Djinn And Tonic

All aspects of the story are fictional. All characters that participate in sexual activity are over the age of 18.

***

Prologue

James was walking back home. The car he had gotten last summer for his 18

th

birthday had recently been totaled (luckily he had escaped unscathed), and his parents couldn't drive him, since they were busy with some project or another that his younger sister, Amy, was working on. Not a great way to start Spring Break.

James walked with his eyes to the ground, only looking up when he came to a crosswalk. That's when he noticed a strange gleam in his peripheral vision. He looked up and saw a perfectly good lamp that someone had apparently thrown out, lying on its side in the driveway of one of his neighbors. Normally he would have left such a thing lying in the driveway it now rested in, but something about it drew him to it.

He walked up to the lamp, and picked it up. It felt light in his hands, and he wondered if maybe the reason it was so unceremoniously tossed out was because it was broken. He rubbed some dirt off of the lamp and was very surprised and sparks like fireworks come off of it, and smoke begin to fill the air around him.

When the smoke cleared, he saw a beautiful, exotic-looking woman in what looked like a belly-dancer outfit standing before him. "Your wish is my command master."

James stood there blinking uncertainly for a few seconds before he started examining the lamp and looking for the cameras that were obviously hiding somewhere. After looking in the bushes and searching his surroundings, he still hadn't found any cameras.

"Is this for real?" James asked incredulously.

"Yes," the genie said simply, "this is 'for real', as you say. You get three wishes, and then I have to wait for the next person to rub my lamp."

James looked down at the lamp in his hands. "Isn't this lamp a little modern for a genie?"

"We have to change with the times. I can make my lamp look like any source of illumination."

James was still sure that he was being punked, so he said "Alright, if you can really make it look like any source of illumination, make this lamp look like a flashlight."

The genie nodded politely and snapped her fingers, and before he could say "presto-chango", James was holding a flash light, which he quickly dropped in surprise. The genie gave him a dirty look and picked up the flash light, pressing it back into his hand. "Be careful, that's my house your dropping!"

"So, you... live in this thing?"

"Yep," she said glumly, "for as long as I can remember."

"So, you really are a genie, then." James said, still only half-believing it.

"That's what I said, yeah." The genie responded patiently.

"Are there any limits to your powers?"

"Pretty much just 'no wishing for more wishes'..." She walked up to his side gently leaned on his arm and began whispering in his ear, in a low seductive tone, "other than that, any of your fantasies can be made real."

"Well, if you're the real deal, then this shouldn't be so hard: I wish my car was fixed." James said.

The genie snapped her fingers and right there in front of his eyes was his car exactly as it was before the accident. James stood there, slightly in shock. Even though the flashlight had almost been enough to convince before, he now had no doubts that this was the genuine article. He pulled out the keys he was still carrying around out of habit, and got in the car.

"Do you want shotgun?" he said calling out to the genie that was still standing in the street.

"If it pleases you, master," she said taking opening the door and sitting beside him.

As they drove back home, James was thinking about all the things he could wish for, when a though occurred to him. "I don't know you name genie. What should I call you?"

"My last master called me Desiree, but you can call me whatever you want," she said.

"Well, Desiree it is. We're going to get to know each other very well..."

***

"Okay, I think I know what my second wish is." James said as he finally arrived home.

"That was quick, Master. Most of my masters think long and hard about their wishes, once they waste their first on something like you did."

"What do you mean that I wasted my wish?"

"Oh nothing, master. It's just that you wished for your car to be fixed, instead of wishing for an expensive car you've always wanted, or the ability to transform into car, or to make cars materialize whenever you willed it, for example. Considering the possibilities open to you, you went for a really modest option."

James realized that she was right. Even though he had been testing her abilities, he still had his totaled car on his mind, and he let that affect what he wished for.

"On second thought, I'm going to think a bit and get the wording right," James said, getting out of the car. "Can you go back into your bottle now? I don't think I'm ready for everyone else to see you."

"As you wish, mast-"

"Wait, I had one last question to ask you. What would you wish for?"

"Oh, that is simple master. I wouldn't want a big, fancy mansion or power and prestige, or anything like that. I've seen those wishes a thousand times and they never make anyone truly happy. I'd wish for the simple things. A normal human life. A family, friends, all the things that people take for granted. That is what I'd wish for."

"Hm. Genie, if can get the wording right on my next wish, then I might try and use my third wish to give you what you want."

"Thank you master, that's very kind of you. I will go to my bottle now." And in the blink of an eye she was gone.

James ate dinner with his family once they all arrived back home, and they watched some old movie that was on TV. James barely paid attention to everything that was going on around him, his mind still reeling with the possibilities that lay before him.

When he went up to his room to get ready for bedtime, he rubbed the flashlight and the genie appeared before him.

"Alright, I think I've got it. I wish that anything I say while touching a person would become true."

The genie snapped her fingers.

"Did it work? I don't feel any different."

"Why don't you test it for yourself, master?"

He crept out of his room and looked for someone nearby. It seems he was in luck, because he saw his sister walking to her room on the other side of the stairs. She was still sporting the tomboy look she always did, short hair and baggy androgynous clothes.

James grabbed her hand to keep her back, and said "your hair's really long today, isn't it?"

He realized that his words hadn't changed her at all. Her hair was down to her waist like it always was.

"So? What's your point? I always grow it this long."

Maybe he didn't make contact with her hand long enough. He had to test it one more time. He tried to casually brush her hair out of her face as he said, "You're wearing especially girly clothes tonight, what's the occasion?"

His face twisted in confusion for a second, as he saw that for a second time his powers had had no effect. He didn't know what he expected, but she stood there in the cute summer dress she had proudly showed him last week. The same as before.

"What are you talking about? I always dress like this."

James stood there a little sad that it hadn't worked. "You're right, I don't know what I was thinking... goodnight," he said, before shuffling embarrassed back to his room. He realized that he'd have to ask the genie what went wrong with the wish when he woke up tomorrow.

Chapter 1

"I don't understand, master. I worked my magic like I always do. As far as I know, I granted your wish."

"Well, if it's granted, how do you explain the fact that my sister's hair is just as long as always, and she's not dressing any girlier than usual?" James replied to his confused genie.

"I cannot explain it, master. Maybe the magic is just taking a while to work. Test it out throughout the day, and if you find that it's still not working, I'll see if I can't bend the rules and get you a wish to replace the one that didn't come true."

"Great, of all the genies I could get, I had to get the defective one!" James grumbled.

"I'm sorry, master!"

"Just go back in your lamp for now." James said putting the flashlight away on his night stand before walking downstairs.

He sighed, before hearing the doorbell ring. Jennifer! How could he have forgotten!? He quickly threw some clothes on, and ran downstairs to answer the door.

"Hey, Jennifer! I almost forgot that you were going to pick me up."

At the door was his girlfriend Jennifer. She was a bookish girl with blond hair and glasses. While she was middle-of-the-pack in terms of looks, she was on track to be the valedictorian of the school. James loved having conversations with her, and was always learning something new about topics she was passionate about. He just wished she'd let loose and have fun a little more often.

"How could you forget, silly? Your car got totaled didn't it?"

James looked a bit sheepish, before saying "Yeah... of course my car got totaled." He followed her to her car and took shotgun.

"So, where are we going today?" James asked.

"To the museum of natural history," she replied.

Since they started dating, they traded off who picked their date spots, and liked to surprise each other. James preferred normal dates, but she seemed to treat their dates like school field trips.

He rubbed her back affectionately, and jokingly said "Didn't you want to go to the beach, babe?" knowing that the answer was going to be "no" like it always was. Even on Spring Break.

"Of course, honey. Where else would we go? It's Spring Break!" she said the last bit excitedly. "You brought your swim trunks, right?"

"Of course. I was pretty sure you were going to take us to the beach."

"Aww, no fooling you, honey." she said with a fake pout, "I've got a bathing suit I think you'll really like."

He smiled, excited at the prospect.

***

They arrived at the beach, and got into their swim suits. They played out in the sand for a while, and eventually cuddled together under an umbrella. James was enjoying himself, even if the talk of math and science was only occasionally punctuated by more "normal" conversation. Even though he was a little tired of it, he still loved everything about her.

"So, what do you think of my suit?" she asked.

He looked down at the skimpy red swimsuit she wore. On a model, this swimsuit would have turned any 9 into a solid 10, but with her more modest looks, it made her maybe a low 7.

"I love it babe, you fill it out so well. It matches your beautiful face perfectly."

James was a little taken aback by the erection that he got after said that. It was true though. Her perfect hourglass shape made it hard to concentrate. Her breasts had been the biggest in the class since middle school.

"That's so nice of you to say. How'd I get lucky enough to get you as a boyfriend?"

"I don't know, babe," he said, a little unsure of himself. How had

he

landed such a catch? Here he was on the beach, with one of the hottest and smartest girls in school, and she thought

she

was lucky to have him.

Jennifer quickly changed the subject, "Hey, you know that I geology research I was telling you earlier?" Uh oh, James thought -- here she goes again. "I've learned some absolutely fascinating things about igneous rocks. Want to hear?"

Just like that, it was back to her studies. He usually loved conversations with her, but sitting here on the beach, he just wanted to enjoy her company and talk about trivial nothings with her. He wished that she could turn off her brain just for a few minutes. It was like she couldn't get her mind off research for more than 5 minutes. Like reverse ADHD. Then he had an idea. He still hadn't had a chance to see if his second wish had finally taken effect, so he reasoned now might be a good time to test it out on his girlfriend. If it worked, they could enjoy the day together, and then he could turn her back at the end of the day.

"I'm actually thinking about writing a paper-"

He put his finger over her lip to quiet her and said, "You don't want to talk about complex things like that, right? Your brain can only handle simple thoughts like having a wild, sloppy time with your boyfriend at the beach."

He looked into the blank eyes of his girlfriend. "Ummm, like... maybe you're right. What was I, like, even saying?" she said.

James frowned as he thought about it. "I don't remember. Who cares though, let's just sit here and enjoy the beach." He couldn't shake the feeling that he had been trying to test out his powers, but why would he want to make his simple-minded girlfriend even dumber? 'Oh, well' he said, it doesn't seem to have made any difference in her limited intellect, thankfully.

Their day in the sun went on, and James enjoyed himself. It was around lunch time, so he sent Jennifer to one of the beach stands to get them food. She came back holding three orders of nachos.

"Just nachos?"

"Like, yeah. I think the shop must have been, like, foreign, because I couldn't understand any of the other foods. What's 'pisay'?

"What's what?"

"Pisay"

"Spell it for me."

"Ummmm. It's hard to remember, it's like p, i, that backwards pointy s-"

"What?"

"You know, the backwards pointy s. It, like, looks like a sideways lightning bolt."

"You mean 'z?'... Did you the sign you saw look like this?" James began drawing in the sand.

"That's the one! Pisay!"

James looked at her in surprise. He knew she had her ditzy moments, but this one took the cake. Oh well, he wasn't dating her for her brains.

"Babe, that says 'pizza.'"

"Ohhh, that makes, like, so much more sense."

"Well, anyways. The nachos are getting cold, we should eat up."

She clumsily ate the nachos. When he noticed that she somehow spilled on her glasses (was it even possible to forget how to he nachos?), he touched her shoulder and said "You don't need to wear those glasses. You just wear them to look smart."

"You, like, know me so well," Jennifer gasped in surprise, while taking off her glasses. "I thought I could make you think I was, like, smart by wearing glasses, but I guess I was too dumb." She said sadly

"It's okay Jennifer. I'm smart enough to pick up the slack for both of us."

It wasn't the most elegant thing to say, but it apparently was enough to comfort Jennifer, and they finished their meal in peace. James was a little bummed out that his power didn't seem to have any effect on things. Though he didn't know what he expected trying to make Jennifer not wear glasses, when she didn't in the first place.

They enjoyed the rest of the day together. A group of teens on the beach invited them to a party at one of their houses on the beach. There was dance music and plenty of booze to go around, and James and Jennifer had a wild make out session on the couch. They would have gone farther, but James' mom ended up calling him and reminding him to come home at a reasonable hour.

As they stumbled over the beach and back to the car, he realized that they were both too drunk to drive. He walked over to Jennifer and touched on the shoulder while he said "You're gonna drive ush home, because you're finally shobering up."

It was true, of course. He didn't know how she did it, but she had always been able to drink people under the table and then be good to drive in record time. He handed her the keys, and after she finally figured out how to start the car (not an encouraging start to the trip), they were on their way back home.

When they arrived at his house, they shared a long kiss goodbye and as an afterthought Jennifer said, "Can I, like, copy your Honors Geology homework again, honey?"

James looked in surprise at her. "Of courshe, babe. I want both of ush to graduate from high shchool!"

He couldn't help her with everything, but he had always "helped" her with as much of her homework as possible. It might have been part of why she still dated them, even though he could think circles around her. It was senior year, and she was so close to graduating with barely passing grades, so he was helping her out more than ever. She took Honors classes to be with him, but that meant he had to work twice as hard to hide her ignorance from the teachers.

Chapter 2

Spring break finished up, and James enjoyed every second of it. At one point his younger sister had confronted him about a genie or something like that, but he had just pressed his hand to his chest and said "I don't know anything about that." After she questioned him a little more, she walked away with a confused look on her face, holding an old desk lamp or something.

Maybe it wasn't too weird to think that he had a genie. After all, his car had magically fixed itself, and he had the power to change people he was touching (not that it ever seemed to work), but that's just the way his tiny corner of the world worked. Genies? Those were just fairy tale notions as far he was concerned. Ever since that conversation, his sister had started acting strange.

Amy seemed to be trying to hide something, but what a world famous 23-year old model would want to hide, he couldn't say. Right before he said goodbye to his older sister to go to school, she had a strange favor to ask of him. "Hey, my friend Desiree wanted you to put your hand on your chest and say, 'I always remember when I change things.'"

"Who's Desiree, and what does that even mean?" James asked.

"She's just a friend. Could you do this little thing for me, please? She said she owed you one."

James realized Desiree must have been one of her modeling buddies that she brought around the house sometimes. "Okay... if it means that much to her 'I always remember when I change things.' There, you happy?"

Amy nodded happily, and they parted ways.

"Gosh, what was that about?" he wondered as he got in his car to go to school.

***

Honors Geology was rough. Not for James, he did fine, but the teach Ms. Maycomb, asked Jennifer a simple question in front of the class, and Jenifer had answered it wrong. Ms. Maycomb kept drilling her about the answer saying "I'm sure you know this dear, you always do well on the homework," but of course Jennifer didn't know anything about igneous rocks (maybe even rocks in general. This semester had been rough.) Finally, when Jennifer was almost in tears and unable to answer the question, Ms. Maycomb finally let up and said, "See me after class Jennifer, we have something to discuss."

James grew worried that the cheating that had carried her through high school was finally going to fail. He knew that he would need to spy on the meeting after school.

***

The "conversation" between Jennifer and Ms. Maycomb was not a fun one for James to overhear at the door. He couldn't perfectly hear, but what he did hear worried him greatly.

"-know you been cheating-" "-be expelled from this school-"

After listing for 10 minutes, he decided it was time to try to take action. Even though his powers had never worked before, he hoped they would finally work here.

He barged into the room. "Ms. Maycomb, stop being so hard on Jenny!"

Ms. Maycomb looked up, "don't think I don't know you've been helping her, you little brat!" and she walked over and grabbed him roughly by the wrist in order to try and force into a seat next to Jennifer. He grabbed her hand and said, "You're going to stop moving now." And for the first time in his memory, his power actually worked. Ms. Maycomb stood rooted where she was.

"Who are you to criticize Jennifer and me, she's smarter than you. Isn't that right, Ms. Maycomb?"

Ms. Maycomb nodded dumbly, the sharp look in her eyes replaced by a dull one before his very eyes. James felt ecstatic that his powers had finally started working. "In fact, you're just a student like her, right? Although, you're in special education. No wonder you're old enough to be a teacher."