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AURORA RETURNED TO her cave, emotionally defeated, physically exhausted, and hungrier than ever. She laid down on the floor of the cave and sighed—just sighed. She could have wept, but she knew it wouldn’t help matters. If she cried, it would make her feel as if she was in an inescapably dire situation. Which, of course, was true. She had no solution to her problems, nor did she have anyone to ask for guidance.
She tried many times to spin the dial on the wayspinner, but it never worked. She even thought about throwing herself into harm’s way in hopes that it would make the wayspinner come to life and whisk her away to safety—preferably back home. But she had no guarantee, so it wasn’t worth the risk.
And then there was the urn, which seemed to be spotlighted by the waning daylight that seeped into the cave. Aurora laid at her feet and stared at it, wishing it would turn into a plate of steak and potatoes with a side of strawberry pie. After all, it was supposed to be a magic urn, wasn’t it?
Aurora laughed at her musings, but her stomach protested against the laughter with a growl. She wished she would have eaten a piece of her birthday cake; Charmaine certainly had more than his fair share.
Charmaine. She even wished he was with her. If he was, at least she wouldn’t be alone.
Because her mind was occupied with innumerable issues, she hadn’t given much thought to all the surprises she heard on her birthday. So what if she was an affianced princess who was destined to die? None of that seemed to matter at the moment.
Aurora stared at the urn and sighed again. “Tomorrow... I’ll have to sell you,” she said, speaking to the urn as if it could hear her. She wondered if the desert was making her lose her mind. “That poor old woman didn’t have much luck with you, did she? Maybe you’re an impossible sell.”
Aurora picked up the urn and turned it over a few times, frowning at all the dents and smudges on the tarnished silver. “Maybe I’ll clean you up a bit?” Aurora lifted the hem of her dress, which itself was a muddied mess, hardly fit for polishing. Nevertheless, she made an attempt to rub the blemishes off of the urn. If it was real silver, any attempt to improve its appearance was worth it.
But something very strange happened. As she rubbed the urn, there was a loud popping noise, and a cloud of smoke engulfed her. The tiniest of screams escaped her mouth, and she might have screamed louder if not for the fact that the smoke was choking the breath out of her.
When the smoke disappeared, she saw a small blue man sitting at her feet.
Blue man?! She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating.
But there he was. Without a doubt, there was a small blue man at her feet. He wasn’t much larger than a toddler, but he had the face of a middle-aged man, and there were deep wrinkles around his eyes as he smiled at her. He was wearing a pair of faded suspenders, had an intricately curled mustache, and he puffed on an oversized pipe.
“Greetings and salutations.” He raised his pipe to her as he spoke, then quickly returned it to his mouth.
All she could do was stare at him with a wide, gaping mouth.
“Jeez Louise, it sure was cramped in there!” The blue man erupted with an immense yawn, and he stretched his arms above his head. The pipe nearly fell from his mouth as he yawned, but he caught it before it hit the ground. “It’s awfully boring, too, when there’s no one to talk to. Believe it or not, even a man like me gets lonely. So... what can I do for you, Missy?”
“Um...” It was the first and only sound she could manage.
“Maybe I should introduce myself.” As he spoke, he extended a tiny hand. “The name’s Gene E. Helmenkalastaja. My friends call me Helmer for short. And you are?”
Aurora shook his hand as lightly as she could. She didn’t want to hurt him. “Um... I’m Aurora.”
The surprises never end, her thoughts whispered.
“So, what’s your wish?”
“What do you mean, what’s my wish?”
“What do you mean what do I mean what’s my wish?!” Helmer threw her words back at her. “You rubbed the urn, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah...”
“Then I’m obligated to grant your wish, and you’re obligated to ask for one!” Helmer explained. “That’s how it works.”
Aurora’s immediate reaction was to be skeptical, but how could she be skeptical after everything that had happened in the last two days? Stranger things had happened, and stranger things could happen still. “Let me get this straight,” she uttered, “You’re going to make my wish come true?”
“Yep. That’s how it works. Wow, it doesn’t take you long to catch on, does it?” Helmer took out his pipe and rapped it against her head.
“Any wish?”
“Well, within reason. There are certain restrictions, which I’ll explain if the need arises.”
“You’re not pulling my leg?”
“No, but I can if you want me too. But you’ve got awfully long legs, and that sounds like a waste of a wish to me.”
“No!” Aurora exclaimed. “I’m not asking you to pull my leg, it’s just an expression.”
“What kind of expression is that?”
“When someone’s pulling your leg, they’re trying to pull the wool over your eyes.”
“Wool? A sheep?”
Aurora’s chest fell in defeat. “Never mind. Don’t worry about it. So, it’s just one wish?”
“Yes, one. Uno. Eins. Just one.”
“And I can’t wish for more wishes?”
“No! That’s the oldest trick in the book. Everyone tries to pull it on me at one time or another, and it never works. Why do you have to be so greedy? Am I not being generous? Are you not getting something for nothing?”
“I’m sorry...”
“Why can’t anyone just appreciate what I’m trying to do for them?!”
“I’m sorry!” Aurora repeated her apology with more fervor. “Do you want me to hold off on this wish thing for a little while? I mean, I’ve barely introduced myself, and if you think I’m being greedy, maybe it would be nice if we chatted for a little while first?”
“Nah. The sooner you make the wish, the sooner I can get out of here. I haven’t been out of that stupid urn for at least a dozen years or so. I need to get in touch with some old friends.”
“But won’t you have to go back after you grant my wish? Back into the urn, I mean...?”
Helmer laughed and shook his head. “Look at you, Miss Greedy! Not only do you want more wishes, but you presume to know how this whole thing works? I won’t have to go back in that damn thing for at least a week, thank you very much!”
“But you will have to go back?”
“Yeah!” he snapped at her. “What of it?”
“Nothing...”
“Nothing?!”
“You don’t have to be so mean!”
“I’m sorry.” Helmer took a drag from his pipe, and a sense of tranquility passed over his face. “You can’t blame me for being a little bit pissy. I’ve had a bad decade.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yea, yea...” He brushed off her half-hearted apology with a wave of his hand. “Let’s just get on with it, okay? What are you going to wish for?”
“Well, that’s easy! I don’t even have to think about what I’d wish for!” Aurora exclaimed. “I want you to send me back home!”
“And where might home be? I can’t send you home if I don’t know where you come from. I grant wishes, but I don’t read minds.”
Aurora frowned at his harsh tone. “Avalon.”
“Sorry. Never heard of it.”
“But you can get me there?”
“Nope. No can do. I can’t send you there if I’ve never been there. Rules and regulations apply... didn’t I tell you that?”
“Well, yeah.” Frowning, Aurora picked up the wayspinner and held it out to him. “Can you fix this?”
“You’ll have to formally ask for the wish. That’s the way it works. You have to start with the phrase, I wish...”
“I wish you would fix this for me.”
Helmer answered her plea with a shrug and a shake of his head. “Sorry, no can do. I can’t fix it if I don’t know how it works.”
“What!? Then why did you tell me to formally ask for the wish if you already knew you couldn’t grant it?”
“I’m just having a bit of fun with you is all,” Helmer said, flashing a yellow grin. He pointed at the wayspinner. “But I’ve seen these doohickeys before. It might not be broken.”
“Really?”
“When’s the last time you used it?”
“Umm... yesterday?”
“Ahhh, see? That’s your problem. You usually have to wait a couple of days before you can use them again.”
“A couple of days?” Aurora repeated quietly. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yeah. I’m sure. Now... ask for something else.”
Aurora paused for a few seconds. It was discouraging, to say the least, to have her wishes declined. “Well, I’d like to have some money.”
“FORMALLY!” Helmer bellowed.
“I wish for lots and lots of money.”
“That I can do... but money has to come from somewhere. I’ll have to steal it, if that’s okay with you?”
“What?! Steal it?! Are you serious?!”
“Well, yeah! I can’t make money appear out of the nowhere! I’m not a walking mint, and money doesn’t grow on trees!” Helmer reached out and laid a hand on Aurora’s shoulder. “Let me help you a little bit, girlie. Why don’t you ask for something easier? Why don’t you wish for shiny hair, clear skin, or a new set of teeth... something along those lines?”
“Because I don’t care about my hair, my skin’s not that bad, and my teeth aren’t rotten!”
“What sort of woman doesn’t care about her hair?”
“I don’t care about my hair!” Aurora insisted.
“Well, it looks nice...”
“Listen, Helmer,” Aurora continued with a sigh, “I can’t think of anything else I want. Do you just want to go?”
Helmer gave his pipe an angry puff. “No, I can’t just go away! When you rubbed that urn, it was as if a contract was signed by you and I. Until I grant your wish, all I can do is sit here... or go back in the urn. Actually, I’d probably go back to the urn. It’s uncomfortable sitting here on these rocks. I don’t know how you can do it. At least the urn’s got pillows...”
“Then you might as well go back. I need more time to think.”
“Alright. Fine. Be that way.” He shot her another glare as he turned his attention to the urn. “But you better be ready by tomorrow! Somewhere, there’s a pint of lager with my name on it!”
As soon as he said that, Helmer shrunk to the size of a pea and hopped back into the urn like a cricket.
Aurora’s jaw fell open, and it stayed open for the next few minutes.
Wonders never ceased.