Genie the Spiritual Monster, by Iqbal Mohamed

In times past, a caring family was having a little discussion about what their morning schedule was going to be. Ayesha, their oldest daughter, was handing out fresh tea to everyone. Her mom exclaimed that the tea was scrumptious. They were all enjoying the tea, but then the kitchen lights started twinkling, and the hallway doors began slamming one by one.

“It’s fine,” chuckled Dad. “Nothing bad is going to happen.” Ayesha’s family calmed down and continued to drink their tea. The wind howled, and raindrops descended from the sky. Ayesha was anxious; she knew something was wrong. The rain grew stronger and overtook the trees as thunder struck towards their chimney. The glass cups started to shatter and fall off the benches like a musical song from centuries ago.

It started to get murky outside. The rain was still falling, and everyone was fast asleep, so it was showtime for Genie. He advanced towards the back gates, but Ayesha had locked them before going to sleep. He glanced at a long ladder and climbed onto the chimney. Loud footsteps echoed from the roof, and chunky planks came plunging down with the crunch of tasty watermelons. Ayesha felt thirsty and went to get water from the kitchen when she heard loud growls behind her. She turned around to see Genie’s tall, bulky body facing her. Ayesha was petrified; she had never seen such a big creature before.

Genie charged towards the chimney but tripped on a long wire attached to the electricity. Ayesha grabbed his foot and dragged him to the basement. She locked him up as revenge for sneaking into her house.

Many months passed. Genie was starving, and he could barely move. Gradually, the brightness of the sun cast a shadow over a living creature. Ayesha came to check on Genie but found him lying lifeless on the ground. It was time for dinner, but her parents weren’t home. Ayesha was scared when she saw shadows near Genie; it was as though he was disappearing. A repulsive smell of blue cheese was coming from him.

Eventually, her parents came home and saw Ayesha with Genie. Her mother was astonished to see a big, ugly creature standing near her daughter. Genie started to disappear, and outside, it started to get brighter.

Birds started twittering, and the trees trembled, but the sky was split into halves…