Jenny glanced over from behind the counter, one eyebrow raised in silent question. Mandy just shook her head, unable to explain that she was laughing at the bizarre turns her life had taken. How do you tell someone that you're processing the existence of magic by obsessing over movie quotes?
Okay, so. Djinn, and magical wishes. That was a thing.
Digging into her purse, she hauled out the laptop that lived there - just in case, you know, she got stuck somewhere unexpectedly - and fired it up. Connecting it to the diner's wi-fi, she opened the browser window. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before typing "djinn mythology" into the search bar.
Hundreds of results popped up. She clicked on several academic sources first, cross-referencing information against what she'd learned years ago studying pre-Islamic folklore when in Cairo, and confirmed more recently by Kieran and Jacinth. Much of it aligned - Djinn were created from smokeless fire, possessed free will, and could be good or evil. They inhabited a parallel world, invisible to human eyes unless they chose to reveal themselves. Yada, yada.
Other details varied wildly. Some sources claimed Djinn were fallen angels, others that they were demons. A few insisted they were nature spirits. The descriptions of their powers rangedfrom fairly accurate - shape-shifting, invisibility, granting wishes - to completely outlandish claims about eating human souls.
Mandy closed several browser tabs in frustration. It hadn't taken her long to realize that information on the Djinn was finite, and fairly limited. The more she searched, the more she saw the same information repeated over and over on different websites, just reworded slightly. She decided to bypass an English translation of the Qur'an'ssurah- chapter - on the Djinn. She already knew, roughly, what it said, from her long-ago studies in Cairo, and it dealt almost exclusively with the bad Djinn and what they could do. She wasn't dealing with bad Djinn, she was dealing with Wish Bearers, and ancient Djinn princes.
Kieran... her fingers drifted to the pendant again. Aprinceof the Djinn - the thought still staggered her - who'd materialized in her cramped living room to explain wish-granting as if discussing the weather.
She glanced up as Jenny approached with a pitcher of iced tea. The waitress's eyes darted to the laptop screen as she topped off Mandy's glass.
"Oh, genies!" Jenny's eyes lit up with interest. "Research for your next book?"
Mandy fought back a grin. If only she knew! "Absolutely," she agreed.
"Ooh!" Jenny bounced on her toes, her ponytail swinging with excitement. "What's the plot going to be? Will there be romance? Magic? Both?" Her eager expression reminded Mandy of the day Jenny had discovered one of Mandy's books left behind in a booth and realized her regular late-night customer was actually the author.
Mandy couldn't help but laugh at her friend's enthusiasm. "I haven't figured that out yet. Still in the early research phase."
Jenny's lower lip jutted out in an exaggerated pout. "You're such a tease." She refilled Mandy's glass from the pitcher, and headed back to the kitchen, tossing a wink over her shoulder. "Write faster!"
Mandy closed the last few tabs. The internet might be vast, but when it came to real Djinn magic - especially Wish Bearers - it was about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Pushing aside her empty sundae dish, Mandy pulled up Word. Research was a bust. It hadn't told her a single thing she didn't already know, or that Kieran and Jacinth couldn't tell her the truth of. No, it was time to start a list. She loved lists. Lists helped her make sense of things, and especially when her mind was working overtime, like tonight, and writing things down let her mind let go of them, so to speak.
The blank document stared back at her, cursor blinking steadily. She typed "Things I Know About Djinn" at the top and hit enter twice. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she began itemizing:
Djinn are real (!!!)
Created from smokeless fire
Live in parallel realm called Qaf
Can grant wishes (some of them - Wish Bearers)
Can't be killed (according to Kieran)
