Wishful Adventures | An Original Story

(Ch 3) A Whole New World

Josh spent the rest of the day showing Sapphire some of the things they hadn't already seen in the world, like many things around the house. He also showed them his cooking skills, which Sapphire thought were impeccable. Josh had blushed. He also showed them how to do every day tasks as the sun went down, Sapphire remembering what it was like to brush their own teeth, and Josh showing them how to shower (which was admittedly a bit awkward), and he had them pick out comfortable bed clothes as well!

Sapphire had chosen a pair of old style button up shirt striped pajamas. Josh thought Sapph looked good in those, and he was glad that they liked them. He let them have one of the spare rooms for the night, and he told them he was willing to extend that for as long as they were going to stay.

"You still have three wishes waiting, y'know," Sapphire reminded Josh before they both went to bed.

"So, as long as I'm your master you'll keep reminding me?" Josh asked with a smirk. It wasn't that they had already, sometimes his autism detected patterns before they played out.

"Well, yeah, that's — kind of how this works."

Josh chuckled. "I'll be thinking about it. But tomorrow, we've got a big adventure ahead of us!"

Sapph seemed to like the sound of that, and after one final goodnight, Josh headed to bed in his own room. He took off his big pink bathrobe (revealing only a pair of undies, and for that he was glad to be alone), and climbed into bed. He felt excited about tomorrow, and the rest of the week. He was going to show Sapph everything there was to know about the world today, the boardwalk, the amusement park, fast food, the park nearby! He'd saved next week for even more, the pool, the animal sanctuary, the museum, the beach!

However, part of him thought Sapphire would keep reminding him of his wishes while they were out and about, and that might take some of the fun away. Then a rather ingenious thought came to Josh's mind.

"They said as long as I'm their master they'd remind me," he whispered to himself. "What if I wasn't their master? They didn't say anything about the genie's freedom in the wish rules."

That gave Josh something to think about, but he tried hard to put it to bed for now, as well as his excitement for the week, so he could get some sleep.

The next morning, Josh got up relatively early to make breakfast. He had no idea when Sapph would be up, but thankfully not now. He decided to make something simple, and got out his favorite pancake mix. His dad had taught him how to make them extra fluffy, the way he and his siblings liked them. By the time he'd finished making six, he saw Sapphire coming into the dining room to find him in the kitchen.

"Morning, Sapphire," he said with a grin.

"Good morning, Master Josh," Sapphire replied, trying for a smile.

"No need to call me master," Josh said gently.

"Sorry...force of habit, I guess," Sapphire said, looking embarrassed.

"Awe, don't be sorry," said Josh.

He made two three-stacks of pancakes, and walked them over to the table. Once he sat down, he began to decorate one with boysenberry syrup, raspberries and whipped cream, and picked up another and ate it from his hand. He'd set out a few different pancake toppings, but he sometimes liked to hand-eat his pancakes plain. Sapphire, curious, experimented with different things in a similar way. They put strawberries and maple syrup on theirs, which they seemed to like a lot. They began to wolf down their meal in a quick fashion. Josh smiled, finding this a bit cute, considering that Sapph probably hadn't sat down for a proper meal in centuries. However, seeing Josh, Sapphire paused, blushing embarrassedly.

"Sorry," they said. "I haven't eaten like this in a while...need to recall my own table manners."

They let out a few embarrassed chuckles, and Josh let out some soft ones in return.

"Well, I don't blame you in that sense," he said reassuringly. "And hey, it's just you and me here for now, it doesn't matter too much."

Sapphire looked right into Josh's eyes, their own sparkling. Josh liked the way Sapphire's eyes sparkled. They looked very pretty that way. He felt his own face getting a bit warm as he also blushed.

"Thanks," Sapphire said with a smile.

After breakfast, Josh was surprised that Sapphire didn't need to change clothes; all they had to do was snap their fingers and poof! Same genie robes as yesterday were back on! Josh thought it best not to question it, and he was more excited to spend a day in the outside world with Sapph anyway.

Once they were all ready to go, Josh led them to the garage, showing them the car, and everything part of it. Sapphire was curious to know all about it, and Josh liked it. The two got into the car, and Josh decided to show Sapphire the park today. When they'd arrived, Sapphire was in absolute awe, seeing so much open space (with a playground, basketball court, or pavilion here or there) for anyone to simply just do as they pleased.

They floated around, low and high, exploring what there was to explore. Many of the people around were surprised to see a genie going about, and that worried part of Josh. He grew up feeling like it mattered what other people thought of him, but he had long since started not to care, but he still struggled sometimes.

Nevertheless, he liked seeing Sapph get so excited over the little things, as he always did as an autist. Whenever a stranger noticed Sapphire, and turned to him with a strange look, he smiled and said, "They're with me." That got most of the stares away, but then again, Josh didn't care that much.

At about noon, Josh took Sapphire out to lunch. Sapphire had only seen restaurants before, and had never actually been to one. It surprised them how much restaurants as a whole had evolved. This time, they seemed determined to mind their manners. Josh took them to a sit-down diner (one of his favorites growing up), and Sapphire really enjoyed it. Josh was glad to see them enjoying the world, but also some autonomy.

He guessed that was rare for them, and he was glad they were enjoying it, as well as the experience of eating out. He smiled during the whole thing, and his cheeks probably flushed a bit. Sapphire smiled back, their eyes sparkling. The two spent the rest of the day looking around at some of the roadside attractions, like the Big Peanut (Josh's favorite). Sapphire found it funny, and Josh enjoyed seeing them laugh and have fun.

When the two got back to the house, it was about time for dinner, so Josh got cooking right away. He made one of his mother's famous cooking recipes, which was one of his and his siblings' favorites growing up. Sapphire seemed to like it just as much, which made Josh glad. Halfway through the meal, Sapphire looked at Josh, their eyes sparkling once again.

"Y'know...you still have three wishes," they said.

"I'm still thinkin' about it," Josh reassured them, "but I wanted to ask: did you enjoy today?"

Sapphire paused, thinking about it. They had never been asked that question; usually they asked their masters that question, especially after a rather exciting wish. Josh seemed to see this, and Sapph began to smile.

"Yeah..." they half-whispered. "Yeah!" they repeated a bit louder, "I loved it! It was so much fun! I loved everything about it!"

They had begun to float above their chair, shaking their fists excitedly. Josh found that endearing, and his grin widened. He enjoyed seeing Sapphire so happy...and he was glad to have made them happy.

Bedtime was the same as it was last night, but Josh went to bed with even more excitement.