The Last Genie: A Novella

Chapter 4

Grace was having a bad morning. She had overslept, which caused her to miss her bus, which she only had to take because her car had been totaled when she had to swerve off the road to avoid being hit by Ithel's RV, and now she was going to be late for work unless she could convince her roommate, Kari, to give her a ride.

She walked into Kari's room, flipped on her lights, and said, "I missed my bus. I need you to drive me to work."

Kari, without even opening her eyes, said, "Can't, cars broken."

"What do you mean it's broken?" asked an exasperated Grace.

"It wouldn't start yesterday."

Grace looked up at the heavens and for just a moment wondered why God was doing this to her. Then, she said, "I guess I'll just take the bus."

"Why are you even going to work? Your accident was like two days ago."

"I'm sorry I woke you up," said Grace completely ignoring Kari's comment; then she flipped off Kari's lights and shut her door.

As Grace was opening up her phone to check the bus schedule, someone knocked on her front door.

I should probably mention here that over the past two days a slew of enterprising reporters had been hounding her for an interview because she had saved Ithel's life. Grace had done her best to make it clear to them that she would not be giving any interviews, but they had kept bugging her. So, when she opened the door, she was ready to give a reporter a firm telling off, but to her utmost surprise it was Ithel. She was so taken back by his presence and appearance, she blurted out, "What are you doing here?"

Ithel didn't immediately respond because as soon as Grace opened her door he was staggered by Grace's heartbreakingly beautiful eyes, but eventually, he looked away and said gruffly, "I'm a genie, and I'm here to grant you three wishes."

"You're a what?"

"I'm a genie, and I'm here to grant you three wishes."

Grace really didn't have time to deal with this craziness, so she said, "I'm sorry. I really don't have time for this," and tried to shut the door on Ithel.

Ithel quickly stopped the door with his hand and said, "This doesn't have to take long. Just give me your three wishes, and I'm out of here."

Almost reflexively, Grace said, "I wish my roommate's car would start."

"Done. What else?"

"What?"

"Her car's fixed. What's your next wish?"

Grace was beginning to get a little worried that was something wrong with Ithel, so she said, "Look, I really don't have time for whatever bit you're doing here."

"This isn't a bit. I really am a genie, and because you saved my life, you get three wishes. You have two left, so what are they?"

"I don't have time for this. I need to get to work, and you need to leave, now," said Grace firmly.

Noticing the change in her voice, Ithel stepped back and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I really am a genie, and I really did fix your roommate's car."

"If you aren't out of here in five minutes, I'm going to call the police."

"Ok, I'm leaving, but do try your roommate's car. I promise I fixed it."

Grace said, "Ok," then slammed the door in Ithel's face, locked the door, threw the deadbolt, put the chain on the door, and hurried into Kari's room.

After Grace told her everything that happened, Kari said, "Holy shit, what a psycho."

"I don't think I can go into work today."

"You think?"

"Yeah, I'm going to go call them."

"Good."