Being a genie has its perks, my breasts are perpetually firm and they never sag. My immortality lets me keep my youth. While being blessed with the vitality of a young woman is fantastic, to be honest, sometimes the wait to be found can be most annoying. It may not feel as long as it actually is, but sitting in my bottle for decades on end sure can be lonely.

I've come across some of the most interesting people with this life. Not many people know how we become genies and most don’t care, they just want their wishes granted. It’s in our bloodline, but it’s a hit or miss thing. Not all of us actually get the gene. We don’t find out until we’re eighteen, and then suddenly we are holding so much power that it can consume us. If we don’t learn how to control it, that is.

Our parents raise us, teaching us about magic and how to handle it. You might think it’s a waste, especially if you don’t ever even get the power, but the knowledge can still be useful. It's how we get teachers, and masters of the trade. Without their help, many of us genies could be lost, again, as I said, it can consume us.

If, on our eighteenth birthday we do become a genie, we stop aging. We remain young and beautiful forever, or for as long as we hold our powers. There are only two ways to be made mortal again. The first is, if someone uses one of their wishes to free us, and we know how greedy people can be. Or, if we fall in love. The catch to that is, the other person has to love us as much as we love them.

It has to be absolute true love on both parts, and then we're freed. Now, being a genie isn't bad, we can live for a very long time. It tends to get to most genies from time to time. We run into each other once in awhile, but the odds of us landing in the same place is low, unless mortals collect our bottles.

I've been a genie now for four centuries. My whole family is gone. I've been alone, in my bottle for years now. I've been all over the world a time or two. I've seen some fantastic things and predictable things. I’ve also seen things that scared the daylights out of me. I've had the pleasure of serving a few famous people, a king or two, some presidents. The one thing I have learned, the entire world over, it that people are greedy. They only care for themselves and just want what makes life easier for them.

You wonder what humans wish for? It’s what you think of course. They want money, or more money, even the rich only desire to be richer. Others want sex, drugs, fame, beautiful bodies, bigger cocks or bigger breasts. Some want to own others or do things that are nearly impossible. The list is endless. Mortals are selfish beings.

Of course, you can’t wish for a few things. You can’t wish for someone to die, or to bring back the dead. You can’t wish to make someone fall in love with you. And most of all, you can’t have sex with a genie. Why? Because we say so, that's why. Not unless of course you’re in love with one of us, and she in love with you. If that happens, it’s different, and very rare.

The numbers of wishes allowed to be granted are five. You can wish for anything you want, but you only get one wish a day, and you have to follow the rules that I stated above. Once the wishes are granted, I go back into my bottle, and I’m zapped to another unknown place, a place unknown even to me. That is, until I’m found again.

As time passes, less and less people know or even care about us. People don’t come looking for us as much as they use too. It makes for a lonely life. Yes, I've met some creeps, but I have met some pretty cool people as well. I’m always excited to see how the world has changed since the last time I came out of my bottle. I can only come out if my bottle is rubbed. Afterward, I have some freedom, and can appear at will, until the fifth wish is fulfilled.

***

The rumbling of my bottle is what disturbed me. It hadn't been moved in such a long time, I almost forgot what it was like. Someone found me! ‘Oh, I do hope they know to rub me.’ I think to myself. ‘Please don’t be stupid, please don’t be stupid. Rub the bottle!’ I listen and wait hoping that someone will notice me. I hear a few voices, all of them men. I think I can tell maybe three, maybe four voices.

It grows quiet again, and I sigh, thinking I’ll end up in a museum like my best friend, Odella. She will more than likely forever be there. I busy myself with other things, hoping that someone will rub my bottle. It’s noisy for a long time, until I hear the crickets and frogs croak. It must be nighttime. I jump a little when I hear a voice, it’s loud and scares me a little.

“I know what you told me!” He sounds angry, and a long pause follows, as is someone unheard is speaking.

Then I hear him again. “I don’t give a damn if she wants more. I’m not made of money!”

Another long pause ensues before he speaks again. “Did you tell her where I am?”

More silence. I struggle to hear the unknown person he's talking to, but I cannot. After a long moment, he speaks again, almost yelling at the spectral presence only he can hear. “I don’t get what more she thinks she needs, Scott. I've given her the house, the car, the bank accounts, everything. What does she think I have left? She even has my dog!”

By this time, I’m guessing the male voice I hear is on the phone. He sounds angry, but then, most humans are. However, this time it sounds like he may have good cause. I keep eavesdropping, what else am I going to do? They talk for a little while longer, and then it goes quiet before I hear a loud crash.

The crash causes my bottle to shake, and I begin to fall. I land with a thud and the man swears, picking me up. I can actually feel his touch, just as if his hands were on my skin. It's always like this. My bottle is a part of me, an extension of my being, and the longer he holds me, the more I feel that desire to be rubbed build in my core.

“I don’t know what you are, but you’re a beautiful piece of artwork. I don’t want you broken," he says, I’m guessing about my bottle. I beam with pride, knowing this is my home, created from the very essence of my being at the dawn of my power. Who wouldn't take pride in such a special thing, and want others who fancy it? It's no different from a man admiring a woman's eyes.

Before I know it, I feel the sensation of my bottle begin rubbed. It's like a warm caress, a kiss at the nape of my neck. I feel a shiver run up my spine and my nipples harden under the gossamer cloth of my robes. It's the closest thing to an orgasm I've ever experienced and I am almost trembling as my body turns to vapor and is expelled from my bottle.

Yes!

The room fills with a light smoke as I emerge like a butterfly from its chrysalis. I stand proudly before the man who freed me. I can’t help but inwardly gasp. He’s so handsome, it almost hurts to look at him. I feel flushed and aroused and I want to reach out and touch his face, which is adorned with stubble. He looks to be over six feet, with piercing blue-green eyes.

“Wh-what the hell?”

“Calm down. I’m a genie. Surely you've heard of us.”

“A- a genie? Is this some kind of joke?” he asks, looking around the room. He acts as if Allen Funt is going to pop out and tell him he’s on candid camera. I sigh inwardly, holding back a giggle.

“No. You've found my bottle, you've rubbed it. You freed me; I can grant you five wishes.”

I run down the list of things he can’t wish for, and what I can’t do. He sits on the bed, looking at me dumbfounded. I go and get him a glass of water. We’re in an upper class hotel room, but nothing over the top. I am not even sure where we are.

“This kind of thing doesn't exist,” he states, as if I’m not really there.

“Yet, here I stand before you. Telling you, you have five wishes.” He takes the water, sipping it slowly as if he is trying to waste time, trying to let it all sink into his head. It’s then the questions roll out.

“Five? Why five? I thought it was three. Every book, film, or story I've ever heard of says three. Why can’t you bring back the dead? Can you tell the future, or even the past? How long can I keep you? What if I don’t use all five wishes, what then?”

“Whoa! Slow down! I can answer these, just slow down!” I say with a laugh. He's so animated and I hold my hands out, trying to calm him down.

“I’m sorry; I've never met a genie before.” He runs his hands through his thick, dark hair. The action is so natural and cute that I can't help but be distracted. I haven't seen a man in so long, and my gosh, he's just so... Wow!

“No problem, Sir." I say, trying to compose myself. "Let’s start with your name. What is it?”

“Me? Um, it’s Nicholas. What’s yours?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nicholas. My name is Kahdiana."

“Nice to meet you, Kahdiana. That’s one hell of a name.”

“Thank you! Now, for your questions: We have not always had five, it used to be three. It changed, I don’t know why. You’d have to ask an elder, but good luck with that. We can’t bring back the dead, because that is impossible, silly. Now, if they were only 'mostly dead', then I maybe could do something.

"Did you say, 'mostly dead'?" he asks with a smile that makes my knees weak.

"Um, yes. It's a line from a movie," I say with a blush.

His smile grows across his face. God. I just want to jump on him now. "Yes, I've seen it."

"Oh," I say, biting my bottom lip. "I thought it would be pretty old by now."

"It's a pretty famous movie."

"Famous? Really. Huh." I'm buying time. That smile is just too cute and I don't want to see it go away. "Um, where were we?"

"The future?" he repeats.

"Oh, yes. We can’t tell the future or the past. We’re genies, not fortunetellers. You can keep me until you have wished for all five of your wishes. If you don’t use all five, I’m stuck with you. Unless you give me away, or set me free.”

I collapse down next time him, with a sigh. He looks at me again, bewildered. I know another round of questions are about to slip out. He’s trying to control them this time, I think.

“What do you mean give you away, or set you free?” he finally asks.

“If you don’t want me, or don’t have five wishes, or don’t believe in this, you can give me to someone else. Then I belong to them. Until then, you’re my master. If you don’t want to give me to someone else, then you can wish me free, then I become mortal. Of course, you can always fall in love with me, that might work too.”

I say this jokingly, but deep down I can’t help but fancy this man. Someone I don’t even know. He does something to me no one else has before. I can feel my nerve endings stand to attention, wanting his touch. I have never felt so comfortable with a mortal before.

“Fall in love with you? Then what, be with a genie?”

I laugh, smiling up at him, “No, master. Then I become just as mortal as you are.”

I go on to tell him I’m not mortal, I’m a genie and that I can’t age. Once and only, if I were to fall in love, I become mortal like everyone else. I’ll begin to age, and live my life like anyone else might do. He seems interested, which is a rare thing for me to find. I've not met a mortal who has cared about me or any other genie. Nicholas does for some reason, and I can’t stop talking. I tell him everything he wants to know.

When I go quiet, he begins talking. He doesn't start listing off the things he wants, but what he’s been through. He’s twenty-three, and has been married for almost two years. He met a girl who he thought he was in love with a few years ago, but it was all a ploy to drain his accounts of the IP money he made in an Internet venture, whatever that is. It worked, the divorce was official a few months ago, and he’s broke. He lost everything, which I heard from with the phone call he was on just before he rubbed my bottle.

His friends convinced him to go on a holiday with them, they paid for it. He thought it would do him some good to get away. He said he found my bottle on the beach, tucked away in between some rocks. His friends were as excited by finding me as he was, and even offered him money to sell the bottle to one of them, but Nicholas couldn't let it go. Something drew him to it. To me. He didn't care about anything else, he said he just had to have it. That’s how he found me.

He went on to tell me it is the year 2013. I've realized I've been tucked away in my bottle for twenty-three years. To me it felt like no time at all. We’re in some little place in New England, USA. The last place I was in was Malaysia with a very sweet old man who, even though greedy, made me happy to grant him his wishes.

“I know something I want, if it’s possible?”

“You can ask, and I shall answer, Master.”

“I just want my dog back," he says wistfully, hanging his head with a distant look in his eye. I see a small tear form before he wipes it away. “My ex-wife wouldn't let me have my dog. I've had Toby for almost ten years. Is that a wish that can be granted?” He looks at me hopefully, still not quite believing it would be possible.

I can feel the ache in his heart. It's like a dull pain that has been hurting him for months. I smile, feeling very happy to be able to grant such a wish. With a quick nod my head, it happens. From out of the bath, the sound of scampering feet can be heard and a white and grey dog with bright blue eyes comes running out.

Nicholas jumps up onto his feet and runs towards the happy dog. I can tell Toby misses his loyal master as much as Nicholas missed him. Without a word, I slip back into my bottle. His wish granted for the day, I am no longer needed and I leave him with his dog.

Lying in my bed, I listen to Nicholas talk to his dog about everything. He talks to him as though he is human, and it makes me long to be with someone. I want that with someone, one day. Sleep does slowly come, tugging me into my dreams. I slip away, into another world that feels incredibly real.

Nicholas is in my dream with me. He is in my bottle and naked before me. I’m down on my knees, looking up at him with a burning passion. My mouth is ready to take him in and he steps forward, letting his mushroom head press against my lips. I open slightly and take him into my mouth. He works slowly into me, allowing me to taste his shaft against my tongue. Once I get a feel of him over my tongue, I begin to suck on him. I want to taste all that he can give me. I move closer, taking him deeper. My hunger grows for him.

His fingers curl up into my raven hair, holding my head closer to him. His hips begin to thrust as he fucks my throat. I never slow down, sucking on him deeply. His groans are louder as he gets closer to his impending orgasm. He whispers out my name, and I feel jet after jet of hot come fill my throat. I swallow quickly, taking more as he continues coming. I milk him dry, every last drop in my mouth before he lifts me back up onto my feet. He is about to kiss me when I’m suddenly pulled from my sleep.

“Kahdiana, are you awake?”

I groan, tossing my blanket over my head. I know it's Nicholas but 'dream Nicholas' was about to kiss me! I have never had a sex dream before, and I don’t want it to end. I can feel how damp my pussy is as I roll over. I blush, not knowing a dream could get me so excited.

“Kahdiana, are you there?”

Now that I am in his service, I am free to emerge at will. With a puff of smoke, I appear from the bottle and stand before him.

“Good morning, Nicholas. How did you sleep?”

“I slept fine, I almost felt like this whole thing was a dream. I kept waking up and seeing Opie, so I knew it wasn't.”

On hearing his name, Opie comes over to us and leans into Nicholas.

I get on my knees and move towards Opie and pet him softly, playing with him. Nicholas looks down, watching both of us. I’m almost avoiding looking at him because I want to pounce on him. I know I can’t and it makes it worse.

“So, do you have a second wish?”

“Honestly, I don’t right now. I received an angry text from my ex telling me ‘my dumb dog’ ran away, and it wasn't her fault. I ignored it, not knowing how to answer it.”

“She’ll get over it. Maybe she’ll leave you alone now?”

“She’ll never leave me alone, not if she thinks I still have money.”

“Do you? I mean, do you still have money?”

“No, I’m flat broke. I gave her everything. I just wanted to get away from her. I figured it would be easier if I did it this way.”

“Why does she think you still have some then?”

“Because she thinks I gave up too easily, that I must be playing games. It’s she who has played the games, though. God, I just want her out of my life. I want her to leave me alone.”

I bite my lip, knowing I can’t help mortals with their wishes. They have to decide on their own. If he had worded it right, I could have done it, but he didn't.

“Why don’t you go out? Take Opie for a walk and get some fresh air?” I suggest, because I can’t think of anything else to say. I feel bad for him, and each minute that passes, I feel myself falling for him more.

“Okay, under one condition,” he says with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

“What’s that?” I ask, sensing he's nervous.

“If you come with us.” He smiles, holding out his hand.

“I-I well, okay, I don’t see why not.” I feel a hot blush spread across my cheeks as I take his hand.

I stand, and in a blink of an eye, I’m in a more modern day outfit. I don’t have desires to stand out in public. We head out towards Nicholas's car, and climb in. We head to a Pet-Co’s first to grab some things for Opie. Once we’re done, we head to the beach where Nicholas found me.

Opie loves the beach. He’s free to run wild. He’s a good boy and behaves himself. We spend the day at the beach, soaking in the hot sun, eating sandwiches and chips, and little pastries he calls 'churros'. They are crunchy and really sweet, kind of like a donut but different. I could easily see myself becoming addicted to these! Nicholas and I spend some time building a sandcastle that Opie eventually knocks down.

Come seven, we decide to head back to the hotel where we bump into Nicholas's friends. I know they are undressing me with their eyes, but I have little interest in them. I take Opie, and let Nicholas talk to his friend’s privately. I once again eavesdrop on their conversation trying to hear what they’re saying.

Nicholas is getting the twenty-question game from them about me, and how Opie is here. He answers as best he can, and tells them he met me at the beach, and not to worry about Opie. He tells them he’s taking me out and that he’ll be back later. I’m confused at his comment, not knowing we were going back out.

He comes back over to me before we head into the hotel room.

“You fancy going out to eat with me? If not, I’m stuck playing another round of twenty questions with the guys.”

“Ah, I don’t mind no.” I'm feeling light headed by now. No mortal has ever shown such interest in my company. Once again, I can feel that attraction to him, so of course I wanted to go! I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. I knew I was setting myself up for a letdown, but a genie can hope.

As he changes for our night out, I make some new clothes appear for me. I could have just created them on my body, but I have the playful urge to tease him. Nicholas tries to be a gentleman as I strip nude, but I can see him watching me from the corner of my eye. Knowing he finds me attractive makes me blush, and I bite my lip as I finish dressing. I know I shouldn't have. We can't have sex, but I just can't resist teasing him anyway. Soon, we head back out to dinner. I tell him more about my life, and how long I've been around. I tell him I have seen more in my lifetime then he ever will.

***

Over the next week, he doesn't make a single wish, but wants to hang out with me every day. I spend endless time with him. Never in all my life as a genie did I spend so much time with my master. I would usually just be around long enough to grant their wishes before slipping away back into the solitude of my bottle. Nicholas truly seems to not want a single thing. He seems content just being with me. He even starts bringing me around his friends, who are all too happy to see him smiling again.

I try to be careful, I feel myself falling for him. I try not to, but he makes it so hard. I find myself dreaming of him every night. I even masturbate to the thought of him. These are things I've never done before, but the desires I feel for him draw me in. I know I’m going to be a lonely genie once this is all over.

***

Six months later, we’re back in his place. He has gotten a new job and has saved enough to start over. He is determined not wish for the easy life, he wants to do it the true, honest way. This, of course, makes me love him all the more. I’m full blown in love with him. He’s yet to make another wish. He won't even talk about it. I think he’s grown comfortable with having me around, almost as if it was a real relationship.

He still deals with his ex, who tries to contact him all the time. She is going through men, trying to use them up, but still thinks that Nicholas has more money she can suck out of him. They fight on the phone all the time. He refuses to tell her where he lives, or where he works. I fight with myself, wanting to tell him that I can help him erase her memory of him.

I spend less and less time in my bottle, and more with him. I find myself sleeping in his bed next to him, living my life with him like any normal couple. Except we’re not normal. There is nothing sexual between us, there is no love, at least not on his side. I feel like I'm kind of just here.

When he comes home, I know I need to talk to him. I don’t want to leave him, but I’m confused at what is happening between us. I've been dreading this conversation for weeks.

“Can we talk?” I ask, my voice is barely above a whisper, and I try to hold back my tears.

Nicholas sits down next to me, pulling my legs over his lap and caresses them lightly. “Of course we can. What’s up, Kahdiana?”

I sigh, looking at him. He looks so comfortable with me being here. I hate knowing I have to have this talk with him.

“Nicholas, what am I doing here? Why am I still here? You don’t seem to need or want me.”

“What are you talking about?!" he says in plaintive whine. "Of course I need you. I want you here with me, Kahdiana.”

“No, I don’t think you need or want me for the right reasons, Nicholas. I don’t think you want to be alone, but you can wish for endless women. Sure, you can’t make them love you, but it could happen eventually.”

“I don’t want other women, Kahdiana. I like what I have.”

“What do you have?!” I cry out, confused all the more by his answers.

“I have you! You make me happy. Can’t you tell?”

“Nicholas, you don’t love me, you don’t make any attempt to want me beyond someone to live with. I’m like a roommate.”

“That’s not true, not true at all. I do love you, Kahdiana.”

“Wh-what did you just say?” My head spins, my mind lost with everything going on.

“You heard me. I have since the day we met. There was something about you that just made me fall for you. It’s grown deeper, but I never knew how you felt about it. I don’t know how it works with falling in love with a genie. I just know I have.”

“If you do love me, kiss me. Prove it to me.” My heart is racing and I can feel my blood rushing in my ears. I can't believe what he's saying and my breath catches in my throat.

I know that I’d be able to tell if he kisses me, because a true spark will happen. The bonds to my genie connection will feel it, and I can be free.

He pulls me up onto his lap, until I’m straddling him, his fingers reach around into my hair and he kisses me softly. His lips are as soft as I ever imaged them to be. I let out a soft moan, kissing him back. The heat in my body spikes higher and I lean into him. I feel the spark, and I feel my heart racing faster.

Oh God, it’s true!

“Nicholas! You do love me, a real love!” I cry out, my eyes filling with tears. “I've loved you from the first day also. I couldn't help but fall in love with you. I have been so scared that you might not feel the same way.”

“Why would I keep you around otherwise?” He sounds incredulous, as if he never thought I wouldn't know. How very much like a man he is!

“I didn't know! I couldn't figure it out. Nicholas, if you want me, you can have me. I want you, more than anything in the world. Just say the words.”

I gasp out between breaths, trying to calm myself down. It dawns on me, if I am going to be free, I can break one rule.

“Wait! I can help with your ex-wife. Wish for her to forget you. I can grant it for you! One last wish! She’ll not remember a thing about you, and you’ll be as free as I’m going to be.”

“I – I want that. I want to be free of her. I wish to be free of my ex-wife. I want her to forget I ever existed.”

“Wish granted!” I yell with relief. I feel my power reach out and touch her mind, erasing all memory of him, forever.

In a quick moment, it was done. I knew she’d never call him again, never harass him again. He was truly free of her.

“Now, where was I? Oh, right. I want you, Kahdiana. I want you to be mine. I’m in love with you, my sweet girl.”

My heart melts, and I feel the ties of my genie line dissipate. My magic, my powers, my life as a genie are gone as quickly as I got them four centuries ago. In that instant, I become a mortal, eighteen year old woman.

Nicholas stands, lifting me in his arms. My legs are wrapping around his waist as we head towards his room. He stands me up, and begins to strip me slowly. I stand before him naked, and shaking with excitement. I know how much I have longed to be with him. I strip him, and he pulls me back into a kiss. We somehow manage to make it to the bed, with him on top of me.

His hands run over my slim figure, exploring what is now his. The room heats as the sunsets, warming us. His mouth moves over me, I watch with fascination. He’s doing things to me I have only ever seen done to other people. My heart is hammering against my chest. He parts my legs and slowly runs his fingers along my pussy, touching me in ways only I have done before, yet he does it far better.

I can almost sense he can’t wait any longer, because in a flat second his mouth comes crashing down onto my pussy. He sucks my clit into his mouth, and darts his tongue across it fast. I yelp out, arching in a wild response. He gives me more, as if he knows my body already. A single finger moves to slide inside me, gently taking me. I arch into him, tipping my hips as he works his finger inside me, sucking on my clit.

He hums softly, letting the vibrations run its course through me like a gun being shot through the woods. I’m lost, I feel myself being pulled higher into some sort of level above the world, one I've never been to before. He laps at my clit, working faster, he is hungry for me. He’s trying to cause something I've never endured before, not until him. Not until now, when I come crashing down and feel my body tighten with anticipation, my eyes rolling, my mouth forming an O as I let out a long moan, coming hard for him.

He doesn't give me time to even come down from where I am when he’s up, holding me close. He kisses me deep, invading my mouth with his, and I let out a soft moan, wanting more. I wrap my legs around his, crossing my ankles, locking him in place. He is tender, but he needs me and can’t take a moment longer, he thrusts inside me. The tight pinch of the loss of my virginity is taken and he fills himself fully inside me.

The months of passion we've held back from each other spill now, with the hunger we share. He moves swiftly in and out of me. I cry out with each thrust, but want more of it. I stretch around him tightly, my pussy clings to the thickness of his cock. I can feel him throb hard inside me. The way he moves inside me makes me find a new dimension of this world I've never experienced before. I feel the molten sensation of the total release of my sweet lava around him. The intolerable pleasure is too much for him, and he releases his seed inside me.

We find what we've been seeking and the explosion of ecstasy swallows us as we come together. I feel so full of him, his seed within my body. I grind into him, holding him to me and he wraps himself around me closer as we settle into a comfortable state of bliss.

“What happens now?” he whispers into my ear softly, nuzzling into me.

As much as I love this man, he’s always so full of questions. I can’t help but giggle.

“I’m free as a genie. I’m just your average eighteen year old who happens to be in love with the man of my dreams. I do have to say, I've never only granted two wishes to one person before. You’re a very unique person, Nicholas.”

“I found what I needed the moment I picked up your bottle. You gave me Opie back, my life, and in all that, I got you. I don’t need anything else.”

“And this is why I love you.”

“I love you, too, Kahdiana.”

***

With that, Nicholas and I live happily ever after. We don’t rush anything since even though I’m four centuries old, I’m just eighteen in the eyes of everyone else. After much thought, I enrolled into school, and decided to become a history teacher. After all, I've actually lived the history I teach.

My life with Nicholas is exactly how I want it to be. We couldn't be happier. In fact, his ex-wife never bothered him again. She totally forgot all about him. We ran into her once and she wasn't even fazed by him. We couldn't help but laugh, and knew we’d never have an issue with her again. Thankfully!

***

In my first few years as a mortal, I hunted down my friend’s bottle. She was at the museum, just as I had heard. In an inspired moment, I took it from its display case and rubbed it, calling her forth. It was a wonderful moment. The surprise of the onlookers, and their cries of awe, made me smile as my beautiful friend, Odella, materialized before us.

"Kahdiana! Oh, my God!" she exclaimed as she saw me holding her bottle. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

We hugged, joyfully enjoying the moment as the staff and onlookers gathered around. Nicholas nudged me, worried that we were in trouble, but I just smiled at my friend. "I have a wish," I told her with a smile. "I wish they would forget this bottle was ever here!"

In a flash of light, the crowd began to dissipate, until we were just another group in the museum. We both looked at Nicholas and I gave him a wink. "You worry too much, babe." I told him with a giggle.

Odella laughed, but then her eyes grew wide. "Holy... Kahdiana, you... You're a mortal! Oh, my God, how did that happen!"

"He happened," I said back. “He loves me, and I love him just as much."

She hugged us both, but I could sense a forlorn hurt in her eyes. "So, now am I to serve you?" she asked, trying to keep herself from crying.

I took her hand in mine. "Only if that is what you want, but our only other wish is for you to be free."

Tears of happiness ran down Odella's beautiful cheeks and a smile of joy appeared on her face. "You would do that?" she asked. "You would set me free?"

"Of course," Nicholas answered. "We don't need magic. We have our love, and we need nothing more."

***

Since being free, Odella has also gone back to school. She has met a man and fallen in love. They are now living the mortal life in the same neighborhood as I do. We remain best friends, just like we were as young kids.

A life as a genie is a good life, but the life as a mortal in perfect love is much better.