Dear Diary,
The albatrosses came again today. They are such lovely friends. They bring shells and flowers and trinkets of affection and lay them next to my bottle. They are such lovely... They are my only friends.
How long has it been? I have been in my bottle -- in my prison -- for 2,000 years. Cast into the angry seas from the shores of my home in Baghdad by the Blue Djinn. I do not hate easily, but I have had so many evil thoughts of him over the centuries. It is not pleasant to hate. I floated from ocean to ocean until I reached my new home. I could feel the warmth of these waters through my bottle and it warmed my soul. A rolling wave gently tossed my bottle onto the shores of this island and here I have remained for centuries upon more. But the albatrosses have kept me company. I can see them enjoying the freedom of flight around this beautiful island. The greenery is so lush. And what I would not give to walk along this beach and feel the warmth of the sand below my feet.
Even as a genie, I have no power over the cork that imprisons me in my bottle. If only my feathered friends could help, but alas, they cannot. I am filled with sadness again today. As I have been for the last 2,000 years. If only it helped to cry...
Today, I saw a great streak of light in the sky and heard a boom of thunder. It frightened me because the sky was clear and warm and blue. Have I existed here so long only to finally experience the end of the earth? The great streak in the sky crashed into the ocean and I watched it bobble in the water. Perhaps it was a huge genie bottle cast from the heavens by Allah into these waters of the earth. If it was, this genie could get out, for I saw a hole blown high into the air above it and I saw that it was -- a man!! It is true! Truly, a man is escaping from the oddly shaped bottle in which he was imprisoned! He must be a very powerful Djinn to escape from the bottle of Allah.
Through my bottle, I could see him swimming to shore. When he reached the sand, I could see that he was exhausted. Maybe he is not a Djinn, but instead a mortal man. If only I could help him... I tapped on the glass of my bottle and my albatross friends could see what I was asking of them. They helped to roll my bottle toward the man.
He was making shapes in the sand. A snake, a circle and another snake. What could it mean? My bottle rolled to him, but he would not take notice. I prayed that he would see me. After all these years, might I finally be freed by this man? Finally, after trying several times to use my bottle for part of his art in the sand, he picked up the bottle and examined it. I thought my heart would leap out of my mouth when I saw such a wise and handsome face as his! I prayed that he would release me and at last, he pulled the cork from the bottle! I was free!!!
When I smoked out of my bottle and materialized before him as a woman, he appeared to be startled. After breathing in my first breath of fresh air in 2,000 years, I realized that I had forgotten myself. I knelt before him and told him (according to the ancient laws of the Great Djinn) that his wish was my command, but he did not tell me to rise. I do not believe he understood me.
I walked toward him and with each step, I came to realize that his was the most handsome face I had ever seen. But there was something else. I did not realize it then, but this was what it was like to fall in love. I know that now. He seemed so surprised to see me and even more surprised when I kissed him. He said words to me I did not understand.
"I musta gone further into orbit than I thought."
How can I make him know that I was now his genie and that he was my master for eternity and all time after!?
Surprise! My master was trying his best to communicate his thoughts to me. I thought he wanted a great falcon. The concerned look on his face told me that I was wrong. He was also displeased with the boat I sent him. Then he said these words and I knew what he was asking of me.
"Oh, Jeannie, I wish you could speak English."
"Yoh-sho-he peirian -- somehow I must find a way to please thee, Master."
He asked me to blink him a large bird called a helicopter. I thought the falcon was more the pet for my new master, but if it pleases him, that is all that matters. It did please him. At least for a moment. He thanked me and said he was setting me free. I had to tell him that now I was free and I was free to be his genie and grant him any wish he so desired. But he would not listen to me. After so many years of being alone in my prison, can it be that the most wonderful master in the whole world is leaving me?!?! No!! I will not permit it. He will come to love me. But he has to know me first. If he leaves me, how shall this come to pass?? I blinked into my bottle again -- as terrifying as that was -- and I rolled it into the material he was carrying with him to the large, noisy bird. More after this adventure in the bird...
Well, it is not a palace, but it is very pleasant. My master will be so happy to find me here when he returns home. Truly, he does not live like a sultan, but he has many odd inventions in these meager rooms. From metal spouts all about his home, water flows. I can turn it on and off at will. And make it any temperature -- without magic! My master has something else that amazes me. A magic box. It sits in the middle of the large room, dark and motionless. I stared at the large, glass eye a long time before I gathered the courage to examine it more closely. It seems the magic does not work unless you push and pull and turn the metal bits over its framework. It frightens me that perhaps my master is a Djinn after all. What if he is not the kind man I believed him to be? When I turned the knob on the box, its magic came to life. I ran across the room and hid behind my masters divan. There, I was free to watch the magic on the box. After several hours, I was still watching the magic on the box. I watched people of all colors in many different places have many different conversations. I thought at first that they were speaking to me. A moment ago, a man's voice on the magic box called to me and asked me if I had "soft, smooth, young-looking skin". I told him yes, I thought I did, but he did not seem to hear me. I must ask my master about this magic box when he returns home. Until then, I will play with the water spouts...
I was letting the spout in the room next to my master's sleeping chamber wash all over me when I heard my master's voice. I dried myself and put on one of my master's garments. Did I hear another voice other than my master's? I opened the door to find him with a black-haired demon! She looked at me as if her eyes were armed with daggers! I did not like this one. She is made of ice. She could never make my master happy.
When she had gone, I felt I had to speak to my master of this one.
"What was that one doing here, Master?"
"That one was my fiancée."
"Ha! Thou art kidding."
To my horror, I discovered that they were to be married! Marriage is supposed to make one happy. If indeed, my master looked happy, I would serve them both with pleasure. Truly, I would. But my master does not look happy. His face twists into one filled with anguish every time her name is mentioned. This is not the face of a man in love. At least not with the black-haired demon.
To my chagrin, my master tried to kill me today. He tricked me into my bottle and allowed me to be thrown into a crushing device. I was terrified, but I was screaming in anger, also. I stopped when I realized that my master was screaming as well before he pulled me from the jaws of death. Even though it did make him look a bit foolish to the people around him.
The black-haired demon returned to my master's palace again tonight. This time with her father. My master looked very worried around him. Maybe it was because I was making fun of the demon in a chair behind her. My master was not amused.
Oh, how can I make him understand that I only wish to please him? I kissed his lips again after the demon and its father had left. This time, he returned my kiss!! But, as with all good things, it seemed that this would not last. He wants me to leave by the time he awakens in the morning. I think I will stay. And my master will soon come to appreciate me. He will if it kills me.
