The Orient Express
Part 3
The light faded to reveal a throne room befitting a wealthy Persian satrap. The ceiling, adorned with gold leaf, was held aloft by massive stone pillars that were decorated with intricate carvings of plants, flowers, animals, and birds. The craftsmanship was beyond belief. On the pillar closest to Samantha was depicted a peacock perched on a tree; its feathers captured faithfully in the smallest detail. Next to Simon the face of a lion peaked out from behind petrified palm fronds. A pool lay in the center of the room. The surface of the water was blanketed with water lilies. A fountain rose from the center of the water, coated in green moss and surrounded by papyrus reeds. Water gurgled tranquilly. The floor was covered with thick carpets, their threads the colors of precious gems set in gold. The carpets ended at the foot of the steps of pure white marble. The steps led to a platform on top of which was perched a golden couch upholstered in rich purple velvet.
A man reclined on the couch. Unbeknownst to each other, Simon and Samantha each perceived him differently. To Samantha’s eye the man was tall, handsome, and wore the parade uniform of an officer of the Guard. Simon simply saw himself, just a slightly older version with a touch of gray at the temples of an otherwise full head of hair. In short, each saw the representation of a figure that commanded respect and admiration in their own mind.
“Three at once, I think that’s a record,” said the man. “It’s at least a tie.” He looked at each of them intently, his eyes glowing with a supernatural fire as he met their gaze. He continued. “Regrettably, one summoning confers three wishes, not nine. You’ll have to come to an agreement between yourselves. Or don’t. It’s all the same to me.”
“Is this the jinni?” whispered Mr. Riverwood. “He doesn’t look anything like any genie I’ve ever heard of.”
The jinni responded.
“Everyone sees no one in particular, but anyone sees someone. But it varies.”
“What does that mean?” asked Simon.
“It doesn’t matter,” said the jinni, standing.
“Now, before you start there are a couple of rules. Firstly, you may ask of me three wishes. I will fulfill them as faithfully as possible in a way that is most amusing to me. Secondly, and this comes as a surprise to many people, you may ask as many questions as you’d like. Answers are free, and I am unrestrained by concepts such as time. However, you are not. There is nothing to eat here and no toilet. Typically, my visitors are in a great hurry to have their wishes fulfilled and they don’t ask too many questions. Such is life, apparently.”
Simon’s version of the genie then removed a cigarette from a gold case kept in his pocket and began to smoke.
“Can you tell us what will happen in the future?” asked Simon.
“There’s no such thing.”
“But…”
“Sorry to interrupt, but I know where you’re going with that. To me there is only this moment. That’s the case for you as well, you just refuse to admit it. In short, yes, I can tell you what will happen to a certain person at a certain time in a certain place, I just don’t care about it and without the proper context my answer would be meaningless to you.”
Simon thought a second and was about to open his mouth to continue in his esoteric line of questioning, but Samantha nudged him with her elbow.
“Perhaps we should start with the urgent task at hand,” she said quietly.
“Oh, by all means,” said the jinni. “As I said, most people are anxious to resolve their most pressing problems. So, what is it for you? Money, perhaps? No. I don’t suppose so. What about healing an old wound? Restoring what has been taken?” Samantha lowered her eye. The jinni directed his gaze now to Mr. Riverwood. “Do you seek the admiration of your superiors? Wish to pursue the life of the mind unfettered by quotidian concerns?”
Simon could see the wheels turning in Mr. Riverwood’s head. The young academic looked as if he could see the possibilities for his future in vivid detail.
Samantha too was greeted with a vision. She was entering a grand ball attended by all of high society. She wore a beautiful white gown and a tiara of gold and diamond. As she walked through the doors everyone turned in awe to admire her. Her two perfect eyes shone more brightly than even the diamonds. A handsome man approached her, he...
“I wish to be the most renowned orientalist in the world,” said Mr. Riverwood, smashing Samantha’s revery.
“Done,” said the jinni without a moment’s hesitation.
“Mr. Riverwood!” Shouted Simon. “What are you doing?”
“What? There are still two more wishes. And now I won’t have any more mishaps, since I’m world renowned. Although, to tell the truth, I don’t feel any different. Jinni, why don’t I feel any different?”
“The only thing that makes a celebrity feel different is the adulation of his public. Once you return to your world you will come to feel different.”
“Well, that’s some comfort.”
“Mr. Riverwood!” said Samantha sharply. “You’ve made this mess, and it’s your responsibility to correct it. Try not to be selfish for five minutes.”
“Yes, yes, alright.”
“Please be careful, Mr. Riverwood. You must be precise in how you make your request.”
The jinni grinned.
“What seems to be the problem, Jonathan? How can I help.
“Oh, it’s a simple matter really. I have animated a creature of earth, purely for academic reasons, and I’m having trouble returning it to... an inanimate state. Is that something you have experience with?”
“Yes, of course. Destruction is a fairly common request. What is your wish?”
Mr. Riverwood puffed out his chest.
“I assure you that I had everything well in hand, up until the force majeure of the problem with the train.”
“Yes, of course. I understand,” said the jinni, nodding in profound sympathy.
“I suppose the simplest solution is to just destroy the golem.”
“Indeed.”
“But that would do nothing to restore the damage it’s already done,” Samantha interjected. “Perhaps we could consider another option.”
Mr. Riverwood rolled his eyes.
“Very well, I wish to go back before I created the golem.”
Samantha sucked in a quick breath between her teeth.
“Done,” said the jinni for the second time. However, this time, Mr. Riverwood was gone.
“Where did he go?” Asked Simon looking at his sister.
“Back before he created the golem,” answered the jinni. “I’ve always hated golems, but not for the reason you might think. They’re terrible conversationalists.”
“You sent him back in time?” Asked Samantha.
“Yes. I suppose I did.”
“How far back?” She asked.
“As far as I could. He was not at all specific, so about twenty-five years.”
Samantha gasped.
“But he couldn’t have been older than twenty-five.”
“Just barely. It was his birthday last week. And now he has just taken his first breath all over again. Wish fulfilled.”
Simon shook his head.
“We should have made the wish ourselves. I knew he would mess it up.”
“Maybe he didn’t,” said Samantha. She addressed the jinni. “Does the golem still exist, or did Mr. Riverwood somehow manage to avoid creating it?”
The jinni smiled. Samantha continued.
“Mr. Riverwood is no longer here with us. So, is it safe to assume that he was never there with us to summon you in the first place? But if that’s the case, why do I remember him at all? How would we have gotten the lamp if we had never met him.
“It’s something of a paradox, is it not?” Replied the jinni. “Without getting into specifics, I will just say that a lot can change in a person’s life when he has the chance to start over. I’ve kept things tidy. So, all that remains is for you to make your final wish and I will send you back to where you belong.”
The Greels looked at each other.
“What should we wish for, sis?”
“We’re going to have to choose our words carefully. He will twist what we say. Can we just use our wish to go back to the train?”
“I think we all know what your sister would wish for, don’t we Simon.”
Samantha turned away, remembering the vivid vision she had been given moments ago. She knew it was the jinni’s doing; he had somehow put the images in her mind. But she also knew that he was right. She did wish to be whole. Free from disfigurement. She knew their wish could be put to better use, but she wanted it.
“But the question is, Simon, what would you wish for?”
Images flooded Simon’s mind. His stomach churned and his heart raced with desire and revulsion. He too knew what he wanted, but he had never let it be the center of his focus. It had never taken full control of his thoughts.
“Enough!” Simon shouted.
“Quite shocking,” said the jinni. “But why not do it, Simon? Why not see your wish fulfilled and come to know your full potential?”
Simon stared into the jinni’s eyes, until he lost focus. He licked his lips thinking only about what he would do with the wish, what he could become.
Samantha could see the obsession in her brother’s eyes and sensed that he was losing control. She knew what she had to do so that he could keep his life, let alone his soul. But the jinni was a trickster. He would never just give her what she wanted—unless it was sure to lead to ruin—so she had to give him something to play with. She saw words forming in Simon’s mouth. She went for it.
“I wish I had second sight,” she blurted.
Simon whipped his head to glare at her.
“Interesting,” said the jinni. “Done.”
There was another flash of blinding light.
The Greels found themselves once again on the floor of the dining car, each with a firm grasp on the clay lamp that had granted them the audience with the jinni. As expected, Mr. Riverwood was nowhere to be seen. The train lurched again, this time giving the sensation that the wheels on one side of the car had lifted clear off the tracks. They had both forgotten that another danger had been waiting for them in the real world.
Simon hardly cared. The flames of desire that the jinni had kindled in him still flickered.
“Why can I never have what I want?” He shouted to his sister over the rattling of the train.
“This is hardly the time, Simon.”
“You heard the jinni; this is the only time. Why couldn’t I have my wish?”
“You know why. You know it would destroy you.”
Samantha looked into Simon’s eyes, but this time she could see what lurked in the dark corners of his soul; actually see it. The thing that had had latched onto him many years ago and would consume him if he let it. She’d never seen anything like it before.
Simon stared back at her and then cocked his head, as if emerging from a trance.
“Sam, your eye!”
The banging and clattering of the train gave way to a high squeal. The siblings could feel the deceleration. As the train slowed, Samantha lifted her hand to touch the patch that covered her eye. It was gone. She bolted upright to look at her reflection in the window. The jinni had not restored her eye to her. Instead, in the socket was a large diamond, its facets glittering brilliantly. Set within the diamond was an iris of deep blue sapphire and a pupil of onyx.
The screeching brakes went quiet as the train came to a stop in the dark mountain pass. The Greels were torn from their wonderment by more screams. The sound of splintering wood and shattering glass resounded from the next car. It was followed by an earth-shaking thud.
Out the window, Samantha caught a glimpse of a massive gray figure, just as it slipped into the darkness of the woods.
“Be careful what you wish for,” she said.