During my time of recovery I learned a bit about the island that was used as a port for Genies. For the most part it was a meeting place to catch up on the progress and findings of the wish-givers, but it also doubled as a travel station. The location of the island was furrowed in between dimensions making it difficult for those not on the league to find. The way I understood it, by simply slipping between the layers, the island became a resort, a holding place to relax until the teams could hook up for the ten year meeting. In essence, the island was the same island just with multiple doorways to alternate realities. So if ever a dimension was infiltrated by Lucas or some of his cronies, that dimension was simply abandoned. According to Granny, there were a half dozen doorways listed as condemned, the doorways forever sealed off preventing the contamination of evil.

After a full week of meandering the beach, countless debriefing sessions to compile information about Lucas and his Sizzle House nightclub, Granny finally announced that I was released from "observation." At this point, I was a bit stir crazy. With my level of energy restored, I was ready for assignment.

Granny and I stood on a platform as a crowd of travelers gaped at me with curiosity. The attention felt odd as if I were an actress on center stage of an award winning play.

"You have yourself quite a string of admirers these days." Granny said, narrowing her eyes at everyone in hopes of discouraging the attention.

"I'm just doing my job." I mentioned with surprising humility.

"Nonsense. There isn't a single genie anywhere that has managed to return after being beckoned by Lucas. This puts you in a higher stature than your luck with those troublesome ghosts."

"If you don't mind, I'd prefer never to discuss the evil one ever again. I nearly didn't survive to tell about it and I would rather not reflect upon it a minute longer."

"But you did survive! The elders are off studying ancient scrolls to assist should you manage to fall into another predicament with him. We'll call you back after this next assignment, that is, if they find anything written that may help."

"Am I in any danger?" I asked finally picking up on her subtle alarm.

Granny averted her gaze to the distant horizon.

"What?" I demanded as her focus darted back for a scattered second.

"In truth, Lucas hasn't been known to accept defeat. In fact, I've never heard of him actually loosing to any genie. The only reason we're still the winning team, is the mere fact that we outnumber them. Times are changing though... standards are dipping in the human world....people need our services now more than ever."

"You think he'll come after me then?"

Granny nodded as she twisted her body in an opposite direction avoiding my scrutiny. She hunkered down for a stone and skimmed it along the water.

"I'm certain he will." She whispered careful not to make eye contact.

Chills trailed my spine, as reality hit.

"Lucas has put us in a bit of a bind here. We're afraid to send you out, we're afraid to keep you on the island. We need your skill in the field, but if he manages to nab you again, it's almost certain you will disappear like all those before you."

I released a sigh of uneasiness.

"The elders believe the decision to continue should be yours. We've gone over your tally several times and you have enough merit to be promoted out of here. I guess I need to know what your thoughts are on this."

I gazed at the crowd of genies anticipating my response. I felt like the president proclaiming the intention to run for a second term. Should I retire or should I continue until it is no longer an option? I smiled with warmth as I announced my decision.

"What I'm going to do is continue until it's no longer possible! If that means going against the evil one, so be it! If I give up now, he's won. He wants me out of the field so he can take over and enforce his will, that's unacceptable and as long as I can, I will fight!"

Granny smiled as my level of determination registered.

"Well okay then!" She said matching my tone of enthusiasm.

She began to clap her hands in three solid slaps of attention. "Are you ready for transport?" She asked.

"Ready and waiting!" I said as the crowd of admirers began a world rippling applause of support.

Granny edged her way to me then whispered. "I just wanted you to know that I've been somewhat hard on you in the past and I'm sorry for that. Your paperwork was flagged as red and that only leads to trouble. I suppose that teaches us we should never discount anyone based on how they've lived their life...'cause you never know."

"Indeed." I said in a way that Elizabeth Fenmore would have spoken to the queen.

Granny began to chuckle as the island was swift to rotate around me. It was a moment before I realized the ground was stationary and I was the one twirling in rotation. Like a powerful drill, the force of movement anchored me into the sand below. Grains of the alternate dimension rose up like dust particles illuminated by a window. Tiny beads were colored in the most vibrant hues of violet and the entire light show was mesmerizing. Enjoying the new experience, I released all fear.

______________

On the other side, the violet hues began to shimmer as raindrop crystals. Piece by piece it reformed within the earthly components of glass. I was now a bottle once again and relieved that I had made it to the next assignment without interception.

The enclosure on which I arrived had been through a lifetime of use. A clear blue liquid with a hint of ammonia clogged my senses. I was positioned on a window ledge overlooking a school playground. A soiled rag lay wrapped haphazard around the base.

On the parking lot, various children scampered in all directions releasing energy from sitting in a classroom for most of the day.

They were all wearing drab uniforms. The girls in navy plaid jumper skirts, the boys in solid navy pants and neckties. A single nun strolled about as the children appeared delighted in the time away from the gruel of study. The racket they made was a level typical on playgrounds throughout the country.

I scanned the crowd humored by the innocence of children. On my third sweep across, my attention homed in on a girl standing like a single bud of promise in a field of weeds. Whereas everyone appeared full of glee, she projected an inner misery. Her entire aura was the color of tea.

The girl walked tiny circles near the lamp post. As soon as the nun's attention fell to another section of children, a gang of overbearing girls would swing around and verbally terrorized the child. I couldn't hear what was said, but I could assume it unkind by her responsive body language.

The gang began to laugh with hatred. I counted twelve altercations before the bell rang announcing the end of recess.

The din from outdoors suddenly appeared around me. Empty desks slowly filled as the children took their seats in a way lacking discipline.

"Quiet, quiet!" The teacher demanded as she followed them inside.

The solitary girl entered the room and snickers became obvious from the far corner of the classroom, which included the bullies from the playground.

The girl took the seat nearest me and cast her eyes downward as if embarrassed to be in her own skin. The girl had a pretty face, but seemed to be carrying excessive body weight. Her hand swung into her desk cube and she discreetly pulled a sugar candy to her lips.

"Missy Bland!" The teacher snapped. "Lunch time is over! Please refrain from eating any further!"

The entire classroom burst into laughter.

The girls in the back taunted..."Messy and Bland! Messy and Bland!"

"Knock it off!" The teacher said. Her tone of voice was much sweeter to the gang of troublemakers than to the poor unfortunate girl.

Melissa targeted her gaze at her fingers which were now trembling with nervousness. She hated her name, Melissa Anne Bland. She hated her body, but most of all, she hated school.

Tears began to stream her cheeks as the teacher picked on her from the front of the classroom at the podium. "Missy, suppose you recite your six times tables now!"

The teacher knew she was having trouble with math, in particular, memorizing the multiplication tables. She was no better than the rest for making Missy's life a living misery.

"Six times one is six." Missy mumbled with embarrassment. "Six times two is twelve." She sighed as everyone began to snicker. "Six times three is um..."

Someone from the back of the room threw a paper wad and pelted Missy at the crown of her head. "Missy is messy." The boy next to her whispered.

"Six times three?" The teacher asked with exasperation pretending not to notice the abuse imposed on the girl.

Missy froze and I felt her pain. From within the bottle, I released a pinch of knowledge and hurled it in her direction. Missy bolted up as the energy pierced her with surprise. She gazed about shaking her head with confusion.

"Six times three!" The teacher said smacking a large pointer on the desk in front of her.

"Eighteen." Melissa whispered gazing around. A girl with an oval face and Siamese Cat eyes, stuck her tongue out in a snotty taunt.

This time I pulled a feather of confidence and blew it to Melissa. The moment it brushed her skin, she stood more erect and ruffled her pleated skirt with pride.

"Six times four is twenty four." Melissa said with surety. "Six times five is thirty, times six thirty six, seven forty two, eight forty eight, nine- fifty four, ten-sixty, eleven sixty-six, and twelve seventy two." In a sudden burst she sat down and gazed at the teacher whose mouth was now agape with shock.

The teacher paused a moment bewildered as the students began to heckle Melissa for taking smart pills.

"That's enough!" The teacher screamed as obnoxious voices shifted to a whisper.

"Very good Missy!" The teacher said not knowing what else to say.

For the remainder of the afternoon, the teacher refrained from singling Melissa out and the torture the students imposed bothered her less.

_____

At seven fifty the following morning, children arrived for a new day. Clicks of girls whispered among themselves near the back of class and boys shuffled paper triangles across their desks in some type of strategic game.

The girls eyed the boys with appreciation and the boys totally ignored the girls which was typical behavior in the fourth grade.

The teacher entered the classroom taking her seat at the massive desk. She pulled an oversized pair of glasses from her drawer that made her face disappear beneath the heavy rims. Teacher began to arrange paperwork with meticulous attention. A few moments later, she gazed at the clock above the classroom.

"Everyone, please take your seats." The teacher said as her students complied.

"We must attend mass this morning. As you know, it's a holy day of obligation." She said as the children moaned as if in pain. "Please, please have some respect for the dear Lord!"

"We should probably get a move on, line up accordingly." Again the class responded favorably. It wasn't until everyone vacated the room that I realized Melissa was not in school.

A few moments later, Siamese eyes slid back into class. There was something about her expression that hinted of malice. She peered about, then headed into the cloak room. The crackle of a paper bag resounded and then she reappeared with a small bucket within her grip.

I watched as she approached Melissa's desk all of which time her gaze was focused on the doorway. Siamese propped the desk forward and poured the rancid contents from the bucket inside.

"Eat worms Messy and Bland!" She exclaimed lifting the desk back into position. Siamese darted into the coat room and abruptly reappeared rubbing the grit from her fingertips. With that, she disappeared on her way to church services.

My heart began to break for the poor girl that everyone picked on. I stood within that bottle of window cleaner, my mind whirling about at the injustices in the world. I pulled every morsel of compassion and popped from the bottle standing in the classroom, full form.

At the front of the classroom was a chart and I quickly studied the layout of the room. As it turned out, Siamese was really Margaret Baker, third row last seat and I knew what needed to be done.

I hurried to Missy's desk and contorted my lips around the mouth of the desk. With amazing power I inhaled all the impurities from the desk. I could feel the writhing of live bugs and slimy worms and yet I was not put off by this.

I marched to the last seat in the third row and sneezed the contents into Margaret Baker's tidy cube. Just in that moment, Missy Bland hurried into the room. In a quick pace she swung through the cloak room and darted out the door. She was late and never noticed my presence.

After church everyone re-entered the classroom. The teacher was lecturing Melissa on the importance of being prompt for school.

Chuckles could be heard from several girls including Margaret Baker as they eyed Missy with anticipation.

"I can't wait!" One of them said in a giggle.

From the front of the room, the teacher clapped her hands. "Okay everyone we need to get to work! Pull out your Social Studies books please."

The girls from the back watched nearly bursting with laughter as Missy pulled her clean book from the desk. They were puzzled as she opened it up and began to study the pages.

"Girls, please get out your books...we need to do the review for the test tomorrow."

The scream was shrill, the scream was loud, but the greatest part, the scream was from Margaret Baker. The entire class including Melissa Bland busted up in a riot of laughter.

"What is this?" The teacher said rushing over to gaze within the desk. "Who did this?" She asked in horror. "What kind of savage would ruin expensive books and hurt poor Margaret in such a way?"

Everyone sat upright in silence not wishing to be blamed for the prank. Margaret then piped in, "Missy was the only person late for church today."

The teacher pivoted around on her heels and hatred contorted her expression. "Missy!" She screamed.

The teacher pulled Missy by her ear and swung her into the hallway. The class fell silent as portions of hatred filtered in through the walls. Missy was in serious trouble even though she was totally innocent.

Several minutes passed before the teacher returned alone. "Missy has been sent to the principals office. She will be responsible for cleaning out your desk Margaret. In addition, she will rewrite any work that has been damaged by her little stunt."

"Did she admit to it?" A boy asked.

"No. It's obvious she's guilty though. No one else had the opportunity and believe me, she'll never do it again!"

It wasn't until recess that Missy reappeared in the classroom. With everyone outdoors, the teacher sighed with disapproval as Melissa headed to the back to begin cleaning up.

"I hope you've learned a lesson by this!" The teacher said in a condescending tone.

There were tears as Melissa pulled soiled book after soiled folder and stacked them above.

"You're so lucky you weren't suspended for this little stunt!" The teacher lifted her empty coffee mug and headed to the door.

"Do a good job Missy."

As soon as the teacher was out of earshot, Missy mumbled. "Miss Holloway is a horrible excuse for a human being!"

Missy hurried to the trash can. She lugged it to the back and began to empty the grotesque mixture within. After that task was accomplished, she hurried to the window pulling the cleaner and rag.

As the liquid was propelled through the nozzle the sensation caused me to sneeze from within.

"God Bless you!" Missy said as she gazed about the room startled.

"Thanks." I said as Melissa focused her attention on the bottle within her grasp.

"I'm sorry." I said as Melissa shook her head with disbelief.

"I did the thing to Margaret's desk." Upon the admission, I tunneled through the glass, up the hose and out the nozzle. As I stood in full form, Melissa gazed at me with disbelief seeming dumbstruck.

"Margaret poured that into your desk as a cruel joke. I couldn't sit back and allow her the upper hand so I switched targets. Unfortunately, you ended up paying for it in the end, I'm sorry."

Melissa shook her head. "That's okay. At least I feel better about the past two hours of getting yelled at and spanked. It was sort of nice not being the victim for a change. Margaret has been nasty to me ever since kindergarten. Even though I got in trouble for it, it's okay."

Melissa smiled in a way that her entire face sparkled with purity. "In fact, I'd take the blame again just to hear that scream Margaret released when she pulled out a night crawl-er!" Melissa let out a howl imitating Margaret Baker as she discovered the crud in her desk.

We both began to chuckle at this.

"Who are you anyway?" Missy asked.

"My name is Jeanne, Jeanne Wishgiven. I'm here to award you with one wish and one wish only."

"Didn't you all ready give it to me with switching the worms and everything?"

"Naw, that one was on the house." I replied.

Missy took a moment to concentrate. Just as she was about to declare her wish, Miss Holloway marched into the classroom. Melissa and I gasped in unison.

"What is going on in here?" She asked in an overwrought tone.

Melissa glanced from me to her teacher.

"I'm Missy's Aunt Jeanne." I said strolling to the front of the classroom.

"Where's your visitor's pass then?" She asked as I placed my hand around my backside and a visitor's pass suddenly materialized.

"Right here." I said handing it to her.

"I was in town and thought I'd pay my little niece a visit. She was telling me about the trouble she was in and how she didn't do it. In fact, she overheard that Margaret was the one who sabotaged her own desk. She had intended to do this to Melissa, but somehow threw the contents in the wrong one."

"Missy would say anything to get out of trouble!" The teacher snapped.

"Suppose we take a little walk into the cloakroom Miss Holloway." I said as she reluctantly followed.

"Which hook is Margaret's?" I asked noticing a brown paper bag sticking out from below a coat.

"Right here." Miss Holloway replied pointing at the jacket.

"Suppose you take a peek inside the bag then." I managed in a tone of demand.

The teacher gazed at me as she rolled her eyes. With an attitude she opened the bag and removed the dirt tainted bucket.

"Good Lord!" The teacher whispered.

"Those girls have been picking on my niece for years now. Because of teachers like you, Missy's life has been unbearable."

Miss Holloway eyed me with contempt.

"Do I need to meet with the principal in regards to this?" I asked with attitude.

"No." The teacher said realizing that I did not intend to drop the issue.

"Very well then."

I followed the teacher back into the classroom where Melissa was continuing to clean out the desk.

"Missy, you may stop cleaning Margaret's desk now."

Melissa smiled as she gazed at me with appreciation. Just then the bell rang and the noise proceeded the children into the classroom.

Margaret sauntered in with a mischievous grin plastered on her face. At the sight of Missy, Miss Holloway and I, the smirk shifted to tight lips of stress.

The teacher folded her arms and began to tap her shoe. Margaret's eyes widened with fright.

"Suppose you be honest for once in your life Miss Baker....it was you that dumped the bucket into the desk and blamed Melissa!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" She shouted.

"Do you know where we found the bucket?" Miss Holloway asked.

I pulled my hand forward and unclasped my fingers releasing a dust particle of truth. The speck twirled to Margaret connecting on her cheek and her eyes widened with surprise. She had no choice but to be honest.

"I didn't dump it in my desk. The truth is...I dumped it in Messy and Bland's desk!" She shouted.

"Well, the point here is you did it and you blamed Messy, I mean, Missy." The teacher said reddening with embarrassment.

I nodded my head. "I trust that you will make certain this girl is punished."

"Yes. She will be required to finish cleaning the desk." Miss Holloway said.

"NO. I think a meeting with the principal is more in order. Isn't there some sort of corporal punishment these days?" I asked.

"The discipline stick is only used in extreme cases." The teacher mumbled.

"Was it used on Melissa?"

The teacher nodded.

"Well, what's good for one is good for the other." I said.

The teacher placed her hand on Margaret's shoulder in a protective manner.

"I'm headed to the office to return my visitor's pass. I could escort Miss Baker there on my way out."

The teacher shook her head in disapproval. "I'll handle it."

"I'll have Melissa's father phone the school to make certain this has been handled appropriately."

I turned to Missy. "Think about what we discussed and I'll see you after school."

I hurried from the room then fell into a state of transparency. Since it was impossible to return to the bottle of window cleaner, I strolled the hallways until I arrived outside the school office. It was there I stood in wait for Margaret and Miss Holloway.