Ghayth looked outside the bedroom window. It was a very beautiful day, true, but there was nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. Nothing he wished to do, nowhere he wished to go. His eyes caught on the beautiful rug that his mother had been weaving.
If only I had a friend, he thought. A friend who could entertain me! Who would make sure I wouldn’t be bored. But there’s nobody here for me to play with. There’s nobody! Just the people who stop on their way, to buy from Father.
He sighed. His eye caught on the golden lamp. Father had forbidden him to touch it. He had already said that the lamp’s powers should be used only in emergencies, because there was only one wish left. Well, this was an emergency, wasn’t it? He couldn’t go on sitting here, doing nothing, could he? He smiled, picked up the lamp, and rubbed it. The blue genie came out.
“I wish that carpet could move and play with me. I wish it was my friend.”said Ghayth.
“Your wish is my command!”said the genie.
“Ghayth, what in the world are you doing?”a voice said, coming in.
His father, a tall, brutal-looking man, came in, and watched as the genie prepared to use its powers.
“Wha…? No! You know this is for an emergency! How could you, boy!”
Before their astonished eyes, the carpet came to live. It stood on two tassels, and seemed to act like a person, in a way. It flew to Ghayth, and wrapped itself around it.
“This was an emergency, Father. See, now I have a friend.”
“You foolish boy! Now what are we going to do?”He snatched the lamp, and looked the blue genie.
“Oh, well, you know, I thought, the boy being your son, that, he could just, you know, use your wish.”
“How could you possibly have listened to my son?”
“Well, your wish is my command. And what the boy did was make a wish, so what I had to do was obey it. And now, ex-master, I must apologize, but…that was the last of your three wishes...”
Whatever the genie said, no one really paid attention to, since now, Ghayth’s father was yelling at him, and had him by the ear.
“I DON’T EVER WAN TO SEE THIS STUPID RUG AGAIN IN MY LIFE!”Ghayth’s father was screaming.
“Oh, well, that was certainly a waste of a wish, then.”said the genie, scratching his head.
The carpet was in a position that seemed to indicate that it was hanging its head and feeling very bad.
“Well, he does sound like he means it.”the genie said. “Hmm, perhaps you could come with me. I’m not exactly good company between masters, however, well I guess you’ll be better waiting than here, don’t you think?”
The carpet nodded.
“Very well. Who knows how long, probably pretty long, but you can stay in the ante-chamber of the Cave of Wonders. It could be a long wait.”the genie said as it went back into its lamp.
10,000 years later…
Carpet flew over the mountains of gold coins, jewels, and treasure. How long had they been here? He really couldn’t remember. However long it had been…well, it just seemed like they would never get out. He was better off here, though, not back at that house, that was for sure. Or maybe he would have been better off there. Suddenly, the whole cave seemed to be shaking. Oh, no! Perhaps, there was a time limit! Perhaps the world was ending! What was happening? Should he fly to the next chamber and get the lamp and rescue the genie? But if the world was ending, then…suddenly, the shaking stopped. It stopped as abruptly as it had started. What had just happened? Everything seemed to be intact. Nothing had changed.
Perhaps it’s just the fact that I’ve been here for a very long time, he thought. I must be going mad.
However, it seemed that he had not dreamed or imagined the quaking, for just as he had convinced himself he had, it happened again. Just like the first time, it began and ended hastily, without warning of either.
I am going mad, he thought. Very mad!
The trembling happened a third time.
The cave will certainly collapse!he thought.
However, it didn’t, and a little after it ended, something different did happen this time…
Secrets of the Magic Carpet by persian85033