Stanley and the Magic Lamp - Jeff Brown [10]
“Thank goodness!” Mrs. Lambchop hesitated. “It is very late. Could you begin the reversing now, do you think?”
Prince Haraz nodded. “I’ll do the whole family in a bunch. Let’s see … Strength, famous, tennis, two flying. Ready, Arthur? No more Mighty Man after this, I’m afraid.”
“Will I feel weak?” Arthur asked. “Will I flop over?”
The genie shook his head. “Mandrono!” he said. “Mandrono, Mandrono, Mandrono, Mandrono!”
Arthur felt a prickling on the back of his neck. When the prickling stopped, he gave the big desk a shove, but couldn’t budge it.
“I’m just regular me again,” he said. “Oh, well.”
“And I am just Harriet Lambchop again,” said Mrs. Lambchop, smiling. “An unimportant person.”
“To all of us, my dear, you are the most important person we know,” said Mr. Lambchop. “Arthur, you are as strong as you were yesterday. Think of it that way.”
The genie sipped the last of his hot chocolate. “Where was I? Oh, yes …” He glanced at the Askit Basket. “Mandrono!” The basket vanished. “Just the Liophant now,” he said.
Everyone looked at the Liophant, who was sitting up now in the corner, scratching behind his lion ears with his elephant trunk. Stanley patted him, and the Liophant licked his hand.
“How sweet!” Mrs. Lambchop said. “George, perhaps…?”
“What makes Liophants truly happy,” said the genie, “is open spaces, and the company of other Liophants.”
“Then send him where it’s like that,” Stanley said bravely, patting again. The Liophant vanished halfway through the pat.
For a moment no one spoke.
“Good for you, Stanley,” Mr. Lambchop said softly. “And now you must think of a last wish to make.”
While Stanley thought, Mrs. Lambchop collected the hot chocolate cups. “Where will you go now, Prince Haraz?” she said.
“Back into that stuffy little lamp,” said the genie. “And then it’s wait, wait, wait! Hundreds and hundreds of years, probably. It’s my punishment for playing too many tricks. My friends warned me, but I wouldn’t listen.”
He sighed. “Mosef, Ali, Ben Sifa, little Fawz. Such wonderful fellows! I think of them when I’m alone in the lamp, the fun they must be having. The games, the freedom….” His voice trembled, and the Lambchops felt very sorry for him.
Suddenly, Arthur had an idea. He whispered it to Stanley.
“Why the whispering?” the genie said crossly. “Let’s have that last wish, Stanley, and I’ll smoke back into my lamp.”
The brothers were smiling at each other. “Good idea, right?” said Arthur.
“Oh, yes!” Stanley turned to the genie. “Here is my last wish, Prince Haraz. I wish for you not to stay in the lamp, but to go back where you came from, to be with your genie friends and have good times with them, forever from now on!”
Prince Haraz gasped. His mouth fell open.
Mr. Lambchop worried that he might faint. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Is Stanley not allowed to set you free?”
“Yes, yes … it’s allowed.” The genie spoke softly. “But nobody ever used a wish for the sake of a genie. Not until now.”
“How selfish people can be!” said Mrs. Lambchop.
Prince Haraz rubbed his eyes. “What a fine family this is,” he said, beginning to smile. “I thank you all. The name of Lambchop will be honored always, wherever genies meet.”
His smile enormous now, he shook hands with each of the Lambchops. The last shake was with Stanley, and the genie was already a bit smoky about the edges. By the time he let go of Stanley’s hand, he was all smoke, a dark cloud that swirled briefly over the little lamp on the desk, then poured in through the spout until not a puff remained.
Full of wonder, the Lambchops gathered about the lamp, and after a moment Arthur put his lips to the spout.
“Good-bye, Prince Haraz!” he called. “Have a nice trip!”
From within the lamp, a faraway voice called back, “Bless you all….” And then there was only silence in the room.
Mr. Lambchop was the first to speak. “I’m proud of you, Stanley,” he said. “Your last wish was generous and kind.”
“It was my idea, actually,” Arthur said, and Mrs. Lambchop kissed the top of