Lumeena, a few days later

There was a fly in the room, Genie had noticed about an hour ago. She could hear the frantic buzzing noise every time she closed her eyes. No matter how lazily or how fast she opened them again, there was no sight of the little troublemaker. It had come to a point where she was reluctantly pretending not to care when all she could focus on was that damned noise. But she kept it up, leaning back in her chair, feet demonstratively placed on the counter, arms crossed behind her head. Whatever. She would not let her afternoon snooze be ruined by an insignificant fly.

Buzz Buzz.

And soon enough, there it was again. Right at her ear. Gone again. Somewhere in the distance. Gone. There was a tickle on her foot. Slow and steady now. She opened her eyes, did not even flinch, and caught the little creature twitching on her foot.

“Listen here, if you’re not going to leave, at least buy something” She shook her head and removed her legs from the counter. The fly was gone before she had even finished her sentence. Genie put her elbows on the counter and cupped her face with her hands. What a bummer. There had been, maybe, a total of five costumers all day so far. Normally, that was the way she liked it. It meant there was more time to nap. But unfortunately, money did not grow on trees, according to Madame Alcantara. She wouldn’t be too happy hearing about a lazy day.

The bell above the door had a jarring sound to it that indicated that it was not broken yet, but not exactly new either. A little boy came pushing in first, followed by his father, visibly exhausted by his son’s energy and the heat outside. He groaned once he noticed that the air was even staler in here. A typical reaction.

Genie barely looked up to murmur a ‘hello’.

The boy was running through the narrow lanes between crammed up shelves. He stopped to pick up cheesy snow globes and painted shells. Genie saw his father flinch every time, clearly worried that his son might drop something he would have to end up paying for. Genie, however, almost wished for the boy’s clumsiness to excite her afternoon.

“Pedja, I said, you’re allowed to pick one thing. Please hurry, your mother is waiting in the hotel” He had a thick Cacuman accent that, unlike any other accent, always put a smooth melody to the language. Clearly, the boy was not familiar with the concept of numbers yet. He kept picking up two, three, four things at once, then briefly presented them to his father, who shook his head every time, trying to remain stern when all he probably wanted to do was to go back into the hotel and sleep for the rest of the afternoon.

“I want to bring this one for Eli” He held up a bottle with a little paper creature inside. A native bird, Genie knew, but did not care enough to explain. No one needed advice on what kind of garbage souvenir to buy.

“Fine, but then you won’t have anything for yourself”

Tough decision. Perhaps too tough for the boy to make. He put the bottle back and began his search anew. His father sighed.

Genie really did not want to get involved into any of this and she decided to close her eyes for a little snooze until they were ready to buy something…or not. What was it to her? She was Madame Alcantara’s only employee. She was not going to get fired for selling too little. Who could blame her for the rubbish she was supposed to sell anyway?

“Spirits, I wish you’d make up your mind already”

Genie opened half of one eye. Normally, she would not be sure if she had heard correctly, but there was an easy way to prove it. The word triggered a warm and tingly sensation in the tips of her fingers. A kind of uncontrollable magic and it demanded to be released. There was never a long time to ponder about how exactly she was going to go about this. It always made her feel like she was about to burst.

This one was too easy, though. She closed her fists, then opened them up again.

“Dad, I want this one” The boy said almost as if on cue, the second the sparking sensation stopped.

The father was pleased until he saw the taxidermied lizard that his son was holding close to his chest like it was his new favorite toy. It was about half the size of the boy and, without a doubt, more expensive than he would have reckoned with.

“How much will that be?” He asked, just to make sure.

A smile spread across Genie’s lips. “88 Coppers and 5 tins, sir”

He turned towards his son. “How about something else, Pedja, hm?”

The boy shook his head with an unbreakable determination.

“No. I want this one” His lower lip began to tremble. Genie knew that it would be this or nothing. The father had wished for his son to make up his mind and now he had. There was no more room for discussion.

“Alright, alright” He began fishing for his wallet in the back of his pants, but was still reluctant to put the money on the table. Genie took it as soon as it met the wooden countertop.

“Thank you, sir” She said with a mischievous grin. “Enjoy the souvenir and the rest of your holiday” She winked at the boy who was hugging his lizard even tighter, now that the deal had been sealed with money and his father’s consent.

88 Coppers. That was more than Genie would have gotten if she had sold 8 painted shells today. Maybe Madame Alcantara would not be angry, after all. It was just another good and rational reason for her to lean back and ignore her job for the rest of the day.

It was roughly ten minutes before the sun would have reached its official highest point in the sky anyway, allowing shops and other establishments to close their doors and rest for this unbearable time of day. Personally, Genie did not mind the heat. She was born and raised in Lumeena, after all. But she did mind the work, no matter the weather conditions.

The doorbell screeched a second time and Genie groaned internally, because she truly had not expected another costumer for today. She had almost anticipated Madame Alcantara to be back early, but the girl that came stepping in could not have looked any more different from the old witch. In fact, she was not your typical costumer of a crappy souvenir shop or any souvenir shop at all.

The girl was walking into this place like some magical creature experiencing the forest for the very first time. She did not lift her head to look at Genie, instead her calm but curious gaze was wandering over the objects presented on the shelves. The careful graze of her fingertips seemed as though it could light the snow globes up in a glittery glow or turn the taxidermied animals’ heads. It felt like the shop was coming alive around her and it was the most captivating thing Genie had ever seen. She had never felt more inclined to actually do her job.

“Can I help you with anything?”

It was not until then that their eyes met for the first time.

“I…” The girl cast a quick glance back, like she needed to make sure that they were alone. She suddenly seemed nervous in a way that did not diminish her blatant grace and confidence.

“…Yeah, I’m looking for…uhm...a present” She took another glance around, clearly looking for something else.

Genie stepped out from behind the counter and approached the girl, her blue eyes narrowed and a lot more attentive than she would usually regard her customers with.

“A present…for whom?”

“My…little sister” Her hesitation gave away that she was making all of this up. Yet there was a soft determination to her voice that Genie did not want to question.

“So…you’re here on holiday?”

Finally a question that properly threw the girl off, if only for the blink of an eye.

“Yeah sure” She waved it off and absentmindedly took a snow globe between her delicate fingers and manicured nails. Tribal tattoos were snaking their way along her naked arms and it was hard to tell where one tattoo ended and another one began. The globe captured the sunrise at the beach with a little palm tree and a sunshade next to it. The snow was replaced by glitter that churned lightly from the small movement.

Genie narrowed her eyes while casually leaning against the shelf. She could not hear an obvious accent in the girl’s voice or speech pattern. Principia, maybe?

“If I’m being honest, unless you don’t actually care much for your sister, you’re in the wrong shop for a proper present”

The girl shrugged in response, like she had not noticed the challenging undertone. “Some people like that cheesy stuff”

Genie clicked her tongue. “It’s garbage”

The girl put the snow globe down, almost disappointed. “I like it” Her voice and expression seemed absent. She was waiting for something that had nothing to do with Genie or the shop itself.

“Alright” Genie threw her hands up before crossing them set in front of her chest, voice and posture an attempt to challenge the girl further. “What’s it gonna be then?”

The girl turned her head, eyes wide, lips slightly parted. Had it not been for her startled reaction, Genie would not have noticed the trampling steps outside and the shadows passing by the milky shop window. Now she only caught bits and pieces of it until she was suddenly pushed by her forearms until they were both hiding behind another shelf. She felt the sizzling of skin first, a hot burn that spread through her body like the first sip of warm tea. The girl drew back from her immediately but Genie jolted forward, jump started by electric waves exchanged between their bodies.

“What was that?” She was not even sure if she was referring to the girl’s reaction or the warm sensation her touch had had on her.

The girl did not seem to be so sure herself and chose the easiest option.

“Nothing” She shrugged nonchalantly and almost believably that way. “I thought I’d heard something”

Her attitude and expression changed within a matter of seconds. “I’m sorry…” She averted her eyes, a shy smile curving her lips as she tugged a strand of plain white hair behind her ear. “I get quite jumpy sometimes”

Suddenly Genie wanted nothing more but to protect her but when she absentmindedly reached out her hand, if only to recreate that feeling of their first touch, the girl moved away.

“What was your other question again?”

Genie shook her head. She hardly remembered herself. “It doesn’t matter” She picked up a cheap necklace made out of glittery plastic seashells in all kinds of unnatural colors.

“What about this one? Would your sister like that?”

The girl regarded the object with furrowed brows, the corner of her mouth raised in skeptical disgust. “Absolutely not” She burst into a chiming laughter. “I’ll take it”

Genie closed her fists around the necklace in a gesture of success and waved for the girl to follow her. She took her place behind the counter and had a sneaky look at the price tag.

“That’s 5 Coppers and 94 Tins, please”

The girl dug her hands into her pockets, roaming around for not quite long enough to actually convince Genie. “Oh shoot, I think I’ve forgotten my wallet in the hotel”

In the hotel? That was strange. Her reply earlier had not given off the impression that she was on holiday. Genie put her flat hand on the table. The girl followed the gesture with her eyes. She bit her lip and placed her soft hand on top of Genie’s. It felt like the air was drawn right out of her lungs, clogging up her throat. The next breath she was able to take was the purest lung of oxygen she had ever tasted.

Their eyes met. The girl was smiling, still, innocent in the most cunning way. “I promise you I will bring you the money tomorrow”

Genie shook her head. She was still getting used to the freedom inside her throat. “You don’t have to. It’s on the house”

The girl’s lips formed the roundest ‘O’ she had ever seen. “Thank you” She drew her hand back, slowly, fingers lingering for longer than necessary. “Have a nice afternoon”

She danced out of the shop, a whole different person than the one that had entered only a few minutes ago.

Genie was left, barely able to process what had happened. She felt inclined to close the shop for her midday break and have the well-deserved nap she had been anticipating since waking up this morning.