Zadie the Genie and the Wish That Wasn’t For Her

Chapter 1: A genie who grants only wishes that help others

At the bottom of a dusty trunk in a dusty attic in a dusty old house, there sat a small, dented brass lamp.

Nobody had polished it in a hundred years. Nobody had even looked at it. But inside, curled up on a velvet cushion the size of a teacup, lived a genie named Zadie.

Zadie had swirling purple smoke for legs, a gold hoop in each ear, and a very particular rule.

She only granted wishes that helped other people.

"It's not that I don't like fun," she would explain to the spiders who shared the attic. "But I've seen what happens with wishes for gold, fame, and endless pizza. They're like candy floss. Sweet for a moment, then gone, and nobody's really better off. I'd rather give something that lasts."

The spiders, who had opinions about pizza, mostly disagreed. But they respected her.

One rainy Saturday, a boy named Felix climbed the attic stairs, searching for his grandmother's old umbrella. He was nine, with untidy hair and a gap where his front tooth used to be.

Behind a stack of old hats, he spotted the lamp. He wiped away the dust with his sleeve.

Whoosh!

Purple smoke poured out in a swirl, and a genie rose up, stretching her arms and yawning.