Take it
“That’s what I want,” you call out. Then you lunge forward, desperately, in an attempt to grab the bottle. Your outreached paw swipes at the genie’s hand. You almost have it, but then he pulls back and your claws meet only air.
“Tsk. Tsk.” The genie chides you with clicking sounds and the wagging of his free index finger. “Not so fast, little sphinx.”
You find yourself snarling. You see the shadows of your uplifted wings before you even realize you had raised them. You are in no mood to play games, and you tell the trickster as much. How dare he taunt you, tease you this way. You won’t be a toy for his amusement. You’ve had enough of his games. You want the vial, and so you decide you’ll simply take it.
The muscles in your thick, feline thighs quiver as you push off the ground with all your might. Your front paws reach out, claws bared, as you attack. You know in that moment, as you soar through the air towards your prey, that you will destroy the genie if you must.
Oh no! You think, just before all four paws touch the ground again. Below you, there is nothing but sand. You turn around and look at where the genie had just been. Now only a few wisps of the rolling clouds of smoke that had replaced him remained. He’d escaped you somehow.
To the left!
Your ears tell you where to look before any other sense. You could hear the subtle shift of his ghostly tail and the stray flecks of sand that shuffled under toe.
You turn to face the genie again quickly. It is astonishing to you just how fluidly your powerful body moves. However, this is no time to admire the demon’s handy work. You will not be a sphinx much longer, you tell yourself, so there was no point in thinking about it too much.
“Give me the vial!” you scream. You show off your fangs and swipe with your extended claws again as a sign of intimidation only. You know you can’t reach him from here, but you are frustrated and he still seems impressed by your might, at the very least.
“Such an impatient one you are.” The genie sighs as though he is the one who has any right to be irritated in this moment. “Don’t attack me, or I won’t help you,” he warns. Then, he moves towards you, holding out the crystal case. “Do you see now?” He pauses.
Written by on 19 March 2019