I began to answer Jesse, when I felt my hand grow warmer. The bottle was heating up! It jerked in my hand again. Harder this time.
Something very weird was going on here. I set the bottle down in the grass. I didn’t want to hold on to it another second.
“Hey, what’s that?” Jesse asked, nodding his head toward the bottle.
“What does it look like, brain? It’s a bottle I found in the lake.”
“Wow. It looks really old,” he said, bending down to examine it.
He reached out and picked it up. “Yuck! It’s . . . it’s hot!”
So I wasn’t going crazy! There really was something strange about that bottle.
Jesse held it up to the sun. He squinted his eyes, trying to peer inside.
“Is there a note inside? People always do that in the movies.”
“I found this in the lake, Jesse. People don’t throw bottles with notes in them in a lake. They throw them in the ocean to see how far they will travel.”
“Hey, maybe it’s got money inside!” Jesse cried. He tried even harder to see through the dark brown glass. He shook the bottle.
“Oh, yeah, people are always throwing bottles filled with money into the lake.” I scowled at my brother. “Look, just put it down, okay? We’re soaked. We have to go home and change.”
Jesse ignored me as he squinted at the bottle. “Hey, it feels as if it’s getting even warmer.”
“Jess, put it down!” I insisted. My voice quivered.
“What’s your problem, Hannah? It’s just a bottle.” He turned it around in his hand, inspecting every inch. “I’m going to open it.”
“No! Wait!” I cried. I grabbed the bottle from him. “There’s something written on the side. Maybe it’s important.”
“If you say so.” Jesse sighed.
A yellow label clung to the side of the bottle. The letters on it were so faded, I could barely make them out.
“ ‘Danger,’ ” I read out loud. “ ‘Do not open.’ ”
The bottle began to vibrate in my hand.
I jumped.
This was definitely not my imagination.
I dropped the bottle back to the ground and kicked it away. “This bottle is bad news. I’m not opening it! I don’t even want it near me!”
It sat there on its side in the grass. Then, slowly, it rolled back to me.
“Did you see that, Jesse?” I whispered. “It—it moved on its own!”
Jesse groaned and picked up the bottle again. “It just rolled. Bottles do that.”
“Let’s go,” I urged. “I told you what it says on the label. We are not supposed to open this bottle.”
Jesse took hold of the cork. “That’s stupid.”
“No, Jesse, don’t!”
I reached out to swipe the bottle from him.
Too late.
He grasped the cork and tugged it out of the bottle.
5
The cork came away from the bottle with a loud pop! And a stream of thick purple gas shot out of the opening.
Ohhhh! What a sick smell!
I started to choke on the sour gas. I held my breath and clutched my throat with my hands.
Jesse was sputtering and coughing. The bottle thudded onto the ground as it fell from Jesse’s hand.
The awful purple gas swirled around us like a tornado. It lifted up leaves and twigs. It howled through the trees.
“Wh-what’s going on?” Jesse choked out.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed for the bottle. I thought maybe I could cork it back up. Stop the gas from shooting out.
I gripped the bottle in one hand. But where was the cork?
Before I had a chance to search, I heard my brother’s cry.
“Hannah—whooooa! Check it out!”
I raised my eyes. Dark purple clouds of smoke gathered together, growing thicker.
“Jesse, what’s happening?” I shouted above the roar of the swirling wind.
The purple clouds floated together to form a thick ball of whirling gas. I crouched down close to the ground and held my breath. I squinted as the howling wind whipped dirt and leaves into my face.
The purple clouds pulled together. Thickened. Took shape.
I saw two arms. A broad chest. Two legs formed from the swirling purple gas.
The purple clouds tossed and tumbled.
And then a head rose on top of the swirling body.
A man’s head. An old man’s head.
The smoke stopped twirling. The body settled to the ground.
The howl of the wind ended. All was silent now.
No more swirling gusts of gas. Only the sour smell remained.
Jesse and I gaped in amazement. The old man—all purple, all shades of purple—stood before us in a flowing purple robe. He blinked his purple eyes. He worked his jaw and rubbed his chin.
“Who—who are you?” I choked out. My whole body was shaking. I hugged myself to stop the trembling.
Barky growled and hid behind me.
The purple man raised one arm high in the air.
I gasped. What did he plan to do?
He turned his head slowly—and sniffed his armpit!
“Whew!” He made a disgusted face and turned to me.
“You’d stink too if you’d been inside a bottle for a hundred years!” he cried. He had a raspy, old man’s voice. He held his nose. “Hoo. I need a bath. A long bath!”
With a groan, he raised both arms high above his head. Then he stretched his arms, his legs, his back. “Hoo. That feels good.” He smiled. “I need a massage. That’s what I need. Being folded up so small gives me such a cramp!”
Jesse still hadn’t closed his mouth. He gaped at the purple man in shock. “Are you for real?” my brother blurted out.
The old man continued stretching. Rubbing the back of his neck. He gazed down at my brother. “Who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t real?”
“But did you really come out of that bottle?” Jesse demanded.
“I didn’t take a taxi!” the old man replied.
Despite my fear, I chuckled. The old guy was funny.
He stopped stretching and made a short bow to us. “I’d bow lower,” he told us. “But my back is killing me.”
“Why are you bowing to us?” I asked.
“You are my new masters,” he replied. He studied Jesse, then me. “How come you’re so short?”
“Give us a break!” I cried.
“We’re still growing,” Jesse added.
“You’re children?” The old man slapped his forehead. “This is what children look like these days?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Young lady, how can you walk in the woods without a bonnet?”
“I don’t own any bonnets,” I replied. “I wouldn’t even know where to buy one.”
He rubbed his chin. “Hoo. I’ve got a lot to learn.” He sniffed his armpit again. “I’m stinking up the joint. I apologize.”
“Who—who are you?” I stammered.
He cleared his throat. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is All-Powerful Magical Genie of the Lost Kingdoms of the Great and Golden Raj.”
“Whoa. That’s a long name!” I cried.
“Most people call me Gene,” he replied.
“You’re a genie? A real live genie? No way!” Jesse exclaimed.
“It’s a living,” Gene muttered with a shrug. “Keeps me out of trouble.”
I gazed up at him. “You’re a genie? Just like in all the old stories?”
He nodded. “Well . . . in the stories the genies don’t have heartburn the way I do!” He pounded his chest. “Hoo. I need some seltzer. You build up a thirst bobbing around in a bottle. Take my word.”
His expression changed. His purple eyes had been twinkling. Now they darkened.
“I can grant you three wishes,” he said solemnly.
“Just like in the old stories!” Jesse cried.
“Could you please stop saying that?” Gene groaned. ?
??I’m not as old as I look.”
“Sorry,” Jesse murmured.
“Now, as I was saying, you get three wishes. Anything you want. You name it—it’s yours!” Gene paused and smiled, showing two rows of crooked purple teeth.
“But beware,” he continued. “Once you’ve made your three wishes, that’s it! No more! They’re gone for good! And you cannot reverse them—so don’t even ask.”
Jesse and I exchanged glances. “Oh, wow! This is so cool!” Jesse cried. “Let’s do it, Hannah! Let’s make a wish right now!”
A cold feeling swept down my back. “I—I don’t know,” I stuttered. “Wishes don’t always work out in those old stories.”
The old genie shrugged. “It’s up to you. You take a chance. Or you don’t take a chance.”
“I want to take a chance,” Jesse insisted. “Let’s see . . . I wish—”
“Jesse!” I clamped a hand over my brother’s mouth. And pulled him toward the lake. “Think about this,” I whispered. “I found the bottle in Fear Lake. Nothing but evil ever comes out of there. If he came out of Fear Lake, he’s probably evil too.”
“I know I can talk her into this,” Jesse called to Gene over my shoulder. “If you’ll just give us a few minutes.”
“Take your time,” the old man rasped. “I have been waiting for someone to open my bottle for one hundred years. I’m enjoying the fresh air.”
He took a deep breath. “Hope my allergies don’t act up. I started sneezing inside the bottle. Nearly blew my brains out!”
Jesse took my arm and led me to the shore. “Come on, Hannah. Stop being such a chicken. Let’s make a wish,” he urged. “Just think of all the cool things we can wish for! How can we pass it up?”
“You’re not thinking clearly,” I told him. “You’re not thinking about the bad things that could happen. This could be really dangerous, Jesse. How do we know we can trust the old guy? How?”
“Hannah, we’re the masters here,” Jesse insisted. “He said we were his masters. That means he can’t do anything unless we tell him to. What could possibly go wrong?”
Jesse had a point. Gene did say we were the masters.
I stole a glance at Gene. He was taking deep breaths. Coughing. Stretching his arms. He smiled at me. A strange smile.
No. We shouldn’t be messing with this guy, I thought. Something bad would happen. I just felt it.
Then I thought again of what Jesse said. We could wish for anything we wanted. Anything!
I gazed at the genie. Then I gazed at Jesse.
Should we make a wish?
Should we?
6
Why not? I decided. “Okay, Jesse. Let’s try it.”
“Yes!” Jesse cried. He pumped his fist in the air.
Gene rubbed his hands together. “Good choice,” he said. “That’s the choice I would have made.”
My stomach tightened with excitement. I began to think of what I could wish for. My eyes wandered around the lake. They came to rest on our mud-soaked backpacks.
An idea began to take shape in my mind.
A great idea.
An idea I knew Jesse would love.
“I’ve got it,” I told Jesse. “I know what we should wish for.”
Jesse studied me, interested. “Yeah? What?”
“What if we could get revenge on the Burger brothers?” I suggested.
Jesse’s face lit up. “All right! That would be awesome! But how?”
I whispered my idea into Jesse’s ear.
“Secrets?” the old genie cried. “If you want your wish, you can’t keep it a secret. Genies really don’t like secrets.”
I started to reply. But a sudden gurgling sound behind me made me turn to the lake.
Bubbles rose onto the surface of the lake. Wisps of steam started to lift off the water.
The water churned and foamed.
I gasped when I realized the lake was boiling!
“Are you doing that?” I asked the genie.
He nodded. “I do not like whispering!”
“Okay, okay! We’re sorry!” Jesse cried. “We won’t whisper anymore!”
Gene’s face relaxed. “Impressive trick, huh? Actually, it’s as easy as boiling water.”
The water calmed. The steam vanished.
“That was too cool!” Jesse declared.
But my stomach tightened even more. “We’d better be careful not to get on his bad side,” I warned Jesse. “What if he decided to boil us?”
“Hoo. I’m getting too much sun,” Gene complained. “You know, I’ve been in the shade for a hundred years. I’m not used to all this sunlight. Got a wish yet?”
I straightened up. I cleared my throat. “I wish that Jesse and I were bigger and stronger than Mike and Roy Burger!” I announced.
I glanced at Jesse. He nodded his head in agreement.
Gene bowed to us again. “Your wish is my command,” he said solemnly.
The genie closed his eyes and let his chin drop to his chest. Then he raised his arms up to the sky and waved them from side to side. He swung his hips back and forth.
I stifled a giggle. Gene appeared to be doing some strange sort of hula dance!
A rumble—like thunder—rolled over the sky.
I gazed up.
And saw a swirling mass of purple smoke spinning downward.
Coming right at us.
“Get down!” I ordered Jesse. I grabbed him and pulled him to the ground.
The tornado of purple gas swept over us. It whipped twigs and leaves into our faces.
A heavy branch splintered off a tree. It slammed the ground as it fell. Landed a few inches from us.
The purple tornado swept around us, blinding us. I couldn’t breathe!
This was a big mistake, I thought, my whole body shaking. A really big mistake.
“Jesse, where are you?” I shouted. “I can’t see you!”
No answer.
“Jesse!” I shouted.
The disgusting purple gas covered me. My skin started to prickle, as if someone were jabbing hundreds of needles into it.
I rubbed my arms frantically, trying to make it stop itching.
“What’s happening? What’s happening to me?” I screamed.
From somewhere far, far away, I could hear Barky yapping excitedly.
Pain shot through my arms and legs. I could feel my muscles and bones shifting and stretching. My skin tightened, as if it were going to rip right off my body.
“Noooo!” A horrified wail escaped my throat.
I heard a loud ripping sound.
I gasped for breath as the purple smoke cleared.
Frantically, I examined myself. That ripping sound—it was my clothes. My jeans—my shirt—were ripped to shreds!
I was alive. I was okay.
But somehow I felt different.
Really different.
What had happened? I gazed around, searching for Jesse.
And screamed.
7
“Oh, no! Nooooo!”
I stared down at Jesse. He hadn’t changed a bit.
But me?
“I—I’m a giant!” I shrieked. I turned to the genie. “What have you done to me?”
I was enormous! At least eight feet tall and as wide as a garage!
I stared down at my huge body in horror. Big muscles bulged all over me. Huge, rippling muscles like a bodybuilder’s.
“Hannah? What happened?” Jesse cried in a tiny voice. “You changed—but I didn’t!”
“How come Jesse is the same size?” I bellowed at the genie. My big voice boomed through the woods.
“Wow! You could handle the Burger brothers now—easy!” Jesse exclaimed. He laughed.
“Shut up! It’s not funny!” I bellowed at him. “You’d better not laugh!”
That made Jesse laugh harder.
“If you don’t stop laughing I’ll. . . I’ll sit on you!” I cried.
That shut him up.
I rubbed
my neck. It was so thick, I couldn’t even get my fingers around it. As thick as a tree trunk. I felt too heavy to move. Too heavy to breathe.
All this while, the purple genie hadn’t said a word. Now I stepped toward him angrily, my big fists churning the air. “What happened?” I demanded. “You turned me into a muscle-bound giant. And—and—”
Before he could reply, a loud roar burst into my ears.
I whipped around—as a ferocious, snarling animal leapt onto my chest!
8
I toppled backward onto the grass.
“Ooof!” I landed hard on my back. Nearly knocked my breath out.
No time to scramble away.
The big creature pounced.
It jumped on top of me. Its heavy paws thudded onto my chest.
Pinned me to the ground.
Another roar burst from its open jaws.
I shot up my hands. Struggled to push it away.
Its hot breath swept over my face. Its pointed teeth gleamed above me.
“Hellllp!”
My cry was smothered as the beast lowered its enormous head—and licked my nose!
“Barky—get off!” I shrieked.
The giant dog licked my cheeks and forehead.
“Barky! Off!”
I pushed the excited dog away and scrambled to my feet.
Jesse had backed up to the trunk of a willow tree. His eyes were wide with amazement. “Barky is a giant too?” he choked out.
“Sit, Barky! Sit!” I commanded.
The big dog obediently sat down, but his enormous tail continued to wag, sending up clouds of dust.
I turned angrily to the genie. “You messed up!” I shrieked.
His purple face darkened. He glanced away.
“Look at me! Look at Barky! You messed up!” I wailed.
He shrugged. “Must be my eyesight,” he murmured, still avoiding my stare. “You know. A hundred years of staring out through a brown bottle.”
“But—but—but—” I sputtered.
“I thought I was changing you and your brother,” Gene continued. “I didn’t see the pooch standing there.”
That made me totally lose it. “But look what you did to me!” I shrieked. “I’m a freak! A giant, muscle-bound freak!”
He rubbed his chin. “You said you wanted to be bigger and stronger than some other kids. So I made you bigger and stronger.”