Curiosity
You mull over the things you could ask, at least until you get a little tired of having to continually make choices - it’s been a long day, you feel - so you decide you’ll try to get everything you can asked, since why not? However, you decide on where you want to start on this: the history of genie kind, because that honestly fascinates you more than anything in the moment.
‘May I ask a question, Akam?’ you inquire.
He smiles still. “You may ask whatever you wish, Master. I can’t guarantee I’ll answer everything,” he winks at this, “but I am quite fond of you, so, I will most likely give you most of what you want to know. Any particular subjects?”
‘I’m curious still about your histories, and about… Alajeem, was it?’ you ask.
“Ah, yes, yes!” Akam says. He brings his hands together excitedly. “I’m always fond of prattling on for ages about things like our history. I’ll be mindful to avoid that, of course.” He chortles, then waves a hand to you. “Now, what is it you’re wanting to ask in relation to these things? And about Alajeem over here?”
‘You said the reason why genies have to be in lamps and stuff is because of this one djinn who put a curse on an ancient civilization, right?’ You glance over toward the vase and stare at it for a moment, then return your gaze to Akam. ‘Alajeem was one of the ones that agreed with that original genie, but he isn’t the one primarily responsible for it. If I recall?’
Akam nods. “Yes, Master. That is correct.”
‘What happened to the original genie?’ you ask. ‘What was his name?’
Akam pauses here. His features grow slightly more serious. “That is… a complex matter to go into. Not because I do not wish to speak of it to you, mind, but because it’s hard to put into words that would make sense.”
He scratches his chin again, thinking. You wait, too curious to be impatient.
“His name is no longer one I can utter,” Akam says after a moment. “Part of his punishment was, in essence, the stripping of everything he was - thus, his name is literally no longer in existence. No djinn, no matter their age, can speak it, nor recall what it used to be. I dare say even the oldest djinn who were responsible for the punishment no longer know what it was, only that there was at one point a name. But, then, I could be wrong on that, for I am not one of the oldest among our kin.”
You frown. ‘His punishment was forgetting his name?’
Akam shakes his head. “No, no. Not quite like that.”
He closes his eyes and takes another pause to think, and you can tell he is really putting a lot of effort into whatever he’s mulling over.
“Imagine you grow up knowing someone,” Akam remarks at last, and his eyes reopen. “That someone could be a close friend or a mere acquaintance, but you know them, and they know you. And say that friend’s name is…”
Another beat while he thinks of a name.
‘Steve?’ you offer.
Akam smiles. “Yes! Steve. Let’s say his name is Steve. You grow up alongside Steve from an early age up until adulthood, when you are both in your late twenties, maybe even older, as you maintain a constant sort of relationship to some degree. Regardless. Throughout this time, Steve has shown to be a decent person. He doesn’t do anything too illegal, he is not cruel, nor biased, nor overly derogatory toward anyone else. You like Steve. To you, he’s friendly, polite, and a kind human being. Until one day, that changes.”
Akam holds up a hand and hovers over to be in front of you. “In fact, everyone likes Steve. He has many friends, and many acquaintances, since this community is so very close. No one ever has a bad thing to say about Steve.”
‘Okay,’ you say. ‘I’m with you say far…’
Akam’s features grow a little more severe as he continues. “Steve does something that is completely out of the blue for him,” Akam says. “What he does is not technically illegal, no, yet his actions are atrocious - he has essentially done a morally abhorrent deed that is enough to shock everyone around him, you included, to the point where nearly everyone, feels the ripple effect of his decision, and then, his lack of consideration after the fact.”
You absorb this - you understand what Akam is getting at, for sure.
“Steve is punished for his choices,” Akam says. “And one of those punishments? He loses his name. His identity. Meaning… from that moment on, Steve is no longer Steve. He is a man with no name, as if he never had a name to begin with. It doesn’t matter that you knew him since childhood, you cannot call him Steve. No one can, because your brain refuses to do so.”
Akam taps the side of his temple. “He becomes a pariah within the entire community you live in, a literal non-entity. He exists, yes. He can speak, and he can act, and he can do all things you can do. But you no longer pay attention to him. You ignore his words, you ignore his presence entirely, because you don’t see him as a human being. You see him… the same way you would view a speck of dirt. He may as well be completely invisible.”
You stare. Your mind races with this information. You need a moment to reflect, and then piece it together - but you feel like you have a grasp now.
‘So, in other words,’ you say, ‘this djinn… he’s been erased from your society, almost like he’s been wiped out of your memory?’
“Mm, yes, close,” Akam says with a nod. “I know what he did. I know how he felt and what he said, and how little he was bothered by his actions. But, I no longer know his name. I have long forgotten the sound of his voice, the color of his flesh, and everything about what he was as an actual entity. That, Master, was his punishment. At least,” he smirks, “part of his punishment.”
‘There’s more?’
“Can you imagine what life would be like were you in that situation?” Akam asks. “Where you knew you were a living, breathing person, but literally no one ever even bothered to register your presence? You could talk to everyone, and while some may look directly at you, none of them would ever respond, as if you weren’t talking at all. You would be ignored by everyone… by everything.”
You gawk. That is… the thought sinks into you, and you admit, it’s a scary idea - the notion of being ignored entirely sends a shiver rippling up your spine.
‘I’m sure some people would get a kick out of that, though,’ you remark.
“Mm. At first, maybe.” Akam folds his arms. “But even the most selfish or the most uncaring of humans would eventually grow to resent this. You would be surprised, actually… Sociopathic and psychopathic humans, too, would eventually spiral at the lack of any sort of acknowledgment, I dare say.”
‘Does that mean this djinn, the one behind the cursing… he’s still alive?’ you ask.
“Ah…” Akam’s smirk returns. “That is the beauty of the other part of the punishment. Yes, he is alive. But I would wager that none of us would proclaim what he has to be a ‘life’ any longer. You see, Master, we djinn are entities that exist… separate from your world, despite the fact we live within your world.”
You blink a few times. ‘…huh?’
“We are not bound to the same things you are,” Akam explains. He eyes you with a look that he is sincerely wanting to help you grasp his meaning. “We are beings born from flesh and an essence you liken to magic, is what I mean. But your laws… the moral laws, the physic laws, the nature of time and gravity and age… these do not affect us. Does that help you understand?”
‘I… I think so,’ you say. Your head spins with all this information. ‘So, um. You live here, on Earth, but, you aren’t on the same, uh… like the same plane of reality, I guess?’
“Yes, that’s an apt way of putting it,” Akam says, nodding.
‘Jeez, that is a lot to take in,’ you think.
He chuckles. “Apologies, Master. I do not blame you for any confusion.”
‘But, you were saying?’
“We exist separately from you mortals, but our nature as djinn excels when our two spheres work in tandem.” He gestures between the two of you. “Even before the events that led to us being chained down, if you will, we djinn worked best when we formed mutual companionship with humans. Without you… we are empty, and without meaning.” He gestures to the vase. “Trapped. And so, that djinn is trapped. Except in his case, not in a vase or a lamp.”
You stare again, but you now cannot help but feel even more curious. You do note that some time has passed, so, perhaps you could go and see about Shira and Ali - yet at the same time, you feel compelled to learn even more…
Do you?
Written by Hollowpages on 20 December 2020
