A Word in the Breeze

Deaf By Choice

Ears are dangerous organs.

Not that you would understand. You're probably human, aren't you? Yes, I can imagine your odd face, trying to make sense of me.

Look: I'm a genie.

Ah, you think. Like the one in Aladdin's lamp.

No. Not like that at all.

But if that makes it easier for you, then yes. Exactly like that.

Genies are sworn not to reveal their secrets to humans. So don't be all insulted if I don't hand you a self portrait right away.

Just suffice to say that we are made of fire, the way you are made from mud. Is it confusing? ‘Course it is. But I'm not going to make it any easier than that.

I used to be trapped in a bottle once. Oh, it was a few centuries ago. And, as I remember it, a young lad set me free.

No. Not Aladdin.

Seriously, don't you know any other genie stories?

His name was Zakaria. Cheerful man, he gave up his last wish for me without a second thought.

Or a first thought.

His wish, you see, was to free me from my bottle. True enough, I am now able to roam the world.

But he left out the second half of my curse. I'm still a slave. I still grant wishes. Every wish I happen to hear, whether I'd like to or not.

Can you imagine a life like that? Walking the same roads as human beings, pushing yourself forward, struggling not to hear?

I avoid churches at all cost, and children, with their fanciful dreams. I can smell a depressed person from a mile away. I just wish...

Never mind. Those are the words I never want to hear again.

But I always do. In some horrible way or the other, I always hear those words. And I always obey, because I must.

Hearing is my weakness. Ears are my curse. 

So this is the story of how I tried to make myself deaf.

~

‘Do I hear you rightly, Dagal? You want me to cut off your ears?’

‘Please do it, Kejan,’ I pleaded. ‘You don't understand. I've been cursed!’

The genie doctor stared at me down his glasses. ‘You've been cursed with... What? Big ears?’

‘No!’ I groaned tragically. I dropped my voice to a whisper. ‘I've been cursed to fulfill any wish any human ever asks in front of me!’

He nodded in an infuriatingly slow manner. ‘Right so, you think that if I cut your ears off, you won't be able to hear?’

‘Well, um, YES, that's what I'm here for!’ I said loudly and sarcastically.

‘What if I told you that after cutting your ears off, not only will you still be able to hear everything clearly, but the pain and fluid loss will probably kill you?’

There was silence as I tried to digest this, then muttered, ‘Is that something you're likely to say...?’

Doctor Kejan sighed and took off his glasses. Wiping them mildly he said, ‘May I suggest sound blocking headphones?’

~

That was the solution to all my problems! I could put on my headphones and walk among humans, and I'd never have to hear a single aspiring aside or wistful whisper. No whining or complaining or swearing.

No wishing.

It was beautiful. For a while.

But then, passing by the blind beggar on the street, for the first time I didn't have to oblige to his wish that his bowl be heavy with coins. And I kind of missed having to do that.

For the first time, I didn't have to make sure that the girl living at number 15 got a new letter from her lover. I wondered vaguely if she would be all right with that.

I slowed as I passed the elementary school, for the first time not having to miracle away bullies, or soften the hearts of strict teachers, or make coins magically appear on the sidewalk. I glanced at the children, knowing what was in every heart, and knowing I didn't have to do anything about it. I moved further.

So many people, so many hearts full of dreams, and dreams full of life, and lives full of pain.

I thought hard about my role in their lives. Was I helping them in the end? Or just pampering them, spoiling them? Making them immune to the struggle?

I slowed to a halt.

In front of me was a house I clearly recognized. The Blue Villa.

Veronica Sully lived here, the most depressed person in town. Everyday she wished herself dead, and everyday I cringed and moved on. Thankfully, death was not in my power. But curiosity swept over me, now that I didn't have to listen to her melancholic murmurs.

Why?

All these self obsessed humans, they always wished something good for themselves or for others. They didn't wish for destruction.

What did Veronica actually wish for?

When you already know the story of everyone else's life, people like Veronica hold a kind of mystery. I had my safety headphones. So... Why not investigate?

Turning myself invisible, as all genies can do, I flew over the gates.

Veronica, I thought, I was kind of afraid of you when I could hear you. Because I worried that you'd accidentally wish something horrible like cutting off your limbs or something... But now...

Now, I can't hear you. Now, I'm not afraid of you.

And I'm going to find out what you actually wish for. And I'm going to grant it for you ten times over.

Whether you'd like me to or not.