Tala and the

Genie T kenBy Sofía Sarmiento

Tala and the

Genie T ken

Tala and the

Genie T kenBy Sofía Sarmiento

In the enchanted kingdom of Siremar there lived a little kitten named Tala. Tala was a happy

little kitten, who spent her days eating turkey sandwiches and chocolate cake, but after a while Tala began to tire of that life.

Tala wanted to be a princess. Tala wanted a big castle and a trampoline. But Tala knew, sadly, that kittens could not be princesses. So she decided to continue living her little normal kitten life.

One day, Tala was taking her usual morning stroll. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something sparkle in the gutter. She turned around to look, and she could barely believe her eyes. She had found a genie token!

Genie tokens were about as rare as flying pigs and three-eyed toads. A person was more likely to win the lottery than they were to find a genie token, however the genie token was definitely worth more. The second that Tala saw that genie token, she knew what her wishes would be.

1. She would wish for all the legos she could ever play with2. She would wish for a trampoline3. And the biggest, most important wish of all, she would wish to be a princess

So she got some directions, and headed for the genie’s lair.

As Tala was walking along the path, she thought she felt someone watching her. She turned, but saw nothing, so she continued on. Then, a loud rustling sound came from the bushes behind her. She turned again, however this time, a little pink paw was sticking out of the bottom of the bush. “Hello?” Tala asked. No answer. “Hello?” she asked again, “I can see you!” she called out. Slowly, the little pink paw (along with the rest of it’s body) began to walk towards her.

¬ As the puff revealed itself, Tala discovered that it was a little pink rabbit. “What’s your name?” Tala asked.

“Stella,” the rabbit answered shyly.

“Hi Stella,” Tala said. “My name is Tala, and I’m going to the Genie’s lair to become a princess.”

“Really? A princess?” asked the little rabbit curiously, “Wouldn’t you rather have a tail?” Just then Tala noticed that Stella really didn’t have a tail. How curious, she thought to herself, but decided not to say anything. Then Tala realized that maybe having a tail was more important to Stella than legos were to her.

¬ “Well if you really want a tail, I could give you one of my three wishes,” Tala offered.

“Really?” exclaimed Stella, “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me!”

So off they continued to the genie’s lair.

A little while later, the girls came across some kind of river blocking their path. This was no normal river, because nothing is normal in the Kingdom of Siremar. What flowed in this river was not water, but a sappy reddish liquid. As the girls got closer, they began to smell a familiar scent: yucky medicine. There was no visible way to get across the yucky medicine river, and the girls began to panic.

Suddenly, Tala had what can only be described as a lightbulb moment. She pushed one of the many rocks beside her into the water. “What are you doing?” asked Stella.

“You’ll see,” replied Tala confidently, as she took a leaped onto the rock.

“Pass me another,” She said to her friend, and slowly but surely they made their way across the yucky medicine river by hopping on the path of rocks.

Once they were past the yucky medicine river, they continued on their path towards the lair. All was well until they got to the lost forest. The worst thing about the lost forest was when you got in, it became very difficult to get out. There were no markers as to where you had been, or where you wanted to go. The girls knew they had to get through the forest, heading west, but had not a clue as to how they would do it.

Half an hour had passed, and they still had no idea how to get through the forest. Finally, Tala got another idea. She looked up at the sun, knowing that the sun set in the west, and start-ed heading towards it. She knew that all she had to do was follow the sun, and it would lead her on the right path. Once out of the forest, along with Stella, Tale thought to herself, Nothing else can go wrong, she thought. Sadly, she was wrong. Little did she know, someone had seen her in the forest and was hot on her trail.

So Tala and Stella kept making their way to the Genie’s lair. They walked and walked and walked until it got dark. All they had to guide them was the stars, but they didn’t give up. They knew what they wanted, and they weren’t about to quit. All of a sudden, a dark shadow came out in front of them. It was a big, hairy dog. Tala and Stella were taken aback.

“Hi,” Tala said timidly, “We don’t want to fight. We just need to make our way through, if that’s not too much trouble.”

“Oh I’ll let you through,” said the dog grimly, “If you give me what I want.”

“Um.. Okay, we don’t have much, but what would you like?” replied Tala. Stella was clearly shaky by her side.

“I want your genie token,” said the dog.

Tala was afraid. She knew she couldn’t give the dog her genie token. She couldn’t just betray Stella like that. Plus she really wanted to be a princess. But Tala was very bright, and she knew just how to get out of this hairy situation. “If I gave you the token, what would you wish for?” asked Tala.

“When you give me the token, you mean. I’m gonna wish to be nicer, make some friends, and to be a golden retriever, instead of the scruffy mutt that I am.”

“I’m very sorry,” She began to explain, “but I really cannot give it to you. It’s mine, and my friend Stella and I have some wishes that need to be granted. However,” She continued, “I may have the perfect deal for you.” “I’m listening…” said the dog curiously.

“Well to grant your first wish and be nicer, all you have to do is let us through. That will also grant your second wish, because if you do that, then Stella and I will definitely be your friends. For your third wish, well I can’t grant that one, so I’m willing to give up my wish for a trampo-line, in order for you to have all of your wishes come true,” said Tala very confidently.

The dog thought it through for a few minutes, while Tala and Stella waited patiently for his reply.

“Alright then, we have a deal. I’ll let you through, if we can all be friends, and I can become a handsome golden retriever. My name’s Max by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Max. I’m Tala and this is my friend Stella. Now if you don’t mind, we’d really like to get to the lair, so..”

“I understand perfectly. Let’s get going!” said Max happily. And off they went to the lair.

Several hours later, they finally reached the lair. The got to the entrance, showed the guard their genie token and continued inside to meet the genie.

“Hello!” said the genie. His powerful booming voice echoed throughout the lair. “I hear you have a token for me!”

“Yes!” replied Tala excitedly, “You will not believe what we’ve been through to get here.”

“Do not worry,” replied the genie, “Your efforts will soon be rewarded. Hand me your token.”

Tala placed the token in the genie’s hand, smiling from ear to ear. She would finally become a princess!

“Uh oh,” said the genie worriedly.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” asked the three friends.

“This genie token, it’s not real.”

“No! That can’t be!” exclaimed Tala.

“Well where did you get it?” asked the genie.

“I found it, on the street.”

“That explains it,” replied the genie.

“But we came all this way! We made our way through forests and over medicine rivers!” exclaimed Tala, on the verge of tears.

“Medicine rivers?” asked Max.

“Long story,” said Stella.

“Well, there might be something I can do…” said the genie.

“Yes please, anything would help.” said Tala.

“Since you did come all this way, and I don’t really get many visitors, I’ll grant your three wishes,” said the genie.

“How can we ever thank you?” asked Tala.

“Just being my friend is thanks enough.”

So Tala became a princess, Stella got her tail, Max became the dog he wanted to be, the genie had visitors all the time,

and they lived happily ever after.

About the Author

Sofia Sarmiento was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and later on moved to Atlanta, Georgia. She is currently a student who is studying at the Atlanta International School. Sofia is in the 8th grade, and in her free time enjoys reading, writing, playing basketball, and spending time with her friends and family