Oddities

• Madeleine Hill, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2014

I walked down to the path, carrying my skates. Sitting down, I pulled them on over my socks. It was a beautiful day; it was warm, but a breeze kept blowing at just the right time so that I didn't get too hot as I rolled along. My destination was unknown, but my senses told me to go a way I wouldn't normally go. I took a left and a right, towards a tree, which took me to a path next to a sloping vineyard. As I glided towards the tree, I remembered why I never went this way. The Swooper lived here!

The Swooper was an incredibly territorial magpie that would swoop anybody that it's home.

The bird lived up to its name; and swooped me. I instinctively covered my head and closed my eyes - consequently tripping and falling down the hill.
I rolled over and over, taking out wires and ropes and getting covered in purple juice. As I slowly slid to a stop, I felt a lump under my back. Reaching under and grabbing it, I discovered it was just a ball. An ugly, orange, regular bouncy ball. Deciding to keep it, I gave it a bit of a rub and stuffed in my pocket.

I left my skates there, three of the wheels had broken and one of the skates had a big split through the heel.

I sat on my bed to dress my wounds and scratches and, to put it simply, a genie came. From my pocket.

The genie was ever so faintly tinged purple, and wore a black turban on his (I thought) bald head. He had one of those cute little Indian dots on his forehead, and wore a stange assortment of golden, bronze and silver bangles on his crossed legs.

‘You awakened me, but for your ignorance and inhospitality, I will reverse all your three wishes,’ he said.

‘This is stupid. I don’t think this is real. Go away,’ I said. I’m not ready for genies at the moment. I thought sarcastically.


The next day I got ready for school. As usual. The weird events of yesterday came flooding back. It seemed to me to be so far fetched that I passed it off as a unusually vivid dream.

At 9:00, I got my books and went to class.

Class went on for ages as I watched the minutes tick by. 9:10am, 9:15am, 9:20am. I put my head down on my desk and wished it was over. I jerked my head up and glanced at the clock. 9:00? But we should be almost finished!

‘Good morning, everybody! Please get out your books,’ said Miss Smith.

This couldn't be happening! The genie was real! He said that he would reverse all my three wishes. I had to wish carefully.

Class eventually ended.
I walked home, thinking about my second wish. Then it hit me. Genies were dangerous! Many a time I had read a book about genies and the wishes always went wrong.

I had to get rid of this monster.

Thinking carefully, I whispered my wish.

'I wish that all this happened,'


Stumbling in the door, I couldn’t remember my day. I picked up the little orange ball, and gave it to my dog, Rover. I wouldn’t be needing it.