The Djinn in the Shitty Paperback

By David Macpherson

 

Josh helps run the science fiction club at his college. It's okay. It's fun enough. And then the djinn showed. He doesn't have genie powers as much as he can manipulate time and space whenever he finds it most amusing.

 

The djinn lives in an action figure playset in the back of the club's space. He will force adventures onto Josh, whether Josh likes it or not. Caliban will appear. Another djinn will show up. Red-headed step children of literature will come out of paperbacks and start kidnapping people.

 

It's the kind of thing you would find at a science fiction club. Join Josh and his friend the djinn as they try to get along in one reality.You will enjoy this college based story that is a funny, bizarro adventure. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Macpherson
• Release date: Mar 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224180530

Book preview

Storyline #1

Josh and Aside

One - I was given a call from Cass to come to the library. That’s what he called it, a library. It was a library, but mostly it was the school’s science fiction club. One of the things that made up the club was an extensive collection of paperbacks and magazines to the point that some of us called it a library. Cass wanted me to come and deal with the guy who walked in and proceeded to violently shake each of the paperbacks.

Two- The club was in the basement of a science building, so the bookshelves would sometimes stop to make room for old bunsen burner jets. It always took longer to get down to the club than one would expect and I felt that I was never going to get there. I was the vice president of the club, but I was given a lot of responsibilities because I was able to talk to people and not break out into hysterical laughter like our president was wont to do. I was called to deal with people wondering why such unwashed undergrads were hanging out in the basement. I was there to speak mundane to the greater public.

Three- I walked past a few doors and turned onto the Infinity Hallway, which does not go on forever but just feels that way. The Club had a wide assortment of mismatched couches and chairs and half of them were occupied by those who want to hang out in a Science Fiction sanctuary. Past the couches were three long rows filled with donated books and there was the tall man in the green robe, his skin the color of weak tea. Cass was about to speak and I smiled and said, Yeah, I think that’s the guy, right? And the man was being unkind to the books, taking out  a paperback and then shake it violently, with a random pages vibrating loose and then he would toss it into a loose pile and start on the next paperback to be shaked into submission and all I could think to myself was, What the hell.

Four - Hi, I am Josh and I got to ask what you are doing.

I am shaking the books to see what lives there and free them.

"I don’t see you freeing anything because all I’m seeing is you attacking these books and then tossing them down into a pile, which is also not particularly cool.

It must be done because there is always a chance that another djinn is trapped in these books like I was.

Okay, I didn’t understand a single bit of that last sentence and I am going to say you need to stop attacking our books.

Five-I walked past a few doors and turned onto the Infinity Hallway, which does not go on forever but just feels that way. The Club had a wide assortment of mismatched couches and chairs and half of them were occupied by those who wanted to hang out in a Science Fiction sanctuary. Past the couches were three long rows filled with donated books and there was the tall man in the green robe, his skin the color of weak tea. He saw me and put a paperback on the shelf and walked toward me with his arms outstretched saying, You must be Josh who I heard of and I am sure you are wondering why I am doing such a strange ritual in your lovely sanctuary. He embraced me and I felt alright about him and everything else and I said. I am sure we can straighten this whole thing out with no issues.

Six- The man in the green robe smiled at me and shook my hand and made me feel comfortable and he said, Of course we can reach equity in this situation for we are both reasonable beings and I should explain that I am not shaking the books because I am a mad man, but because I am trying to rescue other people and I am sure you would find that an acceptable reason for mucking up your lovely space. I don’t know why, but I was ready to be charmed byhim and I was. I told him he could not do such things to our books, because they are pretty fragile and he completely understood. He smiled and said, There are other people such as myself trapped in old books and I am attempting to see if any of your books hold djinn such as myself. I was giddy and I found myself giggling as I replied, I am not sure what you mean, but I like your idea of gin, and I think we should go to the Top of the Campus and have some gin and tonics, and the man in the robe nodded happily to the suggestion.

Seven - As we walked to the bar, or did we walk to the bar, I don’t have a good sense of how we got there, just that we were on the tenth floor of the campus center and he was in a white button down shirt and a purple slacks and that seemed to work just fine. Somewhere in our journey, whatever it was, he told me his name was Aside, and that it was pronounced A-Shid-E, but he would respond to any pronunciation because an attempt was as good as a success. We took a table and I confessed that I was not of age and they would card me and that would be the end of it and Aside laughed, Nonsense. One of the waitresses came over and deposited a gin and tonic in front of me and a mug in front of him. This, Josh, is a true drink that I have begun to adore called a Rattle Skull, which is dark beer, rum and lime, and I said out of politeness that it sounded good and he laughed, Of course it does.

Eight- I drank the gin and tonic and tasted nothing. Aside smiled at this and began. This is the thing about this story, it is a lot of people talking at other people. I wish there was more action like explosions or running through an ethnic outdoor market and upending the tables and stalls laden with exotic fruit, but all we have is Aside talking to me and changing the world and keeping everything the same. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and said,