Forever a Blue Djinn 02

Commuter Blues

When Trina discovered the powers of her genie heritage that allowed her to alter her body into various forms, animal and otherwise, she thought it wouldn’t be long before she left all the everyday worries that bothered normal people behind. But it didn’t take long for her to discover that being able to change into a dog didn’t help pay her council tax. And turning into a cloud of magical mist didn’t reduce her rent in any way. So she carried on with her dull old job every day while looking for any opportunity to use her abilities to relieve the boredom.

Monday evening, as usual, she logged out of the terminal at her desk, completed the ritual of saying goodbye to her fellow employees at the energy company call centre, and headed toward the lifts. She’d perfected the art of lingering just long enough for the lift to be full with her colleagues before she could enter. Declining their offers of making space by bunching up, she’d affect an air of claustrophobia and protest that she’d be happy enough to wait for the next one. At the moment it began to descend, she would press the call button and wait. The ‘up’ call button.

The short flight of steps from the top floor to the roof ended in a landing that contained only one door. It was never locked and Trina stepped through it to be immediately assaulted by the wind. The only shelter on the roof of the office building was the housing for a series of vents. Trina quickly scurried over to it and ducked down to receive its protection.

If she had gone down to the street and the bus stop it would have taken her nearly an hour to get home. But now that she could wear wings whenever she wanted...

With the practised ease of a habit that she had indulged many, many times, Trina grasped the brass amulet dangling around her neck with her left hand without even looking at it. She blew into her closed fist, causing the amulet to give off a faint whistle. And as she blew, she became blue – literally. Her skin instantly took on a gently fluorescent turquoise shade, transforming a perfectly ordinary human woman into something supernatural and other-worldly. Most people dressed casually for the call centre, but Trina had had a selection of smart blouses and skirts from a previous office job that she’d continued to think of as ‘work clothes’. They looked incongruous worn by this mysterious blue creature of myth. In this form, Trina’s hair was full of body, neatly flowing in its own breeze, entirely separate from the one that had whipped limp strands of her human hair across her face only seconds ago. She was still recognisably Trina, but also something… more.

It had taken time and several calls to the genie help line for Trina to get a handle on her powers. She put into practise one of the lessons she’d learned. Holding her breath and concentrating, she felt herself dissolve. Her clothes dropped to the floor as a cloud of blue – Trina in smoke form – escaped from the skirt and the blouse’s arm and neck holes. As she spread out, the edge of her cloud drifted beyond the vent housing and was caught by a strong gust of wind. Reacting without thinking to the sudden sensation of being blown apart she reverted to solid form, tumbling to the ground with a naked blue thump. Not ideal, but goal achieved. She was now ready to begin transforming in earnest.

She gathered up her clothes and shoes and placed them in a carrier bag. She had tried using something more substantial before now, but she’d found this to be the easiest thing to grasp hold of when you had talons. The so-called ‘subtle body’ of her genie form paid no attention to the cold, even exposed as she was. There was no chill to the blueness of her skin, rather there was a slight glow that suggested she was full of life and energy. It was that energy that Trina was going to call upon now.

She crouched slightly, then threw back her arms behind herself. Turning her head skyward, she let out an uninhibited caw, sounding uncannily like an attacking bird of prey. One of the earliest lessons she had learned upon discovering how to alter her form was that mimicking the cry of the creature she was attempting to become was the surest way of invoking the spirit that would possess and transform her. She had taken the time to study dozens of bird calls and the cries, howls and growls of of a multitude of mammals. Reptiles and fish were proving difficult to her, but she had some ideas she was eager to try out. For now, she felt the familiar surge of adrenalin as her genie body began its astonishing change.

When she felt the prick of feathers emerging along her arms she flexed her biceps and triceps to encourage their growth. It wasn’t a possession, more an inevitable physical sense that she should be the shape of the animal she imagined. Each stretch, each spread of her fingers to form the bones of her wings, each breath that reshaped her breast and backbone, felt like an answer to the cramps and aches that grew in her body. Tensing her muscles eased the gentle pain of these sensations and guided her form into the shape it wanted to become. Facial exercises brought eagle eyes, a powerful beak and fine feathers where once there was hair. Bunching toes helped to speed their transformation into talons. Finally, Trina welcomed her tail feathers. She would now be a white-tailed eagle were it not for the one monochromatic shortcoming of her amazing ability. Even as an eagle, Trina was completely blue. In the late-autumn dusk, the pale luminescence of this magical shade emphasised the uncanniness of what had just taken place. But it was a mundane reason that had led Trina to this transformation. Grasping in her talons the plastic bag that contained her clothes, she beat her enormous wings and took to the sky. Since the day Trina had discovered her genie shapeshifting abilities she hadn’t undertaken any enchanted adventures or mystical quests. But she had saved a ton of time and money on commuting. She glided with practised ease before powering toward home. She’d be there in a matter of minutes.