Poppy looked at the bottle curiously. It definitely hadn’t been there that morning.

She walked over and picked it up. It was heavy in her hands, but surprisingly warm. Was there something inside it? Poppy pulled out the stopper and peered in. It seemed empty, but there was the faint smell of something good that Poppy couldn’t quite put her finger on. Was it apple pie, maybe? Or cinnamon donuts?

It must be a birthday present, decided Poppy. But from whom? Her family had already given her their gifts (some hiking boots and a puncture repair kit, which Poppy had immediately stashed at the back of her closet). Poppy looked around for a card, but there wasn’t one. It was all very weird.

She held the bottle up to the light, admiring the way it sparkled and glowed. Well, the person who gave it to me obviously has good taste, she decided. But they could’ve given it a clean first! The bottle was dusty, if not downright dirty.

Poppy gave the bottle a quick rub with a hanky. And then something strange happened. First, the spicy, apple-y smell grew very strong. Then a thick, purplish smoke began pouring out of the bottle. Alarmed, Poppy dropped it. The bottle rolled but didn’t break, and smoke kept pouring out until the entire room was purple.

Poppy was about to start yelling ‘Fire!’ when there was a loud POP! and the smoke suddenly stopped.

Poppy heard coughing. She froze. There was someone else in the room!

‘Astrid, if that’s you playing a trick, you’re really not funny,’ Poppy said, trying to sound tougher than she felt. Astrid was always snooping around Poppy’s room.

Then someone spoke. ‘That bottle needs a tune-up,’ it said, wildly waving their hands around. ‘It shouldn’t smoke this much.’

Poppy’s heart beat even faster. It definitely wasn’t Astrid. So who was it?

When the smoke finally cleared, Poppy found herself face-to-face with a teenage girl who had startlingly green eyes and extremely long, dark hair pulled up into a very high ponytail. She reminded Poppy of one of the cool, older girls at her high school – the ones that always totally ignored the younger kids.

She was wearing the strangest outfit Poppy had ever seen. Her puffy skirt sat low on her hips and her top was made from fabric so soft and light that it seemed to float around her. The outfit should have looked dumb. But it didn’t. It looked incredible!

Which was why, just for a moment, Poppy found herself behaving more like the Clothes Club girls than like herself.

‘Where did you get your clothes?’ she asked curiously.

‘That’s not important right now,’ replied the girl briskly. ‘I’ve got things to tell you and I need you to pay attention.’

‘Hang on a minute!’ said Poppy, putting her hands on her hips. She hated being bossed around. ‘Who are you? And what are you doing in my room?’

‘I would’ve thought that was pretty obvious,’ replied the girl, ‘seeing as I’ve just popped out of a bottle. I’m a genie.’

You’ve probably worked out that Poppy was a logical girl. She’d never been into fairies. She was sceptical about ghosts. And she’d never even considered believing in genies. But that was before one had appeared in front of her.

‘If you’re a genie,’ Poppy said, thinking fast, ‘doesn’t that mean you have to grant me three wishes?’

The genie sighed, like she was dealing with a very small child. ‘No, it doesn’t mean that at all.’

‘Why not?’ asked Poppy.

‘Because genies can’t grant wishes for other genies.’ The girl shrugged, like it was common knowledge.

‘What other genie?’ said Poppy, puzzled.

The genie rolled her eyes. ‘YOU, of course!’

That was when Poppy started laughing. She laughed so hard that she had to sit down. This girl was clearly mad!

‘Are you quite finished?’ asked the girl eventually.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Poppy, wiping her eyes. ‘But you’ve made a mistake. I’m not a genie. I’m the most ordinary, normal, average girl you could meet. Ask anybody.’

The genie didn’t blink. ‘That’s what all genies think,’ she replied, ‘until they turn twelve.’

‘I turned twelve,’ said Poppy, surprised. ‘Just today.’

‘Yes, I know. That’s why I’m here.’ Then the girl shot Poppy a cheeky smile and added, ‘Can’t wait to see you in those funky new hiking boots, by the way.’

Poppy stared. How did the girl know about the boots? They were hidden at the back of her closet!

‘But I can’t be a genie,’ Poppy insisted, shaking her head. ‘I’m –’

‘You’re Poppy Miller,’ interrupted the girl, pulling out a nail file and filing her already perfect nails. ‘You got a B on your last maths test. You were a tree in the school play. You have cheese and tomato sandwiches every day for lunch. You don’t have a best friend and you pretend you don’t care, but really you do. You feel like nothing exciting ever happens. And up until now, that’s been true. But everything is about to change.’

‘Change?’ asked Poppy, incredulous. ‘In what way?’

‘In every way,’ said the girl. ‘As of today you are expected to start behaving like a genie.’

Poppy’s legs suddenly felt very wobbly. She still didn’t believe what this girl was saying. Not for a minute. But she also couldn’t explain what was happening. She just wanted this girl to leave her alone!

‘Look, you’re wasting your time,’ said Poppy firmly. ‘I don’t know anything about being a genie.’

The girl put her nail file away. ‘Well, of course you don’t!’ she said. ‘That’s why I’m here. I’m Lexie – your genie trainer.’

Then Lexie picked up the bottle. ‘First off, we need to find a safe place to hide this,’ she said. ‘It would be very bad if someone found it accidentally.’

‘It’ll be safe in the back of my closet,’ said Poppy. ‘That’s my secret hiding spot – no-one ever goes in there.’

This wasn’t exactly true. Astrid was always going through Poppy’s closet and borrowing things. But Poppy was keen to get this strange girl out of her room as quickly as possible.

Lexie raised her eyebrows. ‘OK, if you say so,’ she said, walking over to the closet and setting the bottle down inside. ‘Now we really need to go.’

‘Go where?’ asked Poppy.

‘Into the genie bottle, of course!’ replied Lexie.

Poppy looked down at the green bottle in the closet. Then she looked back at Lexie. ‘Listen, Lexie,’ she said. ‘What you’ve said is all very interesting. And it’s true that I have squeezed into some very small spaces over the years. But I can tell you right now that there is absolutely no way I can fit into that tiny bottle.’

‘Of course you can,’ said Lexie. ‘I fit in there just fine and I’m taller than you. Stop making excuses!’

Poppy sighed in annoyance. It seemed that Lexie just wouldn’t take no for an answer. OK, I’ll play along with her stupid game, decided Poppy. Lexie will soon see that I can’t squeeze in there.

So Poppy stretched out her foot and pretended to try and slip it into the bottle. ‘See?’ she said, looking at Lexie.

But Lexie just nodded. ‘Not bad for your first time,’ she said, sounding quite impressed. ‘Keep going.’

Poppy looked down at the bottle, and saw to her surprise that her foot had actually disappeared inside it!

Is it possible Lexie is right? wondered Poppy, shocked. Am I actually a genie after all?

But the moment Poppy thought about it, she found she couldn’t squeeze in any further. Unfortunately, she also couldn’t remove her foot!

‘I’m stuck,’ she yelped, hopping around.

‘You’re trying too hard now,’ said Lexie. ‘Relax. Imagine that you’re sand, pouring through an hourglass. Or water, flowing out of a tap.’

This sounded crazy to Poppy. But it was hard to talk about anything being crazy when your foot was stuck in a bottle!

I’m water. I’m sand. I’m sandy water. I’m watery sand, thought Poppy, over and over again.

At first, nothing happened. And then, all of a sudden, Poppy felt an odd tingling sensation in her foot which was followed by a whooshy kind of feeling, like she was hurtling down a very tall building in a very fast lift. So Poppy did what any normal, average person would do in this situation. She shut her eyes.

Finally, she felt a bump and the whooshiness stopped. A moment later, Poppy opened her eyes and found herself in a room that glowed green like a jewel.

I must be inside the bottle, thought Poppy, shaking her head in amazement. Which is not the sort of place that average, ordinary people usually find themselves.