Aladdin

By Kirsten and Kylah

Based on the Disney Movie

Chapter 1

Scheherazade laid on her husband Riar's bed, with her head propped up on her arm and her dark hair hanging around her face. She glanced nervously out the window. She noted that the waxing crescent moon was slowly rising above the horizon, marking the beginning of a long night.

She turned her gaze as the bedroom door opened to reveal the handsome King Riar. Scheherazade beamed at him, watching as he stepped toward the bed with his vizier close at his heels.

"Goodnight, my lord and lady." The vizier replied smoothly. "I trust you'll sleep well."

"Thank you." Scheherazade replied. He left them, and her husband looked to her expectantly.

"What story will you be telling me tonight?" Riar asked. "If you wish to continue living as you have, then I suggest it keep me entertained for the night."

"Oh, it will, my lord." Scheherazade said eagerly. "I can promise you that." She had been thinking about this tale all day, and now it was time.

"Well?" He prompted. "What is it?"

"Aladdin, my king."

Riar looked at her with a trace of disappointment and frustration. Scheherazade looked down at the lacey bedspread. She had failed already.

"My dear," He said softly. "I have heard that story multiple times. There is no one in the land who hasn't." But then, being so quick on her feet, she came up with an idea.

"But my lord, you, like the rest of your kingdom, have only heard part of Aladdin's legend. For the real story is far better and enchanting than what you may believe." She said persuasively.

"The real story?" Riar repeated. He sounded intrigued. Perhaps Scheherazade would live to see another moon rise after all. "What else is involved in this 'real story?'" He asked her.

"But sire, I understand if you wish me to tell you a different story. For Aladdin is so very well-known…" She added, just to gain more interest. "And if what really happened does not interest you, I wouldn't wish to bore you to sleep, sire."

"As your king, I demand you to tell me the story of Aladdin as it really came to pass I will be the judge of how tedious it is." Riar said determinedly, and Scheherazade smiled softly.

Riar sat down on the bed, and rested his head in the pillow's cradle before closing his eyes, and began waiting for his wife to begin with her tale. Scheherazade cleared her throat and started:

"Long ago, on a dark, star-filled night, a dark man waited with a very dark purpose …"

A shadowy figure stood on the sand dune, seated grandly upon a horse that was as black as the night around him. A mangy thief by the name of Kassim approached him, wringing his tanned and blistered hands. The sand was cool between his toes, and a gentle breeze ruffled his black hair and his dirty robes.

"You're very late." The man on the horse muttered; his voice was smooth and clear. Kassim looked up at him apologetically. He noticed there was a brightly colored bird on his shoulder that squawked at him impatiently.

"A thousand apologies, O patient one." Kassim whispered. He decided to make up a worthy excuse. "The item you needed was hard to come by, and I, uh, had to slit a few throats to retrieve it."

"But you found it, didn't you?" The man asked. He looked down from his high horse at small Kassim hungrily.

"What? Oh, yes." Kassim answered, caught slightly off guard. He may have been a thief, but he did as he was told. "I have it here."

"Well? Then give it to me!" The man commanded. He sounded cross, but an odd smile slid across his face, lighting his features. The man was tall and skinny, from what Kassim could see, and he had a small goatee curling out of his chin. Kassim reached into his robes obediently, and pulled out half of a small, golden scarab beetle. It glittered impishly in the moonlight.

"Perfect…" The man murmured breathlessly. He reached into his own red and black robes to produce the beetle's other half. Kassim gaped as the man reached down from his stallion for Kassim's half of the scarab. With slight reluctance at losing such a valuable object, he handed the golden beetle to the man. He stared at the two halves greedily, as though this was the moment he had been waiting for his whole life.

"Well then." Kassim said gruffly. "If my work here is done, I'll just get my reward and be on my way…" He prompted, holding out his hands.

"You'll get what's coming to you, thief." He replied sharply. His voice alone caused Kassim to freeze in his place. He put his hands down, and looked up at the man again.

Now, he was putting the two halves together. Kassim found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight. They both glittered and gleamed with some unknown magical power that the little thief was not aware of.

As soon as they were connected, the man took away his long-fingered hands, but the golden beetle hovered in the air. A small humming became apparent in the silent night.

Without any warning, the scarab flew through the crisp desert air. Kassim looked after it with mounting confusion.

"Go after it, fool!" The shadowy man yelled. Kassim did as he was told, and took off into the night, following the streak of purple that zipped through the sky.

Toppling over sand dunes, Kassim struggled to keep up with the man on his horse. The colored bird flew after his master, cawing with agitation. Kassim felt a queer surge of adventure and excitement pulsing through his veins as he quickened his pace, kicking up white sand as he went.

Finally, the man yanked on his steed's reins, it reared up, and then stopped. Kassim advanced, his eyes wide.

Before him, he saw the scarab break into two pieces once more. They hit the sand about three feet apart and lay there as though nothing had occurred. The man on the horse waited, and Kassim knew that this was not the end. There was a soft, almost indistinct rumbling, and the sand dune began to grow…

Larger and larger, it began to take the traces of a large skull, before Kassim's round, beady eyes. It seemed to form a tiger's head, as huge as two whole palaces. Kassim bit his chapped lip.

"At last!" The man exclaimed, joyously. "After all my years of searching!"

"Praise Allah…" Kassim muttered as the tiger's mouth rolled open, and a bright orange light filtered out of it and spilled onto the sand. And, to Kassim's utter amazement, it began to speak.

"The Cave of Wonders has been opened!" It bellowed. It's voice was rich and deep. The sound of it rang out across the desert, and echoed through Kassim's whole body.

"Your final task." The man on the horse whispered to Kassim. "I want you to go inside the cave, and bring me a golden lamp." He instructed. "Everything else, is yours." The bird squawked angrily at this, but the man just shot it a surpressing look.

Kassim took a moment to let this sink in. Everything else. Well, depending on what was in this cave, it seemed to be a worthy agreement. All he had to do was find one, stupid lamp.

"I'll do it." Kassim said, his determination surprising even him.

"Fantastic." The man chuckled. "And remember-- the lamp is mine."

Kassim walked forward across the sand toward the giant tiger's head. Nervously, he moved fast. The sooner he was out of the cave with the lamp, the better. Just as he was about to enter the sand-cave, the tiger began to speak again.

"Who dares to disturb my slumber?!" It shouted. Kassim shivered.

"It is only Kassim, the humble thief." He answered truthfully. Somehow, he thought this creature would know if he were lying.

"Only one may enter here!" The Cave declared. "The one whose worth lies far within!" Kassim looked over his shoulder to the man. He wanted to ask whether he was this one, but his voice wouldn't let him. So instead, he took another step towards the cave.

"Only the Diamond in the Rough may enter here!" It shouted. "Do not cross the threshold, or it will result in your doom!"

Kassim shivered. He had no doubts that this Cave had some mysterious power that was not safe to tangle with. He looked to the man behind him.

"Go on!" The man told him. "What are you waiting for? It's only sand! What can it do to you?"

Kassim realized that this was in fact true, and sand had never hurt him before, so it was unlikely to start now. But then again, the sand Kassim was used to didn't form giant tiger heads so near to midnight…

But Kassim took another step forward anyway, thinking of the wonderful treasures that would await inside, and the supernatural tales he could tell his friends the next morning. As soon as his feet first touched the lip of the tiger, he paused, waiting.

Nothing happened, and he grinned foolishly, consumed in his own pride. But the next second, the sand tiger let out a huge, ear-splitting roar, and quickly closed it's massive jaws, and Kassim was pulled inside. His robes were caught in the Cave's mouth; left screaming in fear and pain.

"Help!" He shouted, but it was to no avail. The Cave of Wonders swallowed him whole, with one colossal bite of its gargantuan lips.

The man did nothing but pat his horse's neck and wait. A small smile crept over his face, as the thief was consumed into the Cave's depths.

"Seek thee out…" The Cave called, as it slowly started to topple into an ordinary sand dune. "…The Diamond in the Rough." The last phrase echoed throughout the night sky, reaching up to the stars and etching itself in the man's memory. He rode his horse towards the dune to collect the two scarab beetle halves that had jetted down to the earth. With a small snap of his fingers, they flew into his hands.

"Well." The bird perched on the man's shoulder said sarcastically. "That was great. I can't believe you were offering him my treasure to get you that lamp stupid lamp. You can just forget it! We're never going to find it."

"Hush, Iago. Had he returned alive, I would have killed him—then you would have your treasure." The man said. "Kassim was obviously less than worthy to enter the Cave of Wonders."

Iago paused in anger. "What a surprise. I think I'm going to die from not surprise! What're we going to do?! We've got a big problem here, Jafar!"

The man called Jafar said nothing at first, but only stared at the two golden beetle halves that rested harmlessly in his open palms. "Not anyone can enter The Cave of Wonders, Iago." He said to his bird. "Only the Diamond in the Rough."

Iago clacked his beak. "Well, sure, Jafar. But who is it? Not you, or that thief."

"No, but we will know in time, my idiotic friend. In time." Jafar said contently. "We will have that lamp soon enough. We must find this one, this Diamond in the Rough…" And he clucked his horse forward, and rode back towards the city of Agrabah with the two beetle halves hidden in his dark robes.