New Fic-Wishful thinking -14

One moment, we were standing in my apartment.

The next, we were nowhere.

Nothingness stretched as far as I could see. I glanced down, and my bare feet were planted on a colorless floor. The air wasn't hot, wasn't cold, but goose bumps rose on my arms.

"Jaze?" I called out, my voice quavering.

His voice came from behind me. "Over here, silly!"

I whirled to face him. I was strangely relieved to find that he still wore his linen robe, that his towel still hung around his neck, slightly askew. At least my genie hadn't transformed into something hideous and unknown in this bizarre place.

Jaze curled his hands around something in front of him, invoking the presence of a fence with the most perfect bit of mime work I'd seen since a theater workshop Rob and I had completed in college. "Ah, the lilacs are out! Don't they smell wonderful?"

If he was pulling my leg, I wasn't in any sort of mood to play along. "Jaze, I don't smell a thing."

"Damn!" He turned to face me. "I thought that maybe, just possibly, you were one of the Perceptives."

I shook my head. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

He sighed. "You know that genies can grant wishes." I nodded. "Genies who grant enough wishes are rewarded with a trip to the Garden." He waved at the empty space behind him. "It's beyond this fence, just through this iron gate. A tiny fraction of the humans we serve are able to perceive the Garden. They can hear the nightingales, smell the freesias, feel the sunlight dappling through the trees. They can truly understand why we genies work so hard to grant wishes. To get inside."

And, for just a moment, I did understand.

Oh, I still couldn't see the flowers. For all the birdsong I heard, the Garden might have been stocked with off-key crows. We could have been surrounded by cardboard, if my nose was any guide.

But I heard the pure longing in Jaze's voice. The desire. The uncomplicated love that he felt for the Garden, for life beyond those invisible iron posts.

There were rules, of course. Jaze couldn't take shortcuts. He needed to grant all of his wishes before he could enter.

And I couldn't take shortcuts with Rob. I couldn't force him to love me; even Jaze, wanting to get into the Garden, thought that was a terrible idea. And he was right. I'd never trust Rob, never know if he stayed with me because I'd bound him through magic.

Jaze said, "I brought you here because I thought you might be Perceptive."

I shook my head. "Sorry," I said, smiling ruefully. "Not the way you mean."

He sighed and looked over his shoulder. "I don't suppose I can convince you to make two other wishes? Really quickly?"

"Not yet." I shook my head, but I vowed that I would figure out what was worth wishing for. Really quickly.