I had to inspect the bottle before even doing my first attempt at opening it. I don't even know what this is and why I took it in the first place but it's quite striking as much as I could remember it. Though looking a lot like it's from a medieval era or maybe even a time before that, it seemed more like a customized artifact with some odd Arabic letterings engraved around its surface and some intricate glowing stones designed at certain areas. The bottle cap was a sculpted golden sandal and it looked like a real gold. I tried opening it but it was tightly shut. I tried twisting it again for the second time but I just don't have the right strength to open it. I ended up shaking it just to have an idea of what's inside which I thought was just a regular water but it made no sound at all. It led me to believe that it's just an empty eerie bottle designed to be displayed in corner. I was just wondering why does Yousef have something like this? Where did he get such bottle that glows and blinks on its own? There's not even a switch or something that might trigger the glow.
I was just about to throw the bottle on the floor when it promptly began vibrating on its own accord. At first, it was just shaking but it gradually went from the soft shake into a disturbing quiver. I was flabbergasted and bewildered by what's happening right in front of my eyes.
"What in the Hocus Pocus is happening?!!" I cried out and then I heard a loud popping sound. The bottle popped open by itself and then it was followed by an explosion of blue smoke. The smoke blew up almost continuously and it eventually filled my entire room in a matter of seconds. The smoke smelled like dirt and dust and I had to cover my eyes, nose and mouth so that I won't inhale whatever's in the smoke.
"Ooooooh yeaaaaaah, fresh oxygen once again!!!" I heard a deep baritone voice and when I opened my eyes the blue smoke was all gone and now there's a weird topless person standing right in front of me.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs when I came to realize the person is not even a person at all. It's a ghost. It's just floating in mid-air and I noticed that it only had a human torso but the legs are missing.
"It's quite nice to see you again, Master Yasmine!" The ghost spoke out to me and I felt the hairs on my skin stood up in terror.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" For the second time in a row, I screamed but this time, it was even louder and more piercing. I vigorously jumped right out of the bed and quickly grabbed a pair of scissors to use as a weapon in case this ghost does something unimaginable. "Ghhhooooost!!!!! A blue Ghoooost!!!!"
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!" The ghost screamed when it realized I was pointing pair of scissors towards its direction.
"Where's the ghost? Where? AAAAHHH!!!" The ghost was screaming turning his head around to look for the ghost when in fact he's the actual ghost that I'm screaming about.
"You're the ghost!" I spat at the ghost in he was confused just as I was.
"Wait, what? I'm not a ghost."
"Then what the fuck are you?" Still pointing the pair of scissors at his direction, I feel like I'm going insane. I'm looking at a blue ghost with a long braided black hair that's almost touching the ground. It only has a ripped torso but it has no legs. At further inspection, his legs seemed to me this blue smoke that leads all the way back to the bottle.
"Wait, you're not Master Yasmine. Who are you?" The ghost inquired and I'm nothing but confused and creeped out. Am I even seeing things right? Am I even alive or something? Maybe I'm really going crazy or maybe I'm dead and this is my hell.
"I don't who that Yasmine is."
"If you're not master Yasmine, then I suppose the great Lord Solomon have assigned me to a new master."
"Huh?"
"What is your name, master?" Bowing his head down to express some sort of royal respect, the ghost asked for my name which sounded pretty crazy to me. Am I really talking to a floating torso?
"My name's Andie and why are you calling me master?"
"Oh shit, here we go again. Another stupid human. If you don't mind me asking, what year are we in?"
"Uhm, 2015."
"What? Just 2015? That's too short. I thought a decade had passed since the last time I was summoned into this realm. That explains the same language. Anyway, I am Ezidem of Hejaz. The last great genie of luster and luminosity." He finally introduced himself and I thought my reality was actually distorted because there's no way this is really happening. But then I heard the word genie and I got a little bit excited.
"Did you just say genie?"
"Are you deaf? Yes, of course I said genie. I am a genie." Ezidem intoned sarcastically which sounded so much like my best friend Janea.
I ignored the sarcasm that came from this unearthly creature and I was already thinking that genies do grant wishes. At least that's how they are portrayed in every media and fairytales. And if I'm not really going mentally crazy—which is very likely—and this is really happening, then at I might get the chance to make a wish and be with Draik Redford. "So do I get three wishes?"
"Nope. You don't get three wishes." Ezidem replied shaking his head and a few blue smoke puffed out of the holes from his neck.
"What? I thought you're a fucking genie? Isn't that….."
"You are one greedy woman, aren't you, Andie?" Ezidem was quick to cut me off before I could even finish what I was supposed to say. "This world is really fucked up. It hasn't even changed a bit since." He expressed his sentiments and then he vanished leaving just a puff of blue smoke in the air.
"Where did he go?" I asked looking around my room. I noticed the bottle was still at my bed and it was still glowing.
"Boooo! HAHAHAHAHA! Got ya!" Ezidem suddenly popped out behind my ear and I was abruptly startled.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
"Would you please stop screaming? You're making my ears bleed and I haven't heard loud noise in years." Ezidem uttered and then he vanished for the second time before eventually popping up again above the bed. "Anyway, what do you want, master Andie?"
"So you really do grant wishes?"
"Do you want lots of money?" Ezidem asked and with a quick snap of his finger, he created an illusion of blue money and they floated all around me. "Or do you want a big house?" He did the same snapping gesture and an illusion of a big house appeared right in front of me. "Tell me, master Andie. Do you want cars? Pets? Lots of chocolate? Cakes? Perhaps sets of jewelries? Or a free trip to wherever you like." He went on and on with a lot of assumptions about what I want. He kept snapping his finger making everything appear in a blue smoke form.
Is this real? I asked myself once again. I began thinking about Draik Redford and how he became the only person inside my heart. Of course the whole Sunset Flava are inside my heart but Draik has a special room. Maybe I'll make the same wish that I've been making at the wishing well. Draik Redford is the only thing that I want in my life and if this is all real then I'm going to ask for that.
"I want…."
"Hold on, before you tell me your wish I must give you a heads up."
"Heads up? About what?"
"Eh, I could only grant one wish."
"Just one?" I was kind of disappointed to hear that I could only ask for a single wish when I was greatly expecting three. "What about the other two?" I was hoping to wish that I become pretty and I would also like to wish that the small mole right under my right eye be removed. I think I'm not even wishing for more with those wishes.
"One wish only, master Andie. I'm an old genie and my powers have since gone weaker and weaker throughout the passage of time. I could feel my luster and lumen are slowly dying off. In fact, I could feel my eventual demise is imminent."
"Well, how old are you?"
"Are you really asking me that question? That's rude of you to ask a genie about his age."
"I…I'm sorry."
"Ha, ha. I'm just kidding." Ezidem let out a loud chuckle. "Who cares about my age? But I'm really old."
"Like a hundred years old?"
"One thousand and forty-nine."
"WHAAAAT? That's not true."
"Yes, it's true. I'm that old and I've granted hundreds of wishes from my previous masters but now, I could only grant one wish." Ezidem elaborated and it was for sure fair and reasonable enough that he could only grant one wish to preserve whatever powers left in his hands.
"Okay, that's fair enough."
"Just a little disclaimer before you tell me your wish. You aren't allowed to wish about life or death, that's a sacred realm that we genies aren't allowed to tap into. You aren't allowed to wish world peace or the end of the world and I think you know why. And also, you're not allowed to wish for more wishes."
"Okay, understood."
"Fi ahsun alahwal. Rayie!"
"What's that?"
"I said perfect, wonderful! Now, what's your wish?"
"Oh, okay." I paused for a while. In my head, I was trying to rehearse my wish and once I got it in order I continued talking. "I wish to be with the love of my life!" I announced making my voiced firm and loud so Ezidem would hear my wish loud and clear.
"Master Andie, your wish is my command!" Ezidem enounced subsequently snapping his fingers and a cloud of blue smoke exploded.