I woke up on my couch to the sound of singing. There were no actual words, just la-la-la's. However, the singing was filled with a type of carefree happiness that I just could not explain. I sat up. Recall of everything that had happened before I had fallen asleep instantly hit me like a train. Melody. Melody was a genie. Melody was a genie with powers, both physical and metaphysical. Woah. Starting to rise, my foot got caught on a loose couch cover and I tumbled to the floor. Melody's head poked from around the corner.
"I see you're awake, Master." She spoke, giggling. I untangled myself from my shame and stood up hastily.
"That didn't happen," I said, looking away sheepishly.
She giggled softly, then replied, "My lips are sealed, Master."
I still had so many questions, but I had no idea where to begin. I sat down again. Before I could make a sound though, Melody said something first.
"You know Master, I still don't actually know your name. Or really anything about you to start with."
That took me by surprise. "Wait, what?" I asked, puzzled. "My all-powerful mystical genie doesn't even know a simple piece of information like my name?" She pushed me over.
"It's different with you, Master. It's up to you as to what pieces of information that you, personally, choose to share with me. Actually, it is even your decision as to what information I should know about in general. While I may possess abilities regarding the obtaining of information, it is entirely up to you how I should use, handle, or even remember that information."
"So like, if I asked you to learn something, then wished for you to forget it, that would happen?"
"Correct. You are in control of every aspect of me. You are my Master after all."
I pondered this. Then I spoke. "Jason."
"I'm sorry?" She said.
"My name is Jason Surge." I said again. While I was at it, might as well just introduce myself. "I'm twenty years old, and I'm currently in my third year of college at the University of South Central Florida."
"Nice to meet you umm, Jason. I'm, well, Melody," She said, smiling. However, I could see that she looked slightly uncomfortable. I sighed inwardly. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but I just felt so...
inadequate
. Her presence just made my capability for thoughts feel like scrabble letters that were in a bag that was being shaken. I felt this way around a lot of girls, but Melody most definitely took it to the max. A slight tingle resonated throughout my head. Confused, I looked up. Melody was frowning at me with sad eyes. "Jason," She said. "Please don't take my lack of comfort with who you are, personally. Ironically, it's because I did not expect such a person as you to exist. To even fathom that the master that I was destined to be with was one that would treat me as an equal... that is an idea that I would have laughed at before meeting you. My discomfort stems from simply calling you by name rather than your proper title." She paused. When I didn't say anything, she continued.
"I know that you believe that you are not good enough to make friends or attract females, but that is not so. In fact, that is almost as far from the truth that it can get. As a genie with powers beyond your comprehension, I can tell you with absolute certainty that many girls find you attractive, both physically and character-wise. Even now." I looked up. That couldn't be right at all. If that was true, then why was it that I had so few friends? Why was I getting picked on constantly by people that I didn't even know?
"Actually, while this might be hard to believe, quite a lot of guys that actively bully you are in fact jealous of the way you look. I can tell you myself that if I was put in another woman's shoes, I would not feel uncomfortable around you at all. In fact, you are rather pleasant to be around. You put yourself down too far. Of course, there is the problem with this Matthew Sullivan guy, but your lack of friends is only partly affected by his campus presence. It seems like there's something else that's getting in the way of you and your self-confidence-"
"You actually haven't completely shared with me what you're capable of as a genie." I said, cutting her off hastily. I was afraid that she would read further down into me. If what she was saying was the truth, it was possible that she might have been leading towards
that. That
was not something that I was ready to dig out and share with her about. There was still too much pain. She knew that I was changing the subject. However, she only gave me a sad look but didn't push it any further.
She waited for about ten seconds. Then she spoke. "Well, first of all, as you experienced already, I am capable of protecting your body from harm. That includes lethal or non-lethal diseases, pathogens, and infections."
"Would it be possible to rid me of all possible harmful germs now then? Excluding those I need to keep functioning normally." Melody's eyes flashed gold. Instantly, I felt... healthier. I really can't explain it the change, but I know that I felt better than I had moments ago. "Is it possible to change my body?" I asked. I wasn't too fat or too skinny, but there was a layer of fat over my abs that had developed since high school and it wasn't something that I was very proud of.
Melody looked at me strangely. There was another tingle in my head.
"Ah." She said. Her eyes flashed gold again, and my body began to change. The layer of fat over my abs disappeared, revealing a very nicely defined six-pack. My arms and legs grew a little bit bigger and well defined with muscles, and my chest increased in size. I felt great. Stronger. More capable of doing things that I would have been able to before. I checked myself out in the mirror. The change was
incredible
. It was how I
should
have looked like. Well, at least it was the way that I had always imagined myself to want to look like. That made me a little curious.
"How do you keep doing that? Does it have anything to do with the tingle I keep feeling in my head?" I asked.
"Very good," She replied. "Yes Master, that feeling represents every time I am inside of your head to retrieve information. Speaking of which, it is possible for me to communicate with you through such means. If you think something with the intention of sending it to me, then I will receive it and communicate back to you."
Like this?
I thought.
Loud and clear master,
I heard Melody's voice ring in my head. It sounded beautiful even in my head.
"Okay," I said. "So healing and telepathy. Got it. What else?"
"Well of course there's the wish-making part, with given restrictions," she said. "You can wish for anything except for anything world changing. You also cannot wish away the existence of a living being. That is not a genie's call to make."
I nodded. She continued. "I mentioned before that I can obtain information from anywhere in the world. That means reading minds," She said. "Umm, I can control minds, defy physical laws of space and time, and allow you to do the same, once again, given it is not world changing. Also, from the information that I've gathered, I believe that I am a very good cook."
My eyes widened.
"Okay fine," She said, noting my expression. "I haven't actually tried cooking yet, but it seems easy enough."
"You can defy physics?" I asked in wonder. "Can you like, turn off gravity for me right now?"
Melody's eyes flashed gold. A strange sensation overtook my body. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but when my right leg twitched involuntarily, my body slowly began to float. I looked down.
"HOLY CRAP!" I exclaimed. I was floating off the ground. It was... strange to say the least. If anything, it was actually really uncomfortable because it felt strange to breathe or move or do anything really. Melody noticed my discomfort. Her eyes flashed again, and all discomfort that I had previously felt was instantly gone. It was awesome. At first, it was a little bit hard to control my body's movements, but after I got the hang of it, I began to steer myself around my room.
"This is so cool Melody!" I called out. She smiled at my delight. I floated around the top of my room, giving myself a view of my room that I had never seen before. After a few minutes of exploring my ceiling, I called out "Okay, you can put me back down." Melody's eyes flashed gold again and my body began to float gently back towards my couch. I landed and my gravity returned. "That's freaking awesome," I said, smiling. "I'm definitely going to start brainstorming other things that I can do relating to the whole defying physics things." She smiled again, this time because of my excitement.
"So do you have any limitations to your powers?" I asked.
"Yes and no," She replied. "While my powers themselves, when used properly, have no limits and require no recharge, there
are
certain rules that I must abide to. First of all, it is impossible for me to utilize my powers in a way such that it would intentionally bring harm to you. That applies even if you were to wish it yourself. Like I mentioned before, it is also beyond my capabilities to perform any great world-changing events. Finally, I am not allowed to perform any actions that directly disobey your orders." I nodded. All of these were within reason.
I was about to ask another question but I was interrupted by a knock on my door. I turned towards it.
"Jason?" Came a female voice through the door. "Please tell me you're in there." I turned back around. Melody was gone.
I sighed but rose. I was only wearing a pair of shorts but I shrugged and trudged towards the door. I opened it and found Dawn standing there with her arms crossed over her breasts. She wore a low-cut black shirt and short pink skirt. Around her neck was her matching signature pink scarf.
"Jason?" She asked. "I didn't see you in class yesterday. It's not like you to want to skip. Actually now that I think about it, I've never actually ever seen you miss a day of class. Anyways, I called you a few times but didn't get an answer. Is everything okay?"
I turned around again, scanning the entire room for Melody. She was as visible as air.
"Jason?" Dawn asked again. I turned back around. I remembered why I actually didn't go to class: Matt Sullivan. However, I didn't feel like telling Dawn that Matt beat the living crap out of me to the point that it hurt to walk. Any time that a situation with Matt ever came up, I knew that Dawn would feel terrible. She blamed herself as the cause for my torment. I wasn't necessarily upset at her, but regardless of the amount of times I let her know that, she still often beat herself up over it. Anyways, I doubted that I would be able to lie my way out of this one. My body likely looked damaged beyond belief, and I was standing shirtless in front of her. The amount of bruises- wait. Where were the bruises?
Surprised, I looked down and for the first time realized that my body was perfectly fine. I twisted around experimentally and found no pain anywhere. I even lightly hit myself in the ribs to make sure that I just wasn't going crazy. No nerves firing off painful warnings. Thinking back on it, I didn't even feel any pain this morning when I woke up, so it was likely that Melody had healed my injuries while I was still asleep.
"Umm... Jason?" Dawn inquired. I looked up suddenly, remembering that she was there watching me act like an idiot (when does this ever not happen?).
