The Cursed Genie

VERITY

Garage sales—where you can find some of the most unexpected treasures.

Last year, my best friend Annie and I went to our first garage sale randomly, and she happened to find a rare collection of Barbies. At the time, we didn’t know they were worth anything. But since Annie loved Barbies as a kid, she decided to purchase them on a whim.

They were still in their original boxes, and the owners were an older couple who wanted to get rid of them so they could move into a nursing home.

Annie took them off their hands and when we got home, we searched them online just for fun, to see how old they were and if they were worth anything.

Lo and behold, they were worth about one hundred to two hundred dollars each, and she had gotten them for only two bucks each. Let’s just say she was able to cover rent that month with the profit she made and even had some left over. After that, whenever we saw a garage sale, we would get super excited.

And we were at one now.

Compared to our rental-home area, this neighborhood was a huge upgrade. The houses here were double or triple in size. And most of them had double or triple garages while we had none. Even the driveways were bigger and longer than ours.

This house’s whole driveway was filled with stuff. It was almost four cars wide and six cars long.

They had everything: clothes on racks, colorful plastic kid toys, some furniture, shoes of different sizes, a round table full of books, and much more.

There was one long table covered with miscellaneous items. Annie went over to the toy section while I scanned the long table to see if anything would catch my eye.

“Verity.” A beautiful voice—deep and melodic—called my name seductively from behind me as a summer breeze caressed my cheek.

“Yes?” I turned around, my shoulder-length hair dancing along with the wind.

Annie gave me a weird look from a few feet away. “Uh, I didn’t say anything.”

I laughed sheepishly. There was a cute guy near her, but he was focused on something in front of him. There were a few older men and women around us, but they were also focused elsewhere.

I must be going insane.

Am I hearing things now?

Maybe I’m daydreaming so much lately that my reality is mixing with fantasy.

“Verity.”

There it was again, so melodious and lovely. So unnatural, like it belonged to a supernatural realm rather than this world.

I twisted back, and my gaze darted around, scanning every face to see if anyone appeared capable of possessing such a voice. A couple of new guys arrived at the sale, but they seemed too ordinary.

Nope. Just common people.

“Verity.” The same sensual voice called me for the third time, so close and clear that I swore the speaker’s lips were right next to my ear.

My head immediately whipped around, but again, nothing.

Okay. I’m really losing my shit.

Maybe I was delusional because I had skipped breakfast, and now my hunger was inducing auditory hallucinations.

“Verity.”

Ugh. Stop it!

I roughly blocked my ears with my palms, and it silenced.

“Hey, are you okay?” Annie must have noticed my odd behavior; she looked somewhat concerned.

“I think the lack of food in my stomach is distracting me. Maybe we should go grab some lunch.” I slowly dropped my hands to my sides.

As if to support my point, my belly rumbled loudly.

“Give me another ten minutes. There’s a lot to see here, and I don’t wanna miss anything.” She swept her arm, encouraging a panoramic view of the whole garage sale.

“Okay. Make it quick,” I pleaded.

Suddenly, something caught my eye as it glinted against the sunlight. I walked closer to the long table, and instead of picking up the shiny silver cup, I chose the rusty reddish-brown lamp buried deep in the center.

It looked like Aladdin’s genie lamp. I laughed at the odd shape and the poor condition it was in.

It would be freaking awesome if this was real. Goodness, what I would do with three wishes.

But other than the shape, it didn’t look anything like a genie lamp. It was completely covered in rust. I couldn’t even tell what it used to look like. Definitely didn’t look valuable, even to my untrained eye. And I knew pure gold wouldn’t rust or corrode. This was probably made with some cheap metal.

But I had the urge to have it, and it was only fifty cents. And I could probably turn it into some type of interesting decor. Annie and I loved DIY stuff. I could sand it down and paint it into something amazing. Maybe?

“All right, I’m done.” Annie, empty-handed, sighed next to me.

“Me too.” I held up the sad, pathetic lamp.

“You’re buying that?” She wrinkled her nose with disgust while scratching the messy bun on her head. “It looks like it belongs in the trash.”

I laughed. “I know, but I think it has potential.”

“Yeah. Trash-bin potential.” She rolled her brown eyes.

I laughed again and hooked my arm through hers. “Come on.”

We went to pay and then grabbed some fast food.

***

When we got back home, I soaked the lamp in distilled white vinegar in the kitchen sink—hoping it would help with the rust.

In the evening, I took it out and used a scouring pad to scrub it clean.

“Wow! See, I knew it. I knew you had potential,” I said out loud to no one since Annie was working a night shift.

After I rinsed it clean, the lamp proved to be quite beautiful. I couldn’t bring it back to its original glory, but it was still better-looking now than with the brown rust it had carried. I brought it up to the light and studied it further as I sipped on some wine.

There was a faded turquoise color on the outside with intricate gold swirl designs. A faded gold chain connected the lid to the handle. My fingers pinched the knob and lifted the lid. Inside was a perfect gold color—new and shiny.

Huh? Weird.

I rubbed it dry with a towel and carried it to my room, along with another glass of wine. The odd lamp clinked loudly as I placed it on my nightstand next to my table lamp. I got in bed and grabbed a manga to read—Emma by Kaoru Mori. The manga was a Japanese graphic novel, one of my indulgent purchases when I had received my first paycheck. That was a few years ago, during my college days working as a cashier at a grocery store.

I sipped on more wine as my gaze drifted over the beautiful artwork and sweet storyline. I don’t usually drink wine, but Annie and I had a celebratory dinner earlier due to her recent promotion.

In the middle of the night, I woke up with something heavy draped over my body. I had fallen asleep with the light on.

I squinted against the brightness, but after my eyes got accustomed to the light, I saw a big arm over my waist and a large hand with long, elegant fingers covering my breast.

What the hell? Am I dreaming?

I scanned my surroundings. I was still in my room. Pictures of friends and family members decorated the walls, along with two paintings I’d personally created. The manga was back on the nightstand next to the lamps, my phone, and the empty wine glass.

Odd. I don’t remember putting it back.

Heat penetrated my back, and a hard body was plastered against mine on my small twin-sized bed.

I turned slowly in the owner’s arm—wiggling like a worm—so I wouldn’t fall off the edge. I was met with a hard chest. It smelled heavenly, like some expensive mythical cologne—not the synthetic kind that could be mass-produced.

I craned my neck to check the mysterious creature’s face.

Yup. Definitely a dream. No real man looks like this.

His face was perfection, if perfection existed. Silver hair adorned his head, and long dark lashes fanned his high cheekbones. A strong, straight nose above sinful pink lips.

My eyes fixated on his alluring, full lips, and before I knew what I was doing, I pressed my lips to his.

They were soft and oh-so-delicious.

Oh, yeah. My favorite kind of dream.

I pulled back, and the sleeping beauty opened his eyes to reveal pools of purple sapphire. Surprise and something else flashed quickly within those depths before his lips curved into a breathtaking smile. “My new master is a naughty one.”