Loretta of the Lamp

A name is power

When Loretta  stirred again, the sun was still high in the sky, blaring down on her, but the light was dappled, because she was lying in the shade of a gnarled acacia tree. The creature, whom she did not yet feel comfortable referring to as a 'genie' was sitting, knees up, on a rock a few feet away from her. He didn't look very supernatural. Here in the bright light of day he was not made of smoke or even remotely ephemeral. He was normal sized with a regular physical body. Tempted as she was to go over and poke him to prove it, she decided it was probably not a good idea.

She didn't move either. She wasn't yet comfortable with letting him know she was awake.

He was a genie. A being relegated to children's fairytales—Aladdin for crying out loud!

He was glaring out into the desert, his frown brilliantly contorting his defined eyebrows and the muscles beneath them. His skin was a warm tan brown, but everything else about him was cold. She had the full view of his profile—angular nose, pointed chin, harsh cheek bones, a forehead that seemed too long, and a shaved scalp save for the long black ponytail drawn from his hair line back half way to the nape of his neck, and hanging down past his shoulders. He was half-naked and clearly comfortable with it, his once white linen trousers were smeared with stains of sweat and mud and the marks of general wear. There were several holes in them big enough for Loretta to poke a finger through. His feet were bare.

His back and shoulders were covered in tattoos, the thin spiralling lines of words in an alphabet she could not read pertaining to a language she did not understand. All in all, she couldn't have imagined a genie to look more genie-ish. The only thing she wouldn't have imagined was the anger and hatred that emanated from him, visible in his frown and the way he arched his back and hunched his shoulders.

Rather quickly, Loretta decided it was time to get up. She stood and took a step forward almost before the genie was aware of it.

He stood and turned to her.

"Oooh," she said, as her legs gave way beneath her. She crashed into the sand knees first.

He half reached forward to catch her before deciding better of it. As she collapsed, he squatted back down on the rock, facing her this time.

"Do you say anything other than 'Oooh'?" he asked. "You were quite mouthy the last time we met."

"I don't feel so well," she said, shutting her eyes tight, pushing her hands against her knees and stretching her shoulders, anything to squeeze the nausea out of her body.

"Clearly."

When she opened her eyes and looked up into his, she had to blink twice to focus them. It was the first time they had made eye contact, and the genie didn't appreciate it much. He snarled and looked away.

His eyes were pink. Loretta was taken back by their colour. She had never seen anything like it.

"Do you do anything other than frown and growl?" she retorted. She often allowed her mouth to open before giving her brain time to consider what was being said. This was one of those moments.

The genie said nothing.

"Where am I, again?" she asked, looking up at the pale gold sky, burnished and shining like a brass candlestick, or a lamp.

"About four and a half miles outside of Rama."

"Rama, which is 'inside the lamp'?" she checked. There was no blue in the sky, none at all. In contrast to the golden sky, the desert sand was creamy white and sparkling in the daylight.

This was another question the genie chose not to answer.

"Why did you carry me half a mile to be under this tree if you dislike me so much?" she asked, after another long silence.