The World of Myth Magazine

Around the time humans celebrate Thanksgiving, the Djinn have a celebration, too. It’s called The Harvest and it’s a time to celebrate all things having to do with root vegetables. If it sounds bland and boring it’s because it is. Or would be if not for the ever-industrious Djinn who for centuries have augmented what could be a rather dour get-together of assorted aunts and uncles and grandparents with a very special gift of their own making. Mead, a beery concoction based on honey and mixed with various grains and/or fruits. It’s something all the male djinns make to greater or lesser success, and it is drunk in copious amounts by the adults in the hours leading up to the Harvest celebration with its presentation of sweet potato soup, rutabaga hash, and pumpkin pie, followed by squash cookies. Usually, by the time the family staggers to the table and sits down, no one cares what they are eating as long as the mead keeps flowing, which it always does.

It was just such an occasion that Hope Elderberry was hoping for, and this year was no exception. By the time her mom and dad and younger brother and younger sister and her grandparents on both her mom and dad’s side and her favorite aunt, Betsy, her mom’s older sister, all sat down, the mood was beyond gay; it was ebullient.

After the first round of rutabaga hash was served and everyone was digging in after helping themselves to more mead, Hope tapped the side of her glass (water because she wasn’t drinking) and said, “Hey everyone. I’ve got some news. Good news, I hope.” She smiled when the table became quiet and everyone, even her little brother and little sister looked at her with expectant eyes. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and said, “Kevin and I are getting married.”

Well, you had to have been there. The room fairly exploded as everyone began talking at once. Her father’s voice was the loudest because Kevin was a human, and Djinn and humans didn’t marry. Never. And certainly not on his watch and most certainly not with his cherished daughter.

He stood up and yelled, “Over my dead body!” And things devolved from there.

Kevin was Kevin Green, a shy, retiring man who was the only child of Jake and Savannah Green, loud, boisterous, drug-abusing “wastoids” (in Hope’s estimation) who had neglected their only child his entire life. Kevin had turned inward to cope, and he’d coped well, becoming a kid who loved to read and learn, and happily accepted his reputation as a geek.

“That’s what I am,” he told Hope the first time they met. “I’m kind of proud of it.”

And Hope was proud of Kevin, too, not least of all because he’d freed her of the spell she’d been under when he’d found the stone amulet while walking in the woods, a favorite pastime of his. He’d noticed it peeking out from under some leaf litter and picked it up, unconsciously rubbing it while saying, “Well, I’ll be.” Which was close enough to “I’ll Be Well,” which was the key to unlocking its magic and allowing Hope to come to form right before Kevin’s eyes. He stared speechlessly at the thirty-inch-tall Djinn with curly raven hair, big green eyes, and a floppy-brimmed, brown felt hat. She smiled at him and said, “Hi there. Thank you for rescuing me. Boy, I thought I’d never be free.”

It was love at first sight. For Kevin anyway. For Hope, it took about five minutes.

Kevin had just turned twenty-three. He was a tall, thin man, with short dark hair, a close-cropped beard, and bad eyesight. When he peered through the black frames of his thick glasses and saw Hope standing before him, all thirty inches of her, he said, simply, “Well, hello there. What brings you to this fair wood?” He swept his arm about in a half circle wondering why he was suddenly talking like a medieval nobleman.

Hope giggled and stretched her arms and twirled in a circle before jumping onto a nearby tree stump so she could look Kevin right in the eye and said, “I came here to make your life better.” She was joking of course, at first, because she had no clue what this geeky-looking guy in front of her was all about.

But when he said, “That’d be great,” and meant it, her heart went out to him.

“Okay then, so where to begin?” she said.

“Well, would you like to go for a walk with me? I’ve never been on a walk with a girl before.”

He seemed like a nice guy. Hope’s heart melted, and she was hooked. “Sure,” she said, jumping down to the forest floor, “Let’s go.” She took his hand (kind of sweaty) and off they went.

That had been six months ago. Now they were firmly in love. Kevin lived on the third floor of a brownstone apartment building in south Minneapolis about two miles from the Hennepin County Medical Center where he was a lab technician. He was riding his bike home from work when Hope appeared, sitting in his bicycle basket, one he’d put there especially for her.

“Whoa,” he yelled good-naturedly, swerving to the side, and stopping along the edge of the street in a residential neighborhood. “I didn’t expect you until later.” One look told him all he needed to know. “What’s wrong?”

“It didn’t go well, not at all.” Hope took his hand and lead him to the steps leading to someone’s house. They sat down, Hope still holding tightly to Kevin’s hand. “Dad just freaked out,” she said, facing him. “He started yelling about how it was unnatural for me and you to be together.”

“You told him we were in love, right?”

“Yeah, I did. He said, ‘Love! What a bunch of crap.’ And then Mom got on his case and said, ‘What do you mean by that?’ Meaning, I’m sure, the two of them. And then both Grandparents weighed in with their comments on us being together.”

“Any of them good?” He glanced at her, and one look told him all he needed to know. “Oh,” he said. “Guess not.”

“You got that right, my dear one.” Hope flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “I was so mad!”

“How about your aunt? Aunt Betsy. How was she?”

Hope smiled and crawled onto his lap. “Oh, Kevin, she was great. She’s on our side, I think. She said to my mom, ‘You know you really ought to consider what Hope is saying. Remember when you two were first dating? How in love you two were.’ She was pointing at my dad at the time who was drinking about his fourteenth glass of mead.”

“What’d your mom say to that?”

Hope sighed. “She said, and I quote, ‘Don’t remind me.’

“Oh,” Keven said, looking forlorn.

“Yeah.” Hope hugged him again. “Oh, is right.”

They sat for a while oblivious to the stares of passersby. They were used to it due to Hope being small and not even half the size of Kevin. But what she lacked in height, she made up for in spirit. It was one of the things he loved about her.

“We’ve got to figure out something,” she said.

“I know. I know how close you are to your family.”

She looked at him and said, “Well, I am. But I want you and I to be together, too.” She kissed him. “Forever.”

He held her tight. “Me, too.”

After a few minutes of snuggling on the step, she said, “Well let’s go home.” Kevin liked that she referred to his apartment as ‘home.’ He liked it a lot. “Dealing with them is exhausting.”

“Okay.” He looked around. People were staring but he didn’t care. His whole life he’d been a geek and a nerd and had been shy around people. But not anymore. Not so much anyway. Hope’s confident nature was rubbing off on him. It felt good.

Keven set her in his basket and off they rode. “We’ve got to figure out what to do.”

“I know. You got any ideas?”

“Only one.” He nuzzled her ear, nipping at it.

Hope laughed. “Oh, Kevin. You’re incorrigible. You want to fool around at a time like this?”

He laughed with her, even though his ears were turning red. “No. I mean yes. I mean…”

She kissed his cheek. “I know exactly what you mean.”

Later that night they hatched a plan. It involved introducing Kevin to her family in person. It was risky because humans were never encouraged to enter the world of the Djinn, but Hope and Kevin were in love, and people in love sometimes did desperate things. This was one of those times.

The occasion was another family gathering, this time for Hope’s aunt’s birthday. Betsy was the only one present at the Harvest feast that seemed remotely on Hope’s side so she thought she could use that to her advantage. When she asked her aunt if it was all right to bring a friend, her aunt knew right away something was up. “Sure,” she said at the time. “The more the merrier.” Then, she winked, and the plan was set in place.

The day of Aunt Betsy’s birthday was clear and sunny. It was springtime in Minnesota. Leaves were opening on the trees and there was the scent of lilacs in the air. Betsy smiled to herself, imagining how Hope’s plan was going to play out. No matter what, it was bound to be a memorable birthday.

Like before, all of the family members were gathered around the table. Unlike before, though, there was no mead being consumed. Betsy was a firm teetotaler. They were just serving up a dish of rutabaga hash (a family favorite) when there was a knock on the front door.

“Would you get that?” Betsy said, pointing to Hope’s younger brother.

He ran to the door and opened it, yelling. “It’s Hope. And she brought a friend.”

“Oh, good,” Betsy said. “The more the merrier.”

Hope’s mother looked at Betsy. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, Viv, don’t you worry. I just want you to meet your daughter’s boyfriend.”

The words were barely out of Betsy’s mouth when Fred, Hope’s father jumped up. “What?!” he screamed, turning redder than a serving of pickled beets. “What?!” he screamed again, suddenly at a loss for words.

Then the room fell silent as Hope walked in arm and arm with Kevin. “Hi everyone. This is Kevin. My boyfriend.”

Kevin waved, “Hi everyone!” And tried to ignore the sweat trickling down his spine. “How’s everyone doing? He nervously asked.

“Not very well,” Fred said, finding his voice and starting to stand up.

Viv grabbed his arm. “Oh, sit down.” Which he did.

Betsy stood up and said, “Hi. Welcome, Kevin. Nice to meet you. Please have a seat.”

While Fred was fuming and the relatives were muttering, Betsy said, “Everyone, I think it’s time for you to accept that Hope obviously loves Kevin, or she wouldn’t have brought him here. I think we need to respect her wishes and welcome him into the family.” Fred opened his mouth to say something, but Viv shushed him. “Quiet, Fred. Betsy’s right.” Viv turned to Kevin, “I apologize. Welcome young man. Nice to meet you.”

Things got lots better after that.

So, Kevin became a part of the Djinn family. He and Hope married later that summer in an outdoor celebration in the backyard of Hope’s family’s home. She and Kevin lived in the brownstone until they had to move to a bigger place. They bought a house in south Minneapolis near the Mississippi River. That way they could go for walks every day. With their twins, a boy named Evan and a girl name Heather.

And, boy, did Hope’s family ever have a lot to say about that!

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