Mindy Gets Her Wish

By

Eric Franklin © 2010

(Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of I Dream of Jeannie; they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. I do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters I have created, please ask first.)

~*7*~

Another ten minutes into the meal they had an abrupt interruption. Zahra appeared at the other end of the extended table with both front paws around the roast sheep and her mouth opened wide as if to chomp into it. Tony jumped out of his chair and hid behind it while Mindy glared at her tiger.

"Zahra! That is not nice to take food like that. You scared my Master! Now let go of it and go back upstairs."

Zahra used her magic to 'reply' to Mindy by telepathy. 'But I smelled the food and I was hungry! You have so much here. Why not share some with me?'

'Because it was not made for you. I will make your food for you when I am done with my Master. Now go back upstairs!'

'No! I want to eat now!' Zahra was acting just like a child, thought Mindy. Yet, that was how so many pets acted with their owners; why would it be any different with magical pets?

'Zahra,' she replied, folding her arms up before her. 'Do as you are told!'

The threat of the blink was enough for her and she blinked out. It made Mindy giggle a little as she blinked the sheep out and replaced it with a leg of lamb. She then got up to comfort her Master.

"I am sorry about that, Master. That was my pet tiger, Zahra—" she started.

"Who has a tiger for a pet?! Jeannie! That's too dangerous to have as a pet. And how did it just appear, then disappear? Is it a djinni, too?" he asked, still trembling. Mindy did her best to offer comfort, snaking her arms around his chest and holding him close.

"In a way, she is, Master. Mirrilla taught me how to impart magic into objects, even your house. She wondered if I might be powerful enough to turn animals into djinn, so we tried it with a tiger I blinked up, and Zahra is the result. She has not been in this world for long, so she does not understand how things work. But, I gave her enough intelligence that I could talk to her and she would understand. I cannot guarantee she will always obey, but I can take care of things with a blink!"

"I don't know, Jeannie. It still seems pretty dangerous, especially if she has magic powers, too..."

"She is very tame, Master. I will introduce you to her later if you wish?"

"That would probably be for the best. I only hope she doesn't take a liking to me as more than a friend!"

"Oh Master!" Mindy laughed and helped him back to his chair, seating herself in his lap that time, her arms wrapped around his neck. "I told you, she is very tame! She would not hurt a fly, or a human."

"Okay, I trust you on that, but I'm still nervous. Going into space, doing EVAs, no problem. Petting a massive animal that could rip my head off in one swipe, big problem!"

"I will be with you the whole time, Master," she said, rubbing her nose against his. He reciprocated and held her closer.

"I guess dinner's over? I was getting kind of full anyway. I just need to either run this off or something else. Let's get up," he said and started to help Mindy down. Only she just blinked and they were standing next to the table, her arms wrapped around him once more. She could stay like that for all eternity if she wanted, too.

"Uh, okay? I guess that's one way to do it. What about all the leftovers?" he asked and Mindy blinked it all away, leaving an empty table with a bowl of flowers in the middle and all the chairs returned to their places. It looked as if no one had ever been at it all evening. Mindy giggled at his jumpy reaction and slack-jaw look.

"No matter how well I understand that, I still won't get used to it," he said and guided Mindy over to the living room, stopping when he looked for a time at the paintings on the other wall. His favorite, that of Pegasus in flight somewhere around Mount Olympus, hung over the mantel with other paintings of Greek mythology here and there across the rest of the wall space. Pegasus had always held his interest the most, though. To be able to fly like that must have been a huge thrill to him, assuming he ever existed at all. Although, if magic was real, he pondered, then maybe Pegasus had been real at one time. He could be real again, only with a different mind, if Jeannie could make that come true...

"Jeannie? Can you do anything? Anything at all?"

"Yes Master, I can. The only thing I may not be able to do is turn other people into djinn, but Mirrilla and I are not entirely sure of that."

"Well, I don't want to be a djinni, but I was wondering if you had the power to turn me into something for a while? I wouldn't want to remain that way permanently, just for an hour or so," he said, still gazing at Pegasus. Mindy caught the direction of his gaze and had a good idea of what he was asking.

"Do you wish me to turn you into a pegasus, Master?" she asked, getting excited about turning into something, too. She had turned into many things earlier that day and wanted to do more of it. Now her Master was about to wish to be turned into something as 'mythical' as she.

"Pegasus, Jeannie. There was only the one and his name was Pegasus. I think they just called him a flying horse. People now use his name for what he was, but that's not right. I'd love to know what it was like for him, though. To be able to fly like that, so free and unencumbered! I can barely imagine it, even if I concentrate."

"No need to do that any longer, Master! I would be happy to grant this wish for you," she said, stepping back to fold her arms up for the magic. With all the right thoughts in place, she nodded her blink and the two of them vanished.