The Genie
Words 100
“Dadu, what did you get from the haat*?” His grandchildren crowded him.
Snehlata cracked another areca nut and spoke through a paan* stuffed mouth, “More junk for this junkyard.”
Ignoring her, he held up his treasure.
“What is it?” Rina wondered.
“I know!” Deep’s eyes sparkled. “That’s Humpty Dumpty. They put him together again!”
“No.” Dadu coughed. “It’s Aladdin’s lamp.”
“Rubbish!”
“Didu’s right,” Rina spoke hesitantly, “it doesn’t look…”
“They fooled us all these years.” Dadu spoke in hushed tones.
“Call the Genie Dadu,” Deep urged.
“Genie!” Dadu coughed. “Bring my inhaler!”
Snehlata held out the inhaler. “Dinner is served.”
***
*Haat: Local market in rural areas in India
*Paan: a preparation combining betel leaf with areca nut among other ingredients such as tobacco. It is chewed for its stimulant and psychoactive effects and prevalent in India since the 3rd Century A.D.
Written for the Friday Fictioneers – a story in 100 words or less. Thanks to Rochelle for hosting the challenge and Sandra Crooks for the photo prompt. To read the other stories inspired by this prompt click here.
Too much of the paan being taken here I fear!
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Right!
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Dear Dahlia,
I suspect Dadu would have more luck calling up a genie by rubbing his inhaler. 😉 Good one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle 🙂
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Ah, that was a sweet, funny story.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks Susan 🙂
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Hahaha. What an amazing and adorable story. Loved it, Dahlia.
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Aww Moon thanks for such a lovely comment 🙂
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Ha ! Ha1 We all have a genie in our lives. Mine is my lovely sister in law. She is so good she reads my ind and produces my wish.
Good Morning Dalia
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Good morning Ferdi! We all need a Genie in our lives – lucky to have such a lovely SIL touchwood! 🙂
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You’ve given us a lovely description of family members teasing each other. I enjoyed it!
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A nice imaginative tale complete with genie, Dadu and HD.
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Excellent. A lovely little modern day pantomime. Thanks for posting,
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Nice
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The fantasy of a magic lamp gives way to the reality of an inhaler. Much to the children’s dismay. 😣
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I like Snehlata. That rather bored, cynical but tolerant attitude spoke through the nonsense.
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Thanks Linda 🙂
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A lot to enjoy and learn in this piece, thanks
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Thank you for the lovely comment 🙂
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Methinks it’s how junk looks with paan
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You could be right!
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That was a lovely little home scene, Dahlia. Wouldn’t they all be surprised if a genie did appear? Good writing and thanks for the definitions. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Thanks so much Suzanne and I am sure you were already familiar with the words 🙂
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I live in a large city so “haat” was an unfamiliar word for me. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Ah I see 🙂
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A fun story…love the dialogue! Thanks for teaching us the words ‘haat’ and ‘paan’.
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Thank you Magarisa 🙂
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My pleasure, Dahlia. 😊
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Perfect ending!
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😀
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a very depressing scene with a disillusioned, drug chewing (mother?) and a motivated dadu who keeps up the fantasy and dreams to mop up all the misery! What is the use of the inhalator…it means Dadu is ill?…Well a visit of the genie would be surely a blessing!
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I tried to portray a (so called) typical Indian family with grandchildren visiting grandparents at their ancestral home for vacations. She is resigned and longsuffering of her husband’s whims and fancies. He is asthmatic and hence the inhaler which appeard magically as always provided by the omnipresent genie…his wife😁 Paan though not a habit to be encouraged is considered to be good for health and even auspicious and is taken by many esp after a heavy meal tho personally i dont like it. Hope that clarifies things a bit more and isnt as depressing!
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thank you for explaining. O.k. it´s less depressing as I thought. But I still feel sorry for Snehlata…do not know why….
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Life is a bit tough for genies – always at the beck and call 🙂
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yes it seems to be so …. quite exhausting!
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