A SMACK OF COMMON SENSE

by

Duckling

Chapter 2

The Chapters

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

Frank squinted as the smoke stung his eyes. The purple cloud sparkled pink as it swirled ever tighter around Callie. He could just barely discern little pinpricks of violet light twinkling around the girl when a sudden wind rushed through the library, shredding the cloud into a thousand streamers of shimmering light. Books leapt off the shelves in wild abandon as the wind roared, stomped, kicked and screamed- throwing a veritable temper tantrum- through the room.  

Within moments, however, the wind and smoke had dissipated, and an astonished Frank stared around him in perplexity; the books were all neatly ranged on their respective shelves while his classmates sat at nearby tables, seemingly unaware of what had just transpired. Finally concluding that he must have been dreaming, the dark-haired boy looked over at his girlfriend.  

Startled, he stared in dismay at the figure across the table from him. Shaking his head in bewilderment, he at last found his voice: “Who are you?”  

Callie Shaw was no longer there. In her place sat a dark young man, a look of delighted surprise on his handsome face.  

“Woo hoo!” the stranger shouted ecstatically, “Oh, wow! Hot diggety dog!” He suddenly jumped up and did a little jig of joy. Then, struck anew with wonder, he looked down at his hands, his feet, the back of his legs, his elbows; all with the same sense of awe. He rocked on his heels, ecstatic.  

“Oh, wow!” He exalted, flexing his fingers experimentally.  

Frank had expected the stranger to be accosted by the librarian or his fellow students during the whole of this display, but to his surprise, no one even batted an eye at the disturbance.  

The stranger twirled about, arms outstretched, in absolute delight before turning back to the teen and beaming at him.  

“Thank you. Oh, thank you! You have absolutely no idea how grateful I am to be out of that lamp!”  

“Out of the lamp?” Frank repeated dully, too stunned to do much else.  

“Oh, yes.” The stranger continued. “Three hundred and fifty years is an awful long time.” The genie stood on tiptoe and stretched luxuriously. Again, he regarded his hands in wonder, his eyes alight with happiness.  

Frank just stared at him in dismay, too confused to think. He was able, however, to conclude that he really rather despised magic lamps.  

The freed genie suddenly glanced around at his new surroundings. His awe-struck eyes took in the large, book-lined chamber with its varied collections of thoughts and students arranged systematically around the room.  

At last his eyes lit upon the large double doors leading to the hall and he grinned. “Well,” he said blithely, “I’m off. Thanks again, you’re a pal.” And before Frank could properly blink, the genie was gone.  

The conversation filtered slowly through the boy’s fog-filled mind. Suddenly, he sat up in his seat, his face draining of all color. “Callie!” he gasped. “Oh no!” He whispered half to himself, hands thrown up in alarm. “Callie!”  

With a sinking sense of realization, Frank knew with frightful clarity that somehow he had released the lamp’s rightful genie only to imprison Callie in its place.

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