The following morning in the hovel, Eden was multi-armed like an octopus, one hand brushing her teeth, another applying mascara, and about six other arms hard at work, fulfilling multiple tasks for their owner. Dhandi knew she was getting ready for an outing with the Genie of the Lamp; a great sky blue being that often brought a smile upon her face. He belonged to Aladdin, who had been a street kid like her. She hadn't seen either of the two in a long while, knowing that Aladdin recently wedded the Princess and possibly the pair were still on their honeymoon. Dhandi had asked Eden what people do on a honeymoon a while ago, only to be met with sheepish giggles, the kind Genie did when he was around her.
"So, where you and Genie going this time?" Dhandi asked.
"Oh, nowhere in particular," Eden answered as she plucked her eyebrows.
"Come on," Dhandi whined a little, "Please." The girl unleashed her greatest method of guilting an answer out of person; she stuck out her lower lip and, with big soulful eyes, pouted.
"Oh, not the puppy pout," Eden moaned dramatically. Gazing once again her charge, she gives in. "All right, it's this adorable little place. I think it's called Pompeii or something. Anyway, he said the House of Faun is to die for."
"Wow."
Eden's extra arms are sucked back in as she makes one last vanity check.
"How do I look?"
"You look nice."
"Nice as in 'sweet yet sexy in a sort of platonic way'," Eden asked, posing flirtatiously, "or 'adorable and kissable but still mature'?"
"I wouldn't worry about it," Dhandi replied. "He likes you. I bet he'll still like you even if you show up in...what I'm wearing."
"You're on," Eden said, twirling around. When she stopped, she is wearing Dhandi's ragged orange dress with the dusty brown coat. She even had Dhandi's untidy hair, down to the last out of place strand. The real Dhandi smiled broadly.
"We so both look so fab-BU-las!" the djinn declared in a valley girl voice. Dhandi's smile became rather sheepish as she looked down at her own appearance.
"Hey, baby," Reverting back to her 'normal' form, Eden knelt down to her master, "don't worry about what they say."
"I'll try not to," Dhandi said, uncomfortably. "I think they wait for me."
"Well, if they hurt you, I'll give them what for." Eden shadowboxed with the wall. The girl chuckled. The djinn composed herself and fixed her eyes on the girl like a drill sergeant.
"So, while I'm gone, you do what?"
"Stay with my friends or Father Habya binGud," Dhandi stated like a cadet to her commander, down to the erect posture.
"You talk to who?"
"Nobody 'cept for my friends and Father binGud."
"That's my girl," Eden beamed proudly. "Now, food's in the fridge when you get back and if there's something wrong, just rub my bottle and I'll be here faster than you can say 'Sidney Sheldon'."
"I know," Dhandi hurried the Genie of the Bottle. "Don't keep him waiting." Eden took one final look at the hovel and with a twitch of her nose, vanished in a puff of green smoke. As soon as the smoke cleared, Dhandi darted down the steps of the hovel, the bottle in hand.
"Hey, Dhandi!" a boy's voice echoed in the stairwell as she was coming down. She knew him as Babkak and with the sound of urgency in his tone, he wasn't too happy with her.
"Hurry up! We're gonna be late!"
"All right!" Dhandi made it out of the hovel and, with the squat Babkak at her side, began running through the street.
In the noisy bartering and transactions made in the bustling marketplace of Agrabah, Mozenrath hobbled his way amidst the crowd. No one would think twice to look the sorcerer, donning the brown cowl he would often wear when he didn't want to be recognized. As if anybody would now that he more closely resembled one of his mamluks than the handsome young man he fancied himself to be.
That he hoped to be once more.
"OUT OF THE WAY, OLD MAN!" Hearing the heavy and rapid trotting of horses' heavy hooves, Mozenrath tripped aside and clung to the bricks of a wall as a massive cart rumbled by.
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOIN' OR THERE'LL BE ONE LESS BEGGAR ON THE STREET!" the cart driver of a great girth bellowed, throwing an apple core at the quivering Mozenrath. Sneering, the decrepit sorcerer lifted a gloved finger and a small blue fire ignited in front of the horses. They whinnied hoarsely as they reared in sight of the slowly rising flame, knocking the driver off. The driver dived to avoid being trampled upon by an oncoming cart, which swerved into a beam supporting a balcony of harem girls, which collapsed upon a fruit stand, its proprietor earning a broken arm and a bloody nose. Mozenrath smiled as he turned the corner, the melodious sounds of chaos singing in his ears.
"Now, if Xerxes will do his part," he said, lowering himself creakily down on a crate in the back of an alley. From out of the sleeve of his disguise, he pulled out a hookah and began to inhale the bitter opiate vapor.
"So what took you?" Babkak panted as he and Dhandi edged on, the mosque's dome on the horizon.
"I was saying goodbye to Mom," Dhandi simply put. Babkak stared at her, breathless.
"Wai-uh, I thought you didn't have a mom."
"Well, Eden's kinda a mom."
"Wha- that crazy green-skinned lady that hangs around you-"
"She's not crazy," Dhandi glared at him. "She's funny and she's always there for me."
"Yeah," Babkak muttered, "but what about that one time you got your head stuck in a jar and you were crying and-"
"Shut up," Dhandi snapped as she pointed to a group of kids approaching. "It's them."
"Should we run to binGud or hide?" the boy asked, getting ready to dive behind a nearby basket.
"No," Dhandi said, standing her ground as the group of seven lean yet rather burly-looking boys approached. Dhandi turned towards Babkak. The boy had vanished and the smirking boys confronted Dhandi, mental barbs ready to fly from their lips.
"Hiya, Dhandi," one of the boys greeted mockingly.
"Hiya, Asfour," Dhandi replied in the same tone. The one named Asfour sniffed. The other boys grumbled amongst themselves.
"So, where's Fatty? Did your boyfriend chicken out on you?"
Dhandi frowned. "He's not my boyfriend and this is about me, remember, and I'm sick of you picking on me."
Asfour and the boys snickered. "So?"
"So, I don't want to be picked on anymore," Dhandi stated, posture showing courage, but eyes screaming apprehension, "and if you keep doing it, y-you'll be sorry."
All attempts of holding back laughter failed and the hysterical guffaws echoed thunderously in the alleys.
"What are you gonna do?" Asfour asked, shaking from laughter. "Hit me?"
Suddenly, Dhandi swung her fist towards the boy. He dodged, the girl collapsing upon the street, face full of dirt. She rose to her feet, front covered in dirt and the boys laughing at her failure. She brushed herself off, only to come to the horrible realization that the bottle was not in her grasp, but rather in the hand of Asfour, who was pretending to knock back a drink.
"Oh, this yours?" he asked, mockingly. "Here." The bottle is dangled in front of her face, teasingly. Dhandi reached for it.
Asfour pulled it back and hurled it towards one of the boys. "KEEP AWAY!"
So thus, the cruel game of childhood began yet another rite of sadism and Dhandi was in the middle of it, desperately grabbing back and forth for her djinn's bottle.
"STOP IT!" Dhandi shrieked, ramming into the boy who was prepared to toss it next. He tripped backwards as the girl toppled upon him. The bottle flew from his grasp and as eyes stared, it fell down the well a few feet away with a heart-shattering splash. Dhandi knelt there on the ground as the boys gather around the well.
"Hey, it's floating!" one boy said.
"Nah, it's sinking," said another.
"You guys are idiots," Asfour asserted. "It's bobbing."
"Maybe if we threw pebbles at it..."
No one knew quite what happened in Dhandi's head that moment, but the boys soon found out as the girl knocked down Asfour and began furiously slapping him across the face, along with bites upon his right arm. The boy shrieked, terrified while the others watched like droopy-eyed sheep. Dhandi didn't care that Asfour was screaming or that a mountainous form was standing over her, very cross.
"Dhandi!" the form echoed and she looked up. A broad waisted man in a white turban and an uncomplicated off-white muslin robe stood there, arms crossed and normally gentle coffee-brown eyes glaring at her. Babkak stood behind him, avoiding eye contact. "Dhandi, why are you hurting Asfour?"
Dhandi rose to her feet, Asfour nervously scrambling to his. Her bare feet began tracing little lines in the sand, her mind formulating a suitable reason for her violence.
"Uh, um...he was picking on me?"
Father Habya binGud glanced at the tiny girl with disheveled hair and at Asfour, sporting a big black eye as well as a few bruises upon his arm.
"Children," the imam sighed, "go to the mosque. We are slightly behind and I would like you to catch up. Now hurry up."
The boys nodded in affirmation and darted pass binGud and Dhandi. Asfour limped away, smirking. As the last of the boys left the alley, binGud knelt down to the young girl.
"Tell me, what justifies you beating him up?"
"He does it to me everyday," Dhandi said. "He and those stupid boys-"
"No name-calling, Dhandi," he rose a finger up. "What was it?"
"He threw my bottle around." She pointed to the well. binGud looked at it, thoughtfully.
"I see. Did hurting him give you your bottle back?"
Dhandi sighed and gazed at the imam. "No."
"I'm rather disappointed in you," binGud said, concerned, "but since this is your first time, I'm merely going to give you a warning."
"Yes, sir."
"I want you to remember that you are going to face problems all your life and punching someone isn't the best course most of the time." The imam stroked his graying beard. "I still would like you to stand up for yourself, but next time, find a more peaceful way."
"Yes, sir."
Father binGud smiled gently at the girl. "When you're ready come in, get to your studies."
Dhandi nodded as binGud stood up and walked down the alley, turning his head back to the girl watchfully. The imam gone, Dhandi walked to the well, climbed upon its edge, and peered down. The pink bottle shimmered, the sunlight reflecting on the water. She turned to the bucket sitting next to her and carefully lowered it down, her outstretched hand guiding its drop. The splash informed her that the bucket had reached the bottom and as the rope grew taut in her grip, it was ready to pull up.
Dhandi leapt down, gravity helping her pull. The pulley rattled as the bucket rose higher. Holding to the rope somewhere in the middle, she climbed back up and leaned towards the bucket, the stopper of the bottle visible.
"Come on," she whispered, her fingers touching the rim. The handle creaked and water dribbled down her arm, soaking her sleeve and dress as it ran to her feet. Her eyes widen as she gripped the bottle's neck. Smiling, she rejoiced, flinging the bottle out. However, her smile contorted into a gasp of horror as she slips. The bottle flew out of her hand as she fell.
Moreover, the story would have ended with Dhandi's drowning in the well. However, that wasn't the case as it were, for the girl's hands, a matter of luck or good reflexes, gripped onto the rope.
Staring down at her dangling legs, Dhandi turned her focus to the one holding the rope.
"A-a dog?" The small tan and gray creature was pulling on the rope, struggling keeping it taut and sturdy. Coming back to herself, Dhandi swung her legs towards the rim of the well, her toes clinging to the stone. Her feet upon the stone, she pulled herself upon the rope, getting closer. She yelped once when the dog shook the rope slightly, but it kept sturdy.
Dhandi finally stood upright and leapt from the well. The dog let go of the rope and the bucket cascaded down the well, ending its descent with a splash. She stood there in the middle of the alley, staring at the tiny creature.
"Wow," she mouthed, dumbstruck. The dog barked, running around Dhandi and between her legs.
"Thank Allah for puppies," she giggled, picking the dog up. Her eyes fell on upon the worn brown collar around the dog's neck.
"Is someone looking for you?" The dog's response was a slobbery kiss covering the girl's face.
"Well," Dhandi said, eyes turning towards the mosque's dome in the skyline, "I can't really leave you behind, but you can't exactly come in with me..." The dog suddenly slid from her arms and, grabbing the bottle with his teeth, darted away.
"HEY!" Dhandi dashed after the creature, as it turned the corner. As she rounded the corner, she could hear the dog's high-pitched barking amidst the mountainous piles of rubbish bags. The girl cocked her head, mortified. She did not want to give the boys back at the mosque anymore incentive. Holding her nose, she ran through the alley, skipping over manure piles and filth that managed to escape from the bags as if walking on live coals.
Dhandi panted, slumping against the wall. She stared down at her shrinking shadow. Almost noon, she had missed the lesson and was on the verge of collapsing in an empty part of Agrabah. She began softly pounding her head against the brick when...
"Are you going to be using that head of yours later on?" a voice rasped curtly, "Because I have some nuts that need to be cracked." Dhandi lifted her head up and saw a figure, reclining upon a crate, dissipating smoke surrounding him like a ghostly aura. He was wearing a brown robe thing, she forgot what they were called, and had a hookah pipe in hand.
"Are you talking to me?" Dhandi replied with a question.
"Are you the only one here?"
"Yeah."
"Then I must be talking to you," the figure replied. A tiny yip was heard and from beneath the hem, the tan and gray dog emerged. Dhandi's eyes widen as the dog greeted her, leaping into her arms.
"Oh, is he your dog?" she asked, struggling to keep him from fidgeting. "Hey!"
"Was," the figure looked up. Dhandi was taken back by how much he resembled a mummy. "You see, I'm not long for this world and I need someone to take care of my dog."
Dhandi looked at the dog, staring back at her.
"He's a good dog."
She stroked the dog's fur, cooing. The dog opened his jaws, probably to speak. However, two cobra-like fangs appeared and sunk quickly into Dhandi's arm, prompting her to shriek in pain.
"He bites though," the man added, insincere concern mingled in his tone. Dhandi threw the dog off her, stumbling away as the poison quickly coursed through her. The alley seemed to tilt whenever she walked forward, her eyes heavy. Her head was light as if someone replaced it with a balloon. Her legs, however, became heavy pillars of lead, slumping into the ground. Panic fills her. She wanted to go home and be safe with Eden, but she also just wanted to sleep.
As the child drooped to the ground completely, Mozenrath slowly rose from his seat and hobbled over to the fallen.
"Good job, Xerxes," he said to his familiar, morphing out of its puppy disguise. "And it appears he had a little something for us too." From his ragged sleeve, he pulled out Eden's bottle.
"Nap, nap," Xerxes cackled, sniffing the child's slumbering form. Mozenrath smirked and in a swirl of black and blue smoke, the sorcerer, Xerxes, and Dhandi vanished. All evidence left of the abduction was a chipped hookah and a few particles of sinister black sand, swirling in with the more benign dust of the alley.