Genie was finally free of his chains. Finally free of the curse of a genie, after all these thousands of years. He was free. He could do whatever he pleased. So he began to whistle as he floated along through the forest.
Somewhere not too far away, a small green cricket wandered along, playing with his umbrella, swinging it over one shoulder, then the other, he danced to the cheery tune playing only in his own mind. He paused, stopping in his tracks and listening carefully. He thought he'd heard a whistle. But when he focused, he couldn't hear a sound. Not the wind whispering through the trees, nor the sound of birdsong. But then.. Yes! There it was! A whistle. He rubbed his hands together happily. Just when he had started to wonder if there was any work left for him, it seemed another job had come through! There was someone else to help! The whistling continued long enough for Jiminy to follow the sound, leading him right to the energetic, bubbly blue Genie.
Jiminy pressed his gloved hands hard onto his hips, his feet digging into the ground as he stared up at Genie, towering before him.
"I'm free!" Declared Genie, swirling around in giddy circles, unable to be still. He shook his wrists, showing off the absence of the two golden cuffs that had signaled his imprisonment.
"I am delighted for you, Genie," said Jiminy. "But you mustn't lose your head."
A wide, goofy grin stretched across Genie's lips. He extended his arm out, allowing his head to fall into his hand with a loud 'plop'. "Oops!" he said, not at all fazed by Jiminy's unamused expression. "I'd lose my head if it wasn't screwed on!"
"Indeed you would," said Jiminy, folding his arms across his chest for a brief moment as he stared at the sight before him. He shook his head and rushed toward Genie, practically sprinting on his tiny little legs.
Genie leaned down into a crouch, allowing Jiminy to help him push his head back into it's rightful place atop his neck.
"Genie," he said, when the latter finally settled into a seated position, hovering a few metres from the ground. "I know you. I know your potential. You led that Aladdin to the girl of his dreams."
Genie's smile returned, though smaller and softer than before. "I did," he said, remembering the adventures he'd had with the street rat turned Arabian prince. "You helped that Pinochio become a real boy, just like he'd always wanted."
Jiminy wanted to agree, but felt his cheeks growing hot at the very thought. "I went along for the ride," he said instead.
"As did I," said Genie, lost in memories of his adventures.
"But Genie, I mean it. Don't forget your head." Jiminy reached out to stop him repeating the same head popping gag as earlier at his wo.
"Ooh. He's serious," said Genie at the sight of Jiminy, heels dug into the ground, hands on hips and lips in a perfectly straight line.
Jiminy's lips gravitated downwards at the corners.
"Don't you like having just a little fun, Jiminy?" Genie asked, still grinning a little
"I don't mind a little song and dance, no."
"You could have fooled me."
Jiminy's hands migrated once again to his hips. "Now, what's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean you don't seem the type to want to have a little fun." A goofy grin began to stretch across Genie's lips.
"I know how to have fun!" Jiminy protested, beginning an impromptu tap dance using his umbrella as a cane. He jumped this way and that, rocking between heel and toe and click clacking away. Before he knew what was going on, Genie had joined him, tapping away in perfect synchrony.
"See?" Said Jiminy when they had finished. "I know how to have fun."
"Old fashioned fun," Genie said in clarification.
"But still fun," said Jiminy, his voice raised an octave or two louder than usual.
Genie nodded, leaning down to whisper into his ear. "Old fashioned fun is often the best kind."
The smile that appeared on Jiminy's face was the smallest bit smug, a hint of his pleasure at his tiny triumph bubbling through.
"Heck, I can have all the fun I like." Genie somersaulted in mid air before zooming around the clearing. Jiminy watched on, open mouthed at Genie's speed. He was barely a blur of sky blue, almost blending in with the cloudless sky above their heads. But just as quickly, he'd disappear. Jiminy could only vaguely hear his prolonged, joyful cry of "I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"Well, no wonder he didn't think I could have any fun," said Jiminy under his breath. "He's the master of fun." But, Jiminy couldn't help but laugh along with Genie as he whizzed around. He jumped at the unexpected feeling of a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Genie grinning back.
"Sorry Jiminy, didn't mean to scare ya!" he said, chuckling a little, as if this had been precisely his intention all along. "But my point is, don't be afraid to loosen up a little. Have a little fun once in a while!" Genie's large hands easily covered Jiminy's small shoulders, and he shook. For Genie, the jostle had been light, but to Jiminy, it felt like an earthquake. Genie released his hand, and Jiminy shook still, like a spinning ride slowing down after it's been played with.
"Sorry little guy," said Genie, placing a steadying hand briefly on Jiminy's shoulder. Jiminy quickly stepped back, shaking Genie's hand from him. Genie raised his hands in surrender, his mouth falling open the slightest fraction. "Sorry," said Genie again, at a loss for what else to say.
Jiminy shook his head, his gaze falling to the ground before returning to meet Genie's eyes. "I am the helper," said Jiminy. "I shouldn't need help myself."
Genie lowered himself into a seated position once more and allowed his lips to stretch into a grin. Perhaps not as bright as the Cheshire Cat, but not as zany either, though Jiminy wondered, and worried.
Genie's face softened as he looked at Jiminy. "You think I need help though, don't you?"
"You whistled!" said Jiminy, rising to his feet, hands on hips.
"You rubbed your hands together," said Genie, his voice calm and even.
"How would you know?"
"When you've been stuck in an old lamp as long as I have, and your big cue is someone rubbing it, you get to recognise it."
"So?"
"Like I said, that's my cue."
"Whistling's mine," said Jiminy, and Genie laughed. At this, Jiminy's frown deepened, as did the crease between his eyes.
"We both thought the other needed our help," said Genie. "But maybe, we both do need help. Me to not go too overboard and.."
Jiminy waved a hand in the air, stopping Genie in his tracks, and sighed. "Ok," he said. "Maybe I do need a little help." Jiminy gulped. "Not to be so strung up." He sighed heavily. "I suppose you have a point there, Mr. Genie."
"Hmm?" said the Genie, leaning in close.
"We are the helpers," said Jiminy. "But we can't help others if you we don't help ourselves first. If I get too high-strung, I might limit those I can help because I'm trying to follow the rules to the letter."
Genie shrugged. "Sometimes, help requires out of the box thinking. And if I don't keep my head screwed on.."
Jiminy rushed forward again to prevent Genie popping it off, tutting.
Genie grinned, his head fixed in place, "at least sometimes," he said, "I might not be grounded enough to help."
"That would make you the one in need of the helping," came an unfamiliar voice, deep with a rich Jamaican accent. Genie and Jiminy turned toward the sound to see a small, bright red crab scuttling toward them.
Genie and Jiminy stared at the newcomer in silence a moment before Genie broke it with the question hovering on the tips of both of their tongues. "What are you doing here?"
"You clicked." The crustaceon's gaze turned from Genie to Jiminy. "But, we must also allow those we help the freedom to make their own choices," he said, returning to the original topic of conversation.
"Even if it gets them into trouble," Jiminy agreed, matter of fact.
"Then we'll be there to help get them free again." Genie finished with a grin. Jiminy and Sebastian the crab looked at him. "I may not be forced to do this anymore," said Genie. "But I do of my own free will. I want to help people. Don't you?"
Jiminy and Sebastian nodded. The three friends piled their hands, or in Sebastian's case, pincer, atop one another's and smiled.
Help is on the way!