A Genie for Jae

When I first started reading on Lit some years ago some of the first stories I read were "Genie Chronicles" and "A beautiful Wish" both were very good and they started my love of the site. I was thinking it'd been a while since we had a genie story and this just popped into my mind. I hope I'm not over reaching with three projects at once and possibly a fourth but I write them when they come to me so what can you do.

Anyway Enjoy.

-TNWTBOD

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Jake let out a deep sigh. The kind of sigh one can only make when there truly tired of what they're doing at the moment. He was busy at work stocking shelves at a Publix supermarket. It was almost ten p.m. and he was nearly through with his seven hour work shift. After this he would have to head home, eat dinner, and finish the homework he didn't get to during his break. He dreaded having to go home and cook so earlier he had made sure to grab a sub sandwich from the store's deli section. Eating his sandwich was about the only thing Jake was looking forward to for that evening.

In truth most teenagers would probably kill to have Jake's life. He just turned eighteen, in his last year of highschool and lived alone. His parents had moved out one day about seven years ago. He had come home one day early from school because of a half-day, apparently his parents had forgotten because when he got there he saw his mother on the downstairs couch with some man he'd never seen before and she looked slightly flushed. She made a big deal about him being home and talked real loud as if she was trying to alert someone to his presence. Sure enough a minute or two later his father came downstairs with some women in tow. Jake couldn't recognize it back then but now he knew that they had probably just gotten through having sex. In a matter of minutes the man from downstairs and the woman from upstairs had left after saying the usual "we had a good time" and "we must do this again" spiel.

His parent's moved out a week or two after that saying that his father had been offered a huge promotion out of state and that they didn't want to uproot his life. After all he had just started fifth grade and they knew that a large change at that time could result in low test scores on his graduation exams, or so they said. While it was true that his father had been offered a job somewhere else Jake knew that the reason he was left behind was that he seriously hampered there swinging lifestyle. They wanted to be able to have wild swingers parties at their house and having a child didn't allow for them to do that. At least that what Jake's grandpa had told him when he arrived the next week from overseas.

Jake had called his grandma because being only ten years old he was alone in the big house and rightfully scared out of his mind. His grandma had then called his grandpa to relay the situation while stating that she would come down to stay with him until Jake's grandfather could get back and sort out the whole situation.

Long story short it was decided Jake's grandparents would gain legal custody of him. His grandparents both lived high pace lifestyles and were always on business trips so they let Jake stay where he was and live by himself. The only difference was they would visit occasionally and also send someone to check on him every other week or so. That was pretty much the status-quo until his neighbor Nancy moved in the next year and took over the duty of keeping an eye on him.

"Hey Jake, Spence said for you to finish re-stocking and then you could go home. Anything past eleven won't count as overtime though."said Eleanor as she passed by the aisle. Eleanor or Ellie as she liked to be called was one of the reasons he was working there in the first place. They went to the same school and she had been asking around the students if anyone was looking for some part time work and while Jake's parents and grandparents put money in his account for his living it was nice to have a little extra pocket money. Besides he wasn't doing anything with his afternoons anyway. Him and Ellie weren't what you would describe as friends but they got along well enough at work. At school they were just in two different social circles with her being part of the popular clique and Jake not being in any clique at all. While he wasn't a nerd he surely wasn't popular. No, he was more a loner if anything. He didn't really hang out with anyone and had no real friends he could think of but a good number of associates with whom he could hang out with if he was looking to do something. Moments like that however were few and far between for him.

"Alright. Just tell him to make sure he has his key and to leave the other pair on one of the registers up front because I am NOT coming in before school tomorrow to give him the other pair if he leaves his again."Jake replied.

"' Kay will do." Ellie replied as she went to grab her things from the back and go home.

It was about ten forty five when Jake finally finished with all he had to do. After making a last sweep and grabbing his things from his locker he hopped into his car and went home. His car was a 2005 Chevy Avalanche that was given to him by his grandma when he turned sixteen. It was a deep red color and had originally belonged to his grandfather but since he had passed the year before it had just been collecting dust. His grandmother said that his grandfather was planning on giving it to him anyway because he no longer drove it. Climbing into the truck he checked his gauges and after making sure he had enough gas he pulled of for home.

He pulled up to his house a little after eleven, his job only being twenty minutes away. As he got out of his car he waved to the next door neighbor's window where he new Nancy was sitting. She always stayed up until he returned from work if he was working a late shift to make sure that he made it home safely. Jake had been trying to convince her that she could go to bed or even on a date now that he was eighteen but she stuck to her normal routine.

At thirty-three Nancy was still an attractive woman and Jake had no doubt that many of guys hit on her everyday. When she moved in eight years ago she was coming off a bad break up with her boyfriend. She had wanted kids but he wasn't ready so they broke it off, it didn't help that she caught him in bed with another woman either. Being new to the neighborhood she went to meet her neighbors and that's how she met an eleven year old Jake. He had answered the door and when she asked to speak to his parents he had told her he stayed there alone. Intrigued Nancy had asked why and he told her the whole story about how his parents moved away and his grandparents couldn't always be there.

To tell the truth Nancy was taken aback that someone would leave a child alone by himself but when he told her that he had been alone for about a year she figured he had everything worked out. Although she was slightly worried about how he had just let her in the house without knowing a thing about her. Jake only being a kid didn't understand why he shouldn't let her into the house. He didn't let in strangers but he had been told that letting in his neighbors was fine, that of course applied to his old neighbors who had moved away but he didn't realize his blunder at such a young age.

Since then Nancy had taken to watching out for him and making sure he was safe. She pretty much adopted the big sister/mother role in his life. It worked out fine for the both of them because she had been looking to have a child anyway and Jake, although happy with his current life, needed someone who he could talk to daily and nurture him.

Now that he was eighteen Nancy didn't seem to be trying to enter a relationship at all and had given up, at least for now, on having a child of her own. She had told Jake that raising one teenager was hard enough for her to never do it again.

Nancy flicked the lights in her front room on and off to signify that she was there and that since he was home she was going to bed. Jake smiled to himself as he walked over to check the mailbox. In the mailbox was the usual assortment of stuff. Sales papers, bills, and other random things. In the mailbox today however there was one unusual thing. A large manila folder addressed to him from some company he'd never heard of. Looking quizzically at the mail Jake made his way inside. He decided that whatever was in the folder could at least wait until after dinner and he finished his homework.

After finishing his sandwich and homework Jake retired upstairs to take a shower. After the shower he went to the sink to brush his teeth and studied himself in the mirror. His curly black hair laid flat to his head dripping with water while his brown eyes swept over his features. At 5'10" he wasn't particularly tall something he hated because his grandfather was a hulking 6'4" but he had inherited his height from his father's side of the family and not his mother's. Looking over himself Jake couldn't help but think he looked good.

As with everyone there were things he wished he could change like his height of the lack of definition in his muscles. The only places where he really had muscles were his arm and legs. He enjoyed camping and hiking so his legs were powerful and toned and restocking shelves and lifting boxes in the Publix warehouse helped him develop strong arm muscles. He had naturally bronze skin which he got from his mother's side of the family because they were descended from Romans or Greeks or something like that.

Yeah Jake thought he looked good or at least good enough to have a girlfriend, but then again he liked to think his lack of a girlfriend came from his reclusive nature more than a lack of good looks.

After dressing in his room Jake went back downstairs to grab the mail he had left on the kitchen counter. On his way up he checked the house phone's voicemail and saw he had a message from his grandmother. Sitting down on the couch he put the machine on play. In about thirty seconds his grandmother's voice filled the room.

"Hello Jake. It's me your grandmother. I was just calling to say that you should have gotten a package in the mail today. I know you had to work so it's probably late right now but it's important that you read it tonight. What's in it is probably going to confuse you and as such I'll be coming to visit you in the next week or so in order for us to talk in person if you want. However if you think you can handle it, we can also have this discussion by phone or via a web conference. That's all for now, talk to you soon."

After hearing his grandmother's message Jake decided to head upstairs. From the sound of it whatever's in the folder was quite important and Jake always thought better when he was in his own room. Even though Jake's parents had moved out some years ago he still slept in his old room and left the master bedroom open for when his grandparent's visited. Jake's room was rather normal or at least he hoped it was normal, he never spent anytime over anyone else's house so he wouldn't know what another teenage boy's room looked like.

His room was rather simple. It had hardwood flooring and black walls. He had painted the walls black a couple weeks ago because he planned on painting the stars, constellations, and galaxies on the wall later on. He had a simple king sized bed which was the only thing he took from his parent's old room. He had a normal twin sized bed and had decided to swap them out and his grandma never seemed to mind. She said she didn't need the extra space since Jake's grandpa was no longer alive to visit with her.

Jake had a computer desk in one corner which sat mostly unused. He had a newer model computer on it but since he had gotten a laptop for his birthday he didn't really use the desktop as much anymore. Before sitting down on his bed Jake put the rest of the mail on top of his desk and then opened the manila folder and dumped the contents out onto his bed. There were three folders inside numbered from one to three. Jake figured these were the order he was to read them in. So picking up the first one he opened it and started to read.

The contents was basically telling him that his grandfather who had died some years back had left him some inheritance, some things he already received such as his car and a small part of his bank assets but there were more things sat to the side for him to receive after his eighteenth birthday. Apparently it had taken a while for his grandpa's representation to gather all of the information from his grandpa's bank and organize it all. If Jake so chose to he could transfer all of the assets to his current bank or just resume patronage at his grandfather's bank. The law firm was asking that he called to set up an appointment within three or four business days after receiving the letter.

Jake sat that letter aside. It really wasn't a shock to him that his grandfather had left him some things. Before he died he had always talked to Jason about one day taking over the family business although he would never tell him exactly what the business was. He had made Jake promise to never give anything he left him to his mother no matter how much she asked him. When Jake's parents had abandoned him his grandfather had threatened to disown his mom if she didn't "come home and take care of her child and quite acting like a fool". Obviously she never came back so his grandparents made the collective decision to ban her from having any contact with Jake once they gained full custody of him. Jake hadn't seen or heard from his mother in years but he knew she was still alive because his grandma talked about her from time to time.

The second letter was from his grandfather and read as such:

Dear Jake,

You should be reading this no to long after your eighteenth birthday I hope. So happy late eighteenth son. Now I know you've always been good so I know that you're reading this after having read the notice of inheritance you were sent. I want to remind you of our promise that you not give a single dime to your mother, she chose not to be a part of your life but she'll probably try to sneak back in if you let your guard down. Her and your no good father, no offense. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you any details, I'll leave that to Joan who will probably be the one you meet with when you visit the law firm in the upcoming days. I do however want to bring your attention to the third envelope I you have. Inside is something I got from a friend some years back but never found I needed it, I've left a couple more of them around the place for you to find if you want them but this one should start you off. I hope you get to enjoy it and always remember that I love you. Your the son I never had. Then again you're my grandson so I guess it's kind of the same thing.

Love Grandpa James

P.S.

If you're wearing any gloves or anything on your hands make sure to take them off before opening you're next envelope.

Jake sat down this letter and paused for a moment. His grandpa's last words had brought him close to tears, the only thing stopping him from crying was that he'd made a promise to his grandfather while he was on his deathbed that he wouldn't cry over him. He hadn't cried at his grandfather's funeral because of that promise and he steeled himself from crying now, if only just barely.

Picking up the last envelope Jake noticed how odd it was shaped. It wasn't really an envelope more of a piece of paper rapped around a square with his name and address on it. Being careful not to rip the paper Jake unraveled it and slid a square box from out of the envelope.

The box itself was kind of big maybe the size of a Rubik's cube or so. It was a deep mahogany color and opened in the middle. Flipping the lid off the box Jake looked inside and saw a medium sized glass ball with some type of yellow substance inside. The substance seemed to swirl around inside of the ball magically and it captivated Jake. He remembered that the letter had said that there were more of these if Jake wanted them but he'd have to find them. Jake thought they would look wonderful in his room when he finished painting the walls with the constellations and stars. Maybe he would display them all on a bookshelf or hang them from the ceiling so he could watch the substances swirl around.

Picking up the ball he rolled it around in his hands marveling at how smooth the glass casing felt. He briefly wondered if it was indeed glass because of how it felt and how heavy it was. Despite how small it was it was quite lighter than Jake was expecting it to be. As he ran his fingers along the orb one of his fingertips must have caught hold of a piece of unaligned glass because Jake felt a small prick in his finger and noticed a small smear of blood starting to form on the orb. Carefully placing the orb on the bed next to him Jake stuck his finger in his mouth to stem the flow of blood. He knew he needed to get a rag or something to clean the glass with before the blood set in or got on his sheets.

What Jake didn't know was that his blood had started to pass through the container and was slowly mixing with the swirling yellow gas inside. When the two came into contact a small hole opened at the top of the orb and the gas started to escape.

Jake noticed a scent whiff past him. It reminded him faintly of a honey and lavender perfume that Ellie wore from time to time at work. For some reason she never wore it at school. He briefly wondered where the scent was coming from and swiveled his head around to find out. He looked to his left and saw a mass of swirling yellow gas forming above the ball.

"What the-"Jake started to say but the gas shot at him and surrounded his entire face. He was briefly worried that he would suffocate to death but realized he could breathe through the mist although he was cautious to inhale it. Jake did notice however that he was starting to get very sleepy. Maybe the gas was knocking him out."This isn't the time to sleep."he thought to himself but he couldn't resist closing his eyes and falling off into a deep slumber.

_____

Jake eyes slowly fluttered open as he awoke from his deep sleep. The light in his room was still on and it made him wince as his pupils dilated violently. He could hear a shuffling over to his right and what sounded like heavy breathing. His t.v. was still running from earlier and the sound of an infomercial filled the room.

Jake slowly got up and sat upright. Somehow he had fallen asleep without getting undressed or even making it under the covers. He spied the open envelopes next to him and then everything came flooding back. He remembered about his grandfather and some inheritance meeting and he also recalled the beautiful ball with the swirling yellow gas. He then remembered the aforementioned gas knocking him out.

Standing up and stretching Jake made his way to the bathroom. He was worried about the gas from earlier but seeing as how he was just fine he decided it wasn't anything to worry about. He splashed water on his face then brushed his teeth in preparation to go back to sleep. It was already five in the morning and he had to be up to go to school at seven fort-five. As he walked back into the room Jake's eyes were drawn to a figure sitting over by the side of his bed. As he looked closer and rubbed some of the sleep out of his eyes he realized the figure was that of a girl around his age. The girl's head was down looking at the floor and it gave Jake a chance to study her in detail.

She really was maybe the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen, figure wise. With her head bent her long red hair tumbled over her face and shoulders like a river of fire or a trail of lava escaping a volcano. He couldn't get a accurate idea of just how long her hair was because she was kneeling on the floor but her hair was pooled around her and spread out on the floor like a fan made of flames. If he had to guess he would say that when she stood it would reach maybe to her lower back or possibly her legs.