Corrupted Wishes

Turning Eighteen is a huge milestone for everybody, I know that. Officially an adult, so many doors have been opened to you that had previously been closed. You feel as if you are on top of the world at the same time as having to carry it’s burdens. I know that it’s the same for everybody. At least I thought it was the same. I thought I knew what to expect when it came to be my turn. I thought I was prepared. I’d believed myself ready. How wrong I was. It turns out that turning eighteen is not the same experience for everyone. Don’t get me wrong, receiving a large sum of money and a black little notebook from an unknown benefactor is all well and good, and then learning your destiny, or future career path which is pretty much a guaranteed job, is great. Well, it seems great. Those adult burdens you were worried about? Just brush them off your shoulder, you’re all set for life. Everything is lined up for you. Unless that is, if you are me.

Okay, let’s rewind. I wake up on my eighteenth birthday, all happy and excited and eager to take on the world. I have a lovely day spent with family and friends, eating like royalty and opening presents. There is one gift with no label. It’s a small package. A box wrapped in brown gift wrap and tied with string. I open it to find a small black notebook. It’s mostly blank apart from a small, curious message written inside the front cover. The message informs me that a large sum of money has been transferred into my bank account and that a representative will collect me later that evening to transport me to the Academy. Whatever that is. Baffled by the note, I check my account balance and am shocked to find the message was not a hoax. Confused, I turn to question my parents.

Apparently I am a Djinn. Yes, that’s right, the whole grants wishes, genie shebang. The Djinn are actually witches and the magic line runs in families, but not everyone inherits the power level necessary to become Djinn. The Djinn are the most powerful witches as wishes require a high level of magic to fulfill. I am to go to the Djinn academy to learn how to harness my powers and once I graduate I will be enlisted for a minimum of five years of service to the Wish Council, depending on how well I graduate, to keep the world suffused with happiness and hope. During my time at the academy and during my service I will be well cared for and once my service ends I will be well compensated for my time. The little black book which came with the note in, is actually magical too. Only I can read it and it automatically keeps track of my transactions. It’s like a magical ledger that records wishes for me to grant and checks off the one’s I’ve fulfilled. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal when you way up the pros and cons, right? Right.

It’s all well and good apart from the fact that I am now at the academy and have been for a couple of months and it has become obvious that my magic doesn’t work. It’s corrupted somehow. You wish for a car? No problem. I can do that, but just to be clear, did you want that car to be working? Because nobody said anything about it coming with an engine. Nobody has said anything about people not graduating, and I really don’t want to find out what happens to those people who don’t, if anybody ever does. I need to figure out what’s wrong with me. What’s wrong with my magic and find a way to fix it, because I can’t see things going well for me if I don't.