I wait and wait for so long it becomes who I am: until change disturbs my quiet.
Backshesh sees the most beautiful purple vapor pour out of the odd sapphire he dropped. The gem is only cracked, but the smoke is billowing out into a thick vapor that he begins to inhale. The fumes coalesce into a familiar shape.
"Jeremy!"
"No! I am not Jeremy. I am a Djinn and I simply took the face you wanted to see most."
"A Djinn, aren't those from some sort of fairy tale?"
My arms wave up and down, "Here I am?"
"Oh, I have heard of this. I get three wishes and we play a game of tricks and logic. I own you until I release you, correct?"
I raise my hand in front of Backshesh's face and snap my fingers together. A thunderclap from all around erupts and Backshesh flinches, closing his eyes. Away from where we were, we stood on the edge of a steep cliff, the cold dry air whooshing between us.
"I have no master! No one owns me!"
Backshesh shivers from cold and fear. He takes a dangerous step back as I step forward.
"What do you want?" Backshesh cries out.
Snap.
Backshesh is standing in black void surrounded by darkness. As he looks down he can see he's in shallow water, the only light emanating from a small sapphire glowing beneath the surface. Backshesh reaches for the gem and loses his footing. He falls face forward into the water. The expectation of a hard surface beneath is let down as he plummets into a deep pool.
Down through liquid darkness he falls. Sinking deeper, until suddenly he's rising. Bursting upward through the water's surface, his feet find solid ground and he staggers upright, gasping. The familiar pond spreads before him, the very place where he first discovered the sapphire. It rests in his palm, as if he never let go. Confused and dripping, he simply wanders home.
A stone hovel emerges from the woods. He enters the cave-like home and sees Jeremy there. Jeremy embraces his frightened, wet brother, trying to calm him. Backshesh tries to explain his vision and presents the sapphire to Jeremy. As Jeremy grasps the sapphire, he coughs, and purple smoke comes from his mouth. The purple vapor starts pouring out of Jeremy until it blocks Backshesh's vision. As the fog subsides, Jeremy is standing in front of him, and he is also lying on the floor.
"I wanted a soul, a simple currency. I took Jeremy's instead of yours to be kind. As part of my benevolence, I'll burden you with immortality."
Backshesh falls to his knees in prayer. "Please God, I wish for my immortality to be gifted to Jeremy."
Something twists in my chest, unfamiliar, unwelcome. I reach for Backshesh's shoulder, rest my hand, and he collapses onto his brother.
"Well now I can't leave,"
The stale unmoving air in the cold stone hovel feels heavy and I wait. I wait for so long because that is what I am. I become stone, watching the desecated remains of Backshesh atop the corpse that doesn't rot called Jeremy.