The Genie and the Sea Spirit (Gem)
Hello! It’s been a while.
I’ll be restarting the newsletter after a long hiatus so you’ll be seeing me every second Wednesday from here on. To start off, a short fantasy story inspired by music and the Gulf.
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The Genie and the Sea Spirit (Gem)
by Aathma Nirmala Dious
Long before our time at the town of Sohar, even before Sinbad the Sailor was born there, there was a Genie there. In his early years, the Genie roamed different lands, making music out of any instrument he passed by to entertain the masses. His favorite instrument however, was the Oud. People who have heard him swore that he was made of music and that even the angriest of spirits would fall to their knees at the music his fingers could make from an Oud. The Genie, unaware of such praises, roamed free and happy, content with his music. Many rich folk sought to keep the Genie in their courts but he declined, for he believed music was meant for all ears.
One of those rich folk, a stubborn merchant who wished to collect all things rare, hired a Witch to capture the Genie. The Witch, who hated the Genie for rejecting her love, devised an evil plan. First, She had the merchant get craftsmen to make an Oud out of wood from the best spruce tree in Sohar and its six strings made of the best silk and copper ore that could be found. The Witch then went to the oceans and came back with a rare enchanted blue pearl that was placed on the back of the Oud’s handle. The Merchant was confused and the craftsmen grumbled but they all stopped for once the pearl was placed on the handle, the Oud shimmered with a blue glow as beautiful as the sky just before sunrise. The Witch plucked a string and the note rang so clear, it summoned all the singing birds by the windows.
A proclamation was sent out: the musician who plays the most beautiful tune on this blue pearl Oud will get to keep it. The Genie, two villages away, heard of the Oud and grew excited to see it for his old Oud had just broken after many years. In disguise, he made his way to the Merchant’s home, which was filled with different musicians vying for the Oud. All the songs sounded great and the merchant’s guests cheered after every musician but the Witch waited, knowing the Genie loved playing at the end after everyone so he was the last song ringing in everyone’s ears.
At last, came the Genie’s turn. The Oud glowed brighter in his hands, which bemused the Witch. When he finished playing, it was not only cheers that erupted from the guests but tears, for the Genie’s song had words that whispered into their hearts about their deepest desires and they did not wish for it to end. The witch saw the Genie distracted and took the chance to curse the Genie and bound the Genie to the Oud so that whoever owned the Oud, owned the Genie too. The merchant and the guests cheered, for that meant the Genie would remain there and awarded the Wizard with bags of gold. Since the merchant owned the Oud still, the Genie was forced to play at his command throughout the days.
That night, when everyone was asleep, the Genie and the Oud were kept in a locked room. The Genie wept at his lost freedom till he heard someone weep alongside him. Confused, he turns to the Oud to find a Sea Spirit sitting beside it, her tears splattering on the wood. She was a beauty, with hair the color of cherries, skin as shiny as the pearl and eyes as dark as the sea’s depths.
“Who are you, Sea spirit? How are you here in my prison? You should be roaming the beaches and protecting the fisherfolk with your poems.” the Genie asked.
The Sea Spirit spoke. “I am the soul of the Pearl in this Oud. The witch came to our shores looking for a gem that could capture music, found me in my shell and took me away from my home. As long as my pearl is in the handle of the Oud, I cannot leave.”
Even in tears, her voice sounded divine and Genie realized the words he heard when playing the Oud was her singing this whole time. “I am sorry you were taken from your home to serve the witch. Take comfort that we have each other as companions, my Gem. We will have our freedom someday. For now we shall sit in the moonlight and dream of the sunrise we shall watch from your oceans when we are free.”
“Why do you call me Gem?” The Sea Spirit giggled and the Genie was glad he was able to make her smile.
“A pearl is a Gem and you are a rare Gem at that. Why would I not call you what you are?”
The Spirit laughed. The Genie, even in his prison, smiled.
For many days that became months, then years and then decades, The Genie and the Sea spirit made songs together, the Spirit’s words filling the gaps in the Genie’s music. Even under the Merchant’s command, they would do their best to please the listeners, who cheered them and wept with them. Their favorite time was when the merchant traveled to other lands and they were left alone, singing to each other and sharing stories of their lives before capture. The Sea Spirit spoke of her soul sisters who would sing beside her and the fisherfolk who came to her for healing and protection from the sea. The Genie spoke of the lands he had seen, of his brother in spirit, a healer, the kind villagers who give him refuge for the night and the children he would sometimes teach music to.
However as time passed, their songs changed, from yearning for freedom to yearning for each other. Soon, the two beings fell in love and all their songs, even when intending to speak of anything else, became about love. The songs had listeners rushing to their lovers to confess, had husbands and wives make amends and women pray for love to come their way. The Genie and the Sea Spirit slowly started to speak of a future together where he’d roam by the shores that met the sea with the fisherfolk, playing music to aid the Sea spirit’s words. They dreamt of walking free under the moonlight and sing their favorite song about watching the sunrise. The Genie, in hopes of freeing the both of them, slowly saved his energy, feeding it with moonlight as he waited for a shooting star that came every third century. On the day the shooting star would pass by, it would increase his magic three times more than it is and he’ll be able to break his own curse and free the Sea Spirit too. They would both finally be free. Till, then, he will play music to his beloved Gem and listen to her words.
One day, the Genie looked at the Oud and was confused when its glow was fading. He found the Sea Spirit had fainted and when she awoke, she was struggling to even speak a word without pain.
In barely a whisper, she spoke to the Genie. “Being far from the sea weakens me and the longer I am away, the more my voice fades. When my voice is fully gone, so will I.”
The Genie wept. His dear companion was ill and he was helpless because his magic was not strong enough yet.
Do not worry, my Genie. Unless I can go back to the sea, this is how it will be”. The Sea Spirit wiped the Genie’s tears away. “I am happy though. To have you witness me and my words is an honor. Humans who came by the shores often spoke of your music and I got to sing beside you all this time! My only regret will be that I might not get to see a sunrise with you like we’d hoped.”
“Hold on a bit longer, my Gem.” The Genie begged, holding her in his arms. “In two nights, the shooting star will pass by and I’ll have enough to heal you.”
“But you need to play the Oud? Your music needs your magic.”
“I vow to be silent till the star comes.”
For the next two days, the regular listeners were confused at the silence. There were no Oud strings being played or words that reached their heart. The merchant had long died and now his son owned the Oud. The Son found the Genie holding the Sea Spirit, shaking his head refusing to play even when commanded. The witch was summoned and came after the son threatened to take away the Gold his father had given her.
The witch asked the Genie why he would not play. He did not speak. She saw the dying Seap spirit and saw her chance. “I shall free her and take her back to the sea if you choose to love me.”
The Genie glared and shook his head. The witch was stunned and it warmed her heart to see the Genie be so loyal to his beloved. She decided to be benevolent. “ I cannot undo a curse once cast so I cannot free you but I can change the curse so that it weakens just enough for you to give her your magic to heal her. That is all I can do.”
The night of the shooting star, the Genie’s power surged and he began what he had planned.
After he was finished, the Pearl fell from the handle just before the sun began to rise. The Sea Spirit woke up confused. She was alive. She was free! Wondering what was happening, she turned to look for the Genie. To her horror, She found the Genie lying by the Oud, weakened from using up his magic. She ran and knelt beside him, tears streaming down as she asked the Genie what he did.
The Genie smiled with the little strength he had left. “Even with the shooting star and the weakened curse, I only had enough magic to heal you and then free you. Go, my Gem, before they find you. Go to the ocean and see the Sunrise for me. I’ll meet you once I’ve regained my strength and can free myself. It may take a long time so go back home, my beloved.”
The Sea Spirit wailed. “I cannot leave you here! Let me stay till you regain your strength–”
“No. If they find you again, they’ll trap you here and I am too weak to play. Do not worry about me. I’ll find you by the shore when I am free too.” The Genie wiped her tears with his hand. “Keep singing and put your words on the wind so I too can hear them till the day we meet. Just as the shore meets the sea, my heart is with you and all my music will yearn for your words. Now go!”
The fisherfolk on that shore have since spoken of a sea sprit;s voice lamenting her beloved, waiting for his return when they walk past the sea. Sometimes, you can hear them in the wind and the empty shells you find in the sands, its pearls uprooted by men’s hands. The town folk from Sohar will tell you a story in return, of an oud found in an empty room that made no music until one day after a century, the Oud was found broken but its strings echoing a song of joy, as if the music was finally free. Every sunrise since, people who pass by the sea always hear a song about lovers reunited.