Village Shepherd

BG was very frightened. He'd never been out alone before, and he discovered he didn't know what to do. Especially as LG, his companion in crime, had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.

Genies, as everyone knows, are never allowed out of their homes. Baby Genie knew that perfectly well. But Little Genie, who was a thousand or so years older than BG, didn't care about the rules. He never listened when older and wiser genies said, "It's for your own good." So when a tiny crack appeared in LG's bottle, he vapourised himself through it. Then he hovered over BG's old lamp, calling and pestering BG through the spout until BG too slid out of his lamp in a tiny puff of smoke.

But now LG had disappeared. Part of BG's fear was that this was exactly what the older and wiser genies had warned would happen. "Genies are born to serve," they had said. "Genies may live outside as slaves ready to do their master's bidding, but after they have fulfilled three wishes, they must return to their homes. Otherwise they atomise into their constituent molecules and disseminate into the air." BG remembered yawning at that point. He hadn't really understood what all those long words meant, but now, in the centre of his being, he was sure they meant LG had disintegrated and become part of the air, never to be seen as a genie again.

BG shivered. He wondered if he was next. He tried to squeeze back through the spout of his lamp, but somehow or other it acted like a valve, and would only allow one-way traffic. Then he wondered whether he could find a master. Perhaps if he lived as a slave for a while, then he could return and live in comfort in his lamp for the next thousand or so years. The only problem was, he didn't know how to be a slave, for he was too young to have attended Genie School.

BG hovered for a while, but none of the older and wiser genies appeared to roar at him, or to help him, so he decided to explore. Being a genie, he had no wings, but he discovered that if he closed his eyes and thought very hard, he could float around on the air like a cloud. And if he squeezed hard at one end of himself, and opened out at the other, he found he could move quite easily.

It was fun at first. He dipped into the local funfair, which was brilliant - except that he could only watch. After a while he got bored watching other people enjoy themselves. An imp of mischief began to stir in his mind, and all at once he realised why genies have such a bad reputation as evil spirits. No wonder they either had to act as slaves or be kept shut up. Genies grow so bored watching but not taking part, their active brains soon seek to hatch ways in which they might disrupt the normal smooth flow of human life. And since they live for thousands of years, genies have plenty of opportunities to refine their mischief.

BG sighed. He wasn't yet old enough to be bad. He was only a baby, and he didn't want to be bad. But he did want to do something, and he had a nasty feeling he might be shrinking by the minute. If he didn't soon find some sort of new home, he might suffer the same awful fate as LG.

Just then, BG heard a strange sound. It was a rasping, coughing sound, as though someone was struggling to breathe. BG followed the sound. He swooshed gently round a dark corner, and there, huddled into the shadow was a small human being, coughing and gasping for breath. BG didn't stop to think. He saw an open mouth and air being sucked in, and instantly materializing within the air, was sucked into the human being.

It was a strange journey, although BG felt quite warm as he was sucked down hundreds of tubes like the branches of a tree which became gradually smaller and smaller. The final tube was so tiny it was nearly impossible for the air to get through. BG felt great shudders as the chest of the human being heaved and gasped, so he pushed the tube a little more open and slid into a vast open space full of air, quite easily. The shuddering stopped, but the strange noises changed, and BG became aware his human being was sobbing.

BG felt a flood of compassion for his human being. All thoughts of mischief had fled. Now he had a new home, he wanted to help in any way he could.

"What's the matter?" he whispered, deep inside the human being. To his surprise, there was an immediate answer, although he couldn't tell whether the words were spoken out loud or merely thought. "It's my asthma," came the reply. "I can't do anything, because every time I start to run or get excited, I have an asthma attack and I can't breathe."

This was terrible! BG now knew from experience what it felt like to have to stand and watch. And he knew what mischief might result from that. He felt warm and close towards his human being.

"Don't worry," he promised. "I'll help you. Now I'm inside you, I can feel when you have an attack coming on. I'll keep the tubes open for you." He felt his human relax, and noticed the tubes relax too and open a bit wider. He began to sing a soothing, gentle, genie lullaby, and as he felt his human grow happier and happier, so the tubes opened wider and wider. Soon his human was breathing normally and without difficulty.

BG curled up in his new home and went to sleep. He liked this human being, and it was much better than living in a cold, old lamp. And here he could be useful. Whenever the human wanted him, he'd be there to help, breathing as the human breathed, enjoying activity as the human enjoyed it. And the more he could love his human being and help him to relax, the more they could do together.

BG smiled and snuggled up inside the human's chest. Suddenly his future was bright. For what better future could he have than someone to love, and someone who might in time come to love him?