For three days they walked the King’s road without passing another living soul, and not really saying much between them. All her life Loretta had been told that she was introverted and unsociable, but now it served her well. She had no need to talk to the genie, just as he had no need to talk to her.

He paced along, sometimes beside her, sometimes just far enough ahead that the pulling sensation wasn’t yet unbearable, but always in silence. Loretta disliked him more and more, the few conversations that did happen were entirely because Loretta needed something. She needed to stop to empty the sand from her shoes. She needed a rest. She was hungry. The genie never needed anything, and least of all did he seem to need to engage her in conversation. It was a very lonely three days, made lonelier by Loretta’s dreams, and the knowledge in her heart that the dreams were not real, and even if she were still on earth, her mother and sister were no longer part of her story, and her friends were not real friends, not people she could run to now that she felt alone. They were just social friends, people she hung around with to pass the time. Loretta didn’t have friends. For the first time in her life she understood how she felt because she had plenty of time to dissect her own mind, and the feeling was lonely. Just pure lonely.

“Do you want to stop?” the genie asked suddenly, bringing her back into reality.

Footnote: Alas here ends my submission to the Scott Free / Launchpad Manuscript competition. I hope you have enjoyed it so far, please let me know! The story is complete at 140,000 words, and has had a first two rounds of editing (though I’m 100% sure there are more to come!)