“Did anything
interesting happen at school today?” Helen asked.
“You
wouldn’t believe the half of it!” Quinn said.
“Why
wouldn’t I believe it, Quinn?” Helen asked.
“’Cause
it would sound totally crazy! The events were totally fantastical!”
Quinn said.
“I
wouldn’t say, totally fantastical,” Daria said, with her
usual sarcasm.
“Maybe
not totally fantastical, but the events at school today were
rather close!” Quinn said.
“Fantastical,
in what way? What has that Ms Li gotten the student body into now?”
Helen asked.
“Mo-om!
It has nothing to do with Ms Li!” Quinn said. Helen had a confused
look on her face, Quinn was being rather elusive.
“Mom,
if one talked about magic, extra floors appearing on school buildings
and rumours of pool water in classrooms the listeners would be
convinced that the speaker was going crazy, or that they were making
up a story. And that is just what I had heard by the end of the day,”
Daria said.
“You
are right. I would think that someone saying that would be crazy. I
also think that is a great idea for one of your stories,”
Helen said.
“I wish
it was,” Daria said. Helen could tell that her older daughter was
telling the truth.
“Quinn,
is what Daria is saying true? About magic and extra floors?” Helen
asked.
“That
wasn’t the half of it. Much more stuff occurred,” Quinn said.
“Isn’t
this like a Disney movie?” Jake asked. “Not that I ever got to
see a Disney movie when I was a kid! I wanted to see 101
Dalmatians! But no! My Father said that animal and Disney
movies were for sissies!”
“Jake!”
“Da-ad!”
“Didn’t
we see The Lion King when it finally appeared at Highland’s
cinema?”
“Yes,
we did, kiddo. Thanks. What were we talking about?”
“Quinn
was saying that fantastical events occurred at the High School
today,” Helen said.
“Right,
I became aware of it when I heard Tiffany ask why Sandi was floating.
I then saw that Sandi was floating,” Quinn began. She
continued to spill the beans about what had happened at recess and
during the following period.
“So
Quinn, can anyone else back up this fantastical story?” Helen
asked.
“The
idea of Sandi Griffin with the power a genie can give her is
frightening,” Daria said, her voice showing a trace amount of fear.
“Dar-i-a!
Didn’t I say that?” Anyway, Stacy and Tiffany can back me up. So
can Jeffy, Joey and Jordan. Mr O’Neill can vouch for the water
filled classroom. Then there are the other members of the class. Ms
Barch was aware of the extra floor almost from the outset. That Goth
chick was present when Sandi was one-upped by the genie. That Ted guy
is also aware from Elias telling him...” Quinn began.
“That
is enough Quinn,” Helen interrupted. “As soon as we’re finished
eating, I’ll be calling the Rowe’s and the Blum-Deckler’s.”
“Ok,”
Quinn said.
Helen
called the Rowe’s and Stacy filled her in on her point of view of
the happenings that day. Stacy corroborated Quinn’s story and gave
Helen much more extra information.
Tiffany
also corroborated Quinn and Stacy’s stories and gave her extra
information (though nowhere near the amount that Stacy did.)
Over an
hour later, an almost exhausted Helen clicked off the phone from her
conversation with Mr O’Neill. His story and those of Joey, Jeffy
and Jamie corroborated with those of Quinn, Stacy and Tiffany.
She
briefly considered calling the Griffin’s but decided not to. If the
idea of Sandi with a genie was frightening to her older daughter, who
wasn’t usually frightened by anything, then the idea of Linda
with a genie was even more frightening!
‘There
is nothing that can be done about it tonight. Quinn and her friends
will have to keep an eye on Sandi tomorrow at school and then
tomorrow afternoon I will see if I can get off work and talk to their
parents,’ she thought. She hoped that she would be able to get off
work, Vitale, Davis, Horowitz, Rhiordan, Shrechter and Shrechter had
a large case load, and she wasn’t sure whether she could trust Jake
with trying to talk to the other parents. She then went up to bed.
Meanwhile
the junior squirrels had reported to Captain Jaywi the information
that Quinn had divulged to her family.
“So it
is a genie; just as the Emperor suspected!” Captain Jaywi said.
“Yes,”
Yogez said. Captain Jaywi was in thought.
“The
Emperor has to be informed. This Griffin girl could cause a lot of
trouble with that genie,” he said. He then looked at the sky. It
was way past sunset and the moon wasn’t visible, it having been the
new moon the day before.
“It
can wait until the morning though,” he continued. The Varmittan
Empire only conducted its business at night if it was an absolute
emergency. As serious as the Non-Normative Event sequence appeared,
it was still not an absolute emergency.
“We
wait until morning?” the other junior squirrel said.
“As
soon as most of the stars have disappeared, I will go to the
Palace-Tree,” Captain Jaywi said. The two junior squirrels agreed.
The
squirrels were not the only eavesdroppers upon the Morgendorffer
family’s discussion about the events of the day. A family of
sapient mice living in the space between the ceiling of the kitchen
and the floorboards of Daria’s bedroom had also overheard their
discussion.
After
Helen had called Stacy, the mice went into a discussion of their
own...
“...this
is serious! There hasn’t been a verified genie in Pennsylvania for
decades!” one of them said.
“What
can be done? It is a human with a genie! It is not like we can just
grab it off this ‘Sandi’ person. She’d just wish us away!”
one of the other mice said.
“Maybe
the Varmittan Squirrels can help us?” another mouse said.
And so
the mice argued amongst themselves for over an hour about what to do,
before deciding to convene with the other mice of that section of
Glen Oaks Lane in the morning.
At 8:30
Stacy Rowe went up to her bedroom. She was tired from her discussion
with Quinn’s mother about the events of the day. Her own mother had
hardly believed what they were talking about, until she had talked to
Helen herself.
Stacy
opened her most recent diary and began writing about the events of
the day.
Diary
of Anastasia Elizabeth ‘Stacy’ Rowe – February 18, 1999
(Summary)
If
someone had told me yesterday that the events that happened today
would happen in the next 24 hours, I would have told them that they
were crazy. And yet they have happened and so I am still trying to
come to terms with them. I keep expecting to wake up to find out that
it was just a dream!
It
all started when Tiffany and I arrived at school...
Arriving
at School – Where is Sandi? Waiting for Quinn, looking for Sandi.
Homeroom
Information
about meeting Sandi and Jean outside the history classroom.
Summary
of History notes
Summary
of Mathematics notes
The
weird events of recess, beginning with Tiffany’s noticing that
Sandi was floating until Sandi’s confrontation with Brooke.
Events
of the aborted Language Arts lesson.
Language
Arts Lesson
I
thought that the problems caused by Jean’s mischievous nature would
not have had continued into the next class. After all she hadn’t
caused problems in History or Mathematics. But I was wrong, very
wrong. I had got out my copy of Charles Dickens’ David
Copperfield and my notebook and then the classroom filled with
water!
‘Oh no!
Why are Sandi and/or Jean acting like this?’ she thought, beginning
to panic. She looked around. She saw that Sandi had appeared and was
glaring at Jean. ‘Not entirely her fault then,’ she thought. She
also saw Quinn glaring at Sandi. ‘Good, Quinn,’ she thought,
feeling the usual fondness for her best friend.
‘OMG!
If Jean doesn’t displace the water we’re going to drown!’ she
started crying and her heart rate went up. At least with the water no
one would notice the tears, but she knew that an accelerated heart
rate wouldn’t help matters at all.
She then
saw that the water was going down. She looked over to the window to
see Tiffany float out!
‘Tiffany!’
she thought in anguish.
5 seconds
later the water level was down to the level of the windows.
“Sandi!”
Quinn yelled.
“Oh,
dear!” Mr O’Neil said, it was clear that he was trying to make
sense of the situation. Stacy went over to the window and saw that
Joey was asking Tiffany if she was ok. ‘Good of you, Joey,’ she
thought.
“I’m
Freeeezing, and my hair is ruuuined,” Tiffany said in response to
Joey’s question. She could see that Tiffany was ok. Joey then
jumped back into the classroom, causing a splash.
Stacy
then listened to the conversation in the classroom.
“I am a
mischievous Genie,” Jean said.
“But
Genie’s don’t exist,” Mr O’Neill said.
“But,
how would you explain what just happened?” Stacy asked, wondering
how else Mr O’Neill could explain it.
“I
don’t have an explanation,” Mr O’Neill said.
Elias
and Jeffy opened the door and the water emptied from the classroom,
carrying many books and chairs with it. Quinn was angry. She blamed
Sandi for the happenstance. I was angrier at Jean. It wasn’t really
Sandi’s fault that the Genie that she has found is mischievous.
End of
Flashback
The
conclusion of the happening in the Language Arts classroom and
discussions about the genie.
Summary
of Science notes
Summary
of discussions at lunch
Summary
of Geography notes
Summary
of Economics notes
Post
school discussions about Sandi and the genie at the Blum Deckler’s
house.
Arrival
at home and dinner
Discussion
with Mrs Morgendorffer and Mom
In
conclusion, the events of the day were confusing and frightening. We
do not know what is going to happen tomorrow or on any of the days
after that. I do hope that Sandi will not use the power that the
Emerald is giving her for ill. Tomorrow I will be meeting Quinn and
Tiffany at Quinn’s house before going to school. I hope that
tonight’s sleep will allow us rest and that clearer heads will
allow us to come to some sort of decision before we go to school.
Weather
forecast for tomorrow: Maximum temperature 50 degrees Fahrenheit,
overcast with possible rainfall or snow later in the evening.
Having
finished writing in her diary, Stacy set her alarm to 7:00 and tried
to go to sleep.
White
House Situation Room, Washington DC
President
William Jefferson Clinton was looking at a satellite image of an area
of a town, centred around a high school.
“What
is significant about this Pennsylvania town anyway?” he asked.
“A
variety of weird events have been reported from Lawndale and its
vicinity ever since the town was founded, Mr President. However the
reason why you are here is a specific happening that happened today.”
“What
is that event?” the President asked, all business.
The image
changed zooming into the High School. “This is Lawndale High
School. This image was taken this morning at 0800. This is the school
as it normally is, Mr President,” the National Security Advisor
said.
The image
changed, showing the extra floor on the science block. “And this is
school as it is now. This image was taken at 1400.”
The
President looked at the image with incredulity. “Is that an extra
floor on one of the school’s buildings?” he asked.
“Precisely,
Mr President, there are many theories as to how this has occurred,
but all of them involve magic.”
That got
the President’s attention. He had been briefed on many
organisations and groups that used magic shortly after his
inauguration, but none of them had been active anywhere near
Pennsylvania. “The closest group I can think of is the Salam
Coven,” he said, thinking of the most active group that he was
aware of.
“They
have been inactive since last September, Mr President. They have gone
into hiding,” the National Security Advisor said.
“What
is your theory?” the President asked.
“Our
experts in the matter have largely theorised that it may be what is
termed a ‘genie’, Mr President.
The
President was surprised. He hadn’t been informed of the possibility
of the existence of genies. He argued with the National Security
Advisor about why he had not been informed (most of the evidence was
indirect and there hadn’t been any activity that would be
conclusive evidence on record in American territory at any point
after 1776).
The
briefing went on for another 20 minutes.
Elsewhere
Other
organisations, both part of the United States Government and not
part of it, were aware of some aspect of the events in Lawndale and
were each making their own plans and preparing to send agents to the
suburban town...
