.
Not more than fifteen seconds passed before they heard Abbas’s heavy breathing. They saw his outline through the thick veil of cobweb as he walked past them. A trail of scarlet-red blood dripped to the ground with each step he took. Jasmine and Aladdin scooted their backs against the cool interior of the cave wall and sat absolutely still until, at last, he was gone.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” the man shouted out as he continued walking. “You can run, but you can’t hide. I’ll find you!” Abbas carried on, his voice growing more and more distant.
They were safe. Aladdin felt nearly giddy with relief.
“Thanks, pal,” Aladdin whispered to the spider. “You saved us.”
“Hey,” hissed the spider in Aladdin’s ear. “I did this for the carpet. It was my friend for centuries while we wasted away in the Cave of Wonders. It didn’t do anything to deserve any of this. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt it.”
“Fair enough,” Aladdin whispered, and for the first time in a long time, he exhaled. Then, “He’s probably heading toward town,” Aladdin said to Jasmine.
“We don’t need to go back that way, do we?” Jasmine asked.
“No,” said Aladdin. “And once the townspeople find him wandering around there, they’ll capture him anyway. The guards will make sure to lock him up.”
“Good.” Jasmine breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Let’s take a look at you, Carpet,” Aladdin said, gently patting the rug. “Let’s see how bad your injury is.”
With the time in the cave, their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and they looked at the rug.
“How bad is it?” Jasmine asked Aladdin.
“He’s definitely injured, but it might not be too bad,” Aladdin said. “The singe is a straight line, at least. Maybe I can get it stitched up. Can I have your hairpin?” he asked Jasmine. At the same time, he pulled his hat off and yanked out threads from inside it.
“Thanks
,” he said as she handed him her pin.
“Will the string from your hat work on a magic carpet?” she asked.
“It’s not the perfect solution,” he admitted. “But it’s better than nothing.” He quickly got to work weaving the pin in and out of Carpet’s body; in no time there was a tight stitch right through its center.
“All done.” Aladdin handed Jasmine back the hairpin. “How do you feel, buddy?” he asked the magic rug.
The carpet stretched and straightened out and then shook itself from head to toe. A flurry of gold sparks flew about, and then, just like that, the center stitches vanished and the carpet looked good as new! It fluttered and zoomed from one end of the cave to the other, did a cartwheel, and then stretched to its full length and waved.
“Easy there.” Aladdin laughed. “Don’t overdo it. You only just got healed, and we have a long journey home.”
“Thank you so much.” Jasmine turned to the spider perched by the edge of the cave. The spider curtsied and then skittered off into the dark night.
Together they pushed aside the cobweb Genie had made; it parted like a velvet curtain. The carpet hovered next to them.
Aladdin looked at Ababwa in the distance. He was going to miss this place, but he would treasure the memories for the rest of his life. It was time to go home.
“YOU SURE you can get us back to Agrabah? You’ve been through a lot,” Ali said to the carpet as they stood on the gravel road just outside the cave.
“He’s right,” Jasmine said. “It’s a long journey home. If you need some time to recuperate, we’ll understand.”
The carpet zipped straight into the air and somersaulted twice before diving back to earth with a twirl.
“Okay. Okay. We get it.” Ali laughed. “You’re good as new, you show-off.” He hugged the carpet, and though it couldn’t make facial expressions, Jasmine could have sworn the rug looked happy.
The magic carpet rolled flat and hovered just above the ground now, ready to take Jasmine and Ali away. They were about to sit down when they heard someone shout.
“Wait!”
It was a little voice. Jamaal. He hurried toward them with a big smile.
“That was amazing!” the boy exclaimed. “I saw the whole thing. I couldn’t believe it!”
“You were following us?” Ali asked in dismay.
“Sorry.” The boy blushed. “But I had to see if you both were okay. It took me a while to find you, but when I finally caught up, I saw him coming at you with the knife! I got so scared I couldn’t move.”
“You did the right thing. You shouldn’t have moved,” Ali said quickly.
“But wow!” Jamaal clapped his hands. “The way you swerved and ducked! And then you rushed him! He didn’t even see it coming!” He mimicked the way Ali had maneuvered away from Abbas’s knife. “And then, Princess Jasmine, you tripped him! You knew exactly where to stand to send him tumbling to the ground! I can’t believe I got to meet not only a prince and a princess in person, but real live heroes too!”
Jasmine recognized that look of wonder in his eyes. It was the same expression she’d often had when she’d watched her mother resolving issues with ease and grace. Her father stressed about every problem that arose; it was part of the reason, she suspected, that he relied on Jafar as much as he did. But the effortless and calm way her mother had solved problems was almost a sort of magic unto itself.
“You’re so sweet,” Jasmine said. “But really, if anyone is a hero here, it’s you.”
“Me?” The boy looked at her and then at Ali, confused.
“Of course,” Ali said. “If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have even known how to find that man and the carpet. Your insight led us straight to him. Otherwise, who knows how long it would have taken us? Thank you for all your help.”
“Oh.” Jamaal’s cheeks flushed a bit. “Um, you’re welcome. I’m glad I could help. But I’m just a street rat up to no good. That’s what everyone says, anyhow.”
“Hey, that’s not true,” Ali said. “Don’t accept the labels people put on you. You are no street rat. No matter where you live or your life’s circumstances, you are still worthy.” Ali kneeled down until he was eye to eye with the boy. “I know it’s easy to believe the terrible things people say, even if what they’re saying isn’t true. I know what it’s like to feel unworthy.”
“You?” The boy’s eyes narrowed with skepticism.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” he said gently. “And I know you can’t see a better life for yourself than the one you have now, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Because I see the person you are. You’ve had a tough life. You’ve had to fend for yourself when you should have had someone looking after you. But those difficulties make you stronger and more resilient. You define yourself through your actions, not anyone’s opinion of you.”
Jasmine watched the way Ali spoke to the boy. The way his dimple deepened. How he truly did seem to understand what the boy was going through.
Any doubts she had vanished.
Prince Ali had to be the boy from the market she’d met. The person who had captured her heart. Nothing else made sense. It had to be him. But this made no sense at all. How could the boy from the streets with his charming pet monkey, Abu, also be the prince of Ababwa? And if he was the same person, why had he not said anything to her about it?
She watched the tender way Ali spoke to Jamaal. Now wasn’t the time to bring it up. But she would definitely ask him about it later. She was not sure why she didn’t feel upset about his not being fully honest with her. Maybe it was because after having spent so much time with him and seeing how gently he spoke to Jamaal now, she trusted he had a good reason for doing so. He had not let her down so far.
“It’s time for us to get going,” Ali told the young boy.
“Aw, really?” Jamaal’s expression dropped. “So soon?”
“Unfortunately, it is,” Jasmine told the boy. “But meeting you has definitely been one of the highlights of my time here.”
“Thank you for forgiving me,” he told the princess. “I am making you a necklace. I was working on it on the rooftop earlier this evening. I’m halfway done. Maybe next time Prince Ali visits, I can give it to him to give to you—or maybe you will come visit us again and I can give it to you myself.”
“I would love that. Thank you.” Jasmine smiled.
Jamaal moved to say something else, but suddenly there was a loud crash. The boy’s expression went from a smile to shock as he was wrenched backward.
Jasmine gasped.
Abbas.
No one had noticed him sneaking toward them from atop the boulder behind them, not until he had leapt down and grabbed the boy. Not until it was too late.
“Nice trick you played on me back there,” Abbas said through ragged breaths. The boy was firmly in his clutches, his sharp blade resting against the boy’s jugular now. “Should’ve known what you were up to. Clever ploy with that rolled-up map.” He glared at them. “But I know better now.”
“Abbas! No!” Ali shouted. “Please. Don’t harm the boy. He didn’t do anything to deserve any of this!”
“Deserve? What does that even mean? As though I deserve to be here?!” shouted Abbas. “You only deserve what you’re foolish enough or smart enough to get.”
“Look,” Ali said quickly. “Here, you want the carpet? I’ll show you how to use it now. It’ll do what you want it to. No games. I swear it.”
“Like I would believe you now?” Abbas sneered. “You think I’m that much of a fool?”
He turned to Jasmine.
“You,” he said. “Any idea how this thing works?”
“I don’t,” Jasmine said quickly. “I swear it.”
“Well, if neither of you can help me get off the ground and away from this godforsaken place, then I guess this boy can just say goodbye.”
“Wait!” Jasmine cried out. “Give me a minute. Please, let me think.”
She looked at the
man’s silvery white hair. She thought of the story she had read about this man. The way he had tried to turn the entire world against his own sultan because he wished to mine and extract the gold and silver beneath their mountainous region.
Jasmine had wondered what happened to that man from the legendary tale, for the story had simply ended when his life’s work, the map of buried treasures, went up in flames. But now, she knew. She was looking directly at what his punishment had been: a lifetime in a remote prison in the outcroppings of undeveloped Ababwa. Even now, after all this time, he was still the sort of man who thought he knew best. Many such men in Abbas’s position did—men who had never heard the word “no” in their lives.
“The Akbar family deserved to rule Sulamandra,” Jasmine said.
The man jerked over to look in her direction. Jasmine tried not to wince at the look of sheer terror in the little boy’s eyes. The blade was still pressed against the boy’s neck—one wrong move, even an accident, and the man could harm that boy irreparably.
“What was that?” he asked.
“The Akbar family. That’s your family name, isn’t it?”
Her confidence grew as he perked up at this recognition. While Ali had thrown her for a loop with how different he was from the men she’d known all her life, she had had a lifetime of experiences with vain, self-congratulatory men like Abbas. Which meant she also knew the way to get to his weakness.
“I remember my mother talking about you all those years ago,” Jasmine invented. “She had said it was such a tragedy what happened. Her kingdom was going to help you, of course.”
“Yes, I’m sure they were.” The man rolled his eyes. “No one helped me. Many things about that time are fuzzy, but I remember this well.”
“We had no time to help you,” Jasmine explained. “The artillery you requested? The cannons? We had them all ready to load onto our boats. We were gathering the forces and armor you had asked for as well. But by the time we were ready to dispatch our ships, word came to us about the tragedy of the fire. That it was all too late. And then of course no one had any idea where you had gone to.”