Skribble had come back to them in the guise of…a bookworm!
He had not changed at all—except that now he was wearing a tiny turquoise turban and a blue silk cape, with a thin black moustache drooping down from his top lip.
“Do not be afraid,” said Skribble, bobbing about on his cloud. “It is only me.”
“Duh! Of course it’s you!” Michael spluttered.
“You look exactly the same!” exclaimed Jess.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Skribble scowled. “My disguise is impenetrable!”
“But, Skribble,” said Jason meekly, “why haven’t you come back in your true form?”
“My true form was that of a falsehearted man,” Skribble replied. “And so, until my work is done, a humble bookworm I shall remain.” He lowered his voice and spoke confidentially. “I rather think the Genie High Council will like that little touch!”
Michael grinned. “You old faker.”
“Maybe he is,” said Milly fondly. “But he’s brilliant.”
“Now,” Skribble boomed. “What is your wish, child?”
“I wish that the lamp was back on display in Junk and Disorderly with you safely inside it,” said Milly. “And…and I wish…” Her voice wavered.
Jess squeezed Milly’s fingers and nodded encouragement.
“I wish that none of us shall ever forget a single moment of this whole adventure,” Milly whispered. “That the memories stay bright and clear forever and ever, even when we’re old and gray.”
Skribble’s beady black eyes looked deep into her own. “You will never forget,” he murmured with a smile. “And neither shall I.” Then he raised his voice and his eyes to the heavens. “As you wish it, so shall it be!”
A cloud of silver and gold sparkles exploded from the lamp’s spout like fireworks. They shot into the air and then surrounded Skribble like a sparkling, glittering tornado. For a brief second, the bookworm’s shape was still visible, floating on his cloud. He winked at the children and then he—and the sparkles—scattered into a million points of light, leaving just a faint trail of smoke in their wake.
“Happy travels, Worm.” Michael swallowed hard. “And the best of luck to whoever rubs that lamp!”
“I wish it could be me.” Milly turned to Jess and flung her arms around her.
Jess hugged her back. “Hey,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”
Milly sniffed and nodded. “We’ll see him again. I know we will.”
“In the meantime, that was a pretty cool exit.” Jason smiled.
“Cool and clever,” agreed Jess.
“Clever?” Michael watched the last of the smoke drift away to nothing and grinned at the others. “That’s not clever. That’s genie-us!”
About the Authors
LINDA CHAPMAN AND STEVE COLE are both bestselling authors in their native England, and BE A GENIE IN SIX EASY STEPS is their first collaboration. Linda is the author of more than seventy books for children, including the series My Secret Unicorn, Stardust, and Not Quite a Mermaid. Steve is the author of the popular Astrosaurs and Cows in Action series.
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Credits
Jacket art © 2009 by Tim Jessell
Jacket design by Andrea Vandergrift
Copyright
BE A GENIE IN SIX EASY STEPS. Copyright © 2009 by Linda Chapman and Steve Cole. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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