Scream of the Evil Genie

by RL Stine

  No answer.

  “Someone! Anyone! Where am I? Why didn’t I get my wish?”

  Turn to PAGE 37.

  You decide to stay in the water.

  Why not? you think. Maybe you’ll be miraculously saved by some unseen force …

  Yeah, right.

  Maybe a whole bunch of paratroopers will drop out of the sky and land on the beach, bringing you knapsacks full of potato salad, fried chicken, peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, and candy bars.

  In your dreams!

  Somehow that’s not quite what happens.

  Instead, you simply burn to a crisp in the hot sun. The water you’re splashing in acts like a giant mirror, reflecting the sun’s intense light and heat back onto you.

  Not a pretty sight, is it?

  Of course not. In fact, you’d better close the book before things get really ugly.

  Go on, close the book. This story’s over.

  Quick! Before the buzzards start circling …

  THE END

  What’s Jenna doing? You tremble and swallow hard. You’re terrified she’s going to bite you with her razor-sharp teeth.

  You gather up your courage and clear your throat. “Um, Jenna, didn’t you tell me I had three wishes?”

  Jenna snarls, baring her teeth again.

  If she bites me, her teeth could tear my flesh to shreds, you think.

  “Fine,” Jenna snaps. “Wish away. If you think you can do any better this time!”

  She’s right. You don’t want anything to go wrong with your wish. You have to phrase it very carefully. The problem was you weren’t specific enough last time.

  “I wish I was a famous baseball player,” you finally say. Your voice is shaking, but you try to keep it steady so she won’t notice how scared you are. “Can’t you do that? I wish I were a famous baseball player — not this dumb curling thing!”

  Jenna hisses like a cat. You skate a few feet backward. You wonder what she’s going to do. Then she rolls her eyes. “Okay,” she grumbles. “But remember: Now you’ve used up your second wish.”

  Turn to PAGE 68.

  Your head hits the ground hard as you fall. For a minute, you actually see stars. You glance over at the tiger.

  He’s out cold!

  Your heart sinks. You watch Jenna disappearing into the jungle.

  Now I’ll never catch her. Never!

  Your head throbs from the fall. Your arms ache from holding on so tight. Your knees hurt from landing on them. Your whole body feels bruised.

  You slump to the ground and just lie there, facedown in the dirt.

  Slowly, the truth dawns on you. You’re never going to get off this island.

  Jenna is too big. Too powerful.

  And much too evil.

  You can’t possibly catch her. You can’t outsmart her. And you’ll never be able to steal her ring.

  In frustration, you grab a handful of dirt and fling it into the air.

  “It’s not fair!” you cry.

  That’s when you see it. Something shiny — lying on the ground. Right beside the tiger’s mouth!

  Turn to PAGE 83.

  “I warned you not to go outside,” James scolds when you return. “Your parents will be very angry when they get back.”

  “Where are my parents, James?” you ask.

  “They went to Honolulu for lunch on the family jet. But they’ll be home soon. And this time I won’t let you out of my sight.”

  Great. Just what you need. James hanging on your every move.

  You wander around the mansion, bored. James follows you wherever you go. But even when you ask nicely, he refuses to leave you alone. And he won’t play with you, either.

  “I am a butler, not a playmate,” he informs you.

  How totally stupid is this? Your house is loaded with everything you’ve ever wanted. But you can’t have any fun. You’re a prisoner, trapped in your own house. And now you have James the watchdog, spying on you.

  This wish isn’t exactly working out the way you had planned.

  Then you have an idea.

  Find out what it is on PAGE 49.

  The tiger is about to attack you? Oh, no!

  “Yes,” you tell Jenna quickly. “I wish the tiger would go away!”

  Jenna snaps her fingers and there’s a POOF of smoke behind you. You sigh. That must mean the tiger’s gone. What a relief.

  Then Jenna throws back her head and starts laughing. A horrible, evil, hideous laugh.

  “Ha-ha-ha-ha!” she cries jubilantly. “Hee-hee-hee-hee-heh!”

  You don’t think her laughter is a very good sign.

  “What’s so funny?” you demand.

  But Jenna is laughing too hard to answer.

  “Come on, tell me,” you beg. “What’s the joke?”

  “You are!” Jenna doubles over, cackling.

  “Why? What do you mean?”

  “You fool!” the parrot squawks. “If you had wished for your old life back, you would have been safe from the tiger anyway! You wasted your last wish!”

  You smack your forehead. How could you have been so stupid?

  You glare at Jenna. “You tricked me!” you cry angrily.

  “All I did was grant your final wish,” she replies, still smirking. “Now you must grant MINE!”

  Turn to PAGE 118.

  Stunned, you just stand on the ice in the freezing winter landscape, wondering what went wrong with your wish.

  And what you should do now.

  “Hello!” you cry one more time. “Anyone?”

  “Quit yapping!” a voice behind you shouts.

  You turn around and see a big, burly man in a heavy wool coat. He walks out of the snowy woods and steps onto the ice. You notice that he’s wearing skates too. He’s also carrying a broom.

  With his shoulders hunched down, the huge man skates right toward you. He’s holding the broom across his body with both hands — sort of like it’s a weapon.

  What’s he going to do with that? you wonder.

  For some reason, you feel almost certain he’s going to smack you on the head.

  “Help!” you cry, shivering from the freezing cold.

  “Quit your whining!” the man yells. He has some kind of an accent. Maybe Scottish. He picks up speed. “Quit your whining or I’ll give you something to whine about!”

  The guy skates toward you with so much power and speed, you’re afraid he’s going to mow you down!

  Turn to PAGE 54.

  The cola can! You have to find it before someone else does.

  Because who knows what would happen then?

  Jenna warned you to be careful with it. It must be very special.

  You spot a guy in an orange T-shirt hanging out near the television. He’s holding an unopened can of cola, and talking to a bunch of Randy’s friends.

  Is that the one? Was that can sitting on the coffee table a minute ago?

  You’re just about to ask him, when you hear a sound you recognize all too well.

  Your five-year-old sister, Kate.

  Screaming her head off.

  If you continue searching for the cola can, turn to PAGE 13.

  If you run to see what’s wrong with Kate, turn to PAGE 110.

  You think hard, not wanting to make a choice too quickly.

  Finally, you decide. You’ve always wanted to be really good-looking. So cute that people would stop and stare at you.

  “I wish to be good-looking,” you tell the genie. “I want to be so stunning that people’s mouths hang open when they see me.”

  Jenna giggles. “Yup!” she says, jumping up from the chair. “That’s an easy one. I get it all the time.”

  That makes sense to you. You imagine a lot of people would want to be good-looking.

  “Okay!” Jenna pops her gum. “Hold onto your socks, kiddo. Here goes!”

  Turn to PAGE 71.

  You decide to ignore Jenna’s warning. You dash out of the bathroom. You push your way through
the crowd of dancing, shouting kids who are spilling food and drinks all over the furniture.

  Finally, you reach the kitchen and find a can opener.

  You set the cola can down on the counter.

  Jenna races into the kitchen with tears in her eyes.

  “Please don’t,” she begs. “Please. I’ll do anything. You can eat dessert for breakfast. You can stay up till midnight every night of your life. Anything! Just please don’t open that cola can.”

  “No way,” you tell Jenna. “I’m going to get my mom out of here right now!”

  Before she can stop you, you clamp the can opener onto the cola can. Then you turn the handle.

  Go on to PAGE 123.

  “Uh, I — I just w-w-want out of here,” you stammer.

  “GRRRRR!”

  You stumble backward when Jenna growls at you. Why is she scaring you?

  “I don’t have all day,” Jenna snarls, popping her bubble gum. “You want a wish? Make it.”

  All right, take it easy, you think. Just give me a chance.

  But you’re too nervous to think straight. You had a few good wishes planned out — until Jenna arrived. Now that she’s being so mean to you, you can’t remember any of them.

  So you open your mouth and say the first thing that pops into your head.

  “I wish I was somewhere else — far away from here,” you blurt out.

  Uh-oh. Are you sure that’s the wish you wanted?

  Get your wish on PAGE 12.

  You gaze at the cola can.

  “Why?” you ask Jenna.

  “You’ll find out,” she answers mysteriously.

  She looks so serious that you gently place the cola can back on the table.

  Hey — didn’t Jenna say she’d go back into the cola can each time you made a wish? So why is she still here?

  Easy answer, you think. You wished it. You wished for her to be your mom. And it came true!

  But if Jenna’s out here, what’s in the cola can now?

  Randy stands up. You grab his arm. “Randy! She’s not our real mom,” you insist. “You’ve got to believe me!”

  “Oh, stop already!” Randy yanks his arm away from you. “If she can grant wishes, I wish your face would turn blue.”

  He stomps out of the room. But at the doorway, he glances back at you.

  “Yeow!” Randy shouts. “How did that happen?”

  “What?” you ask.

  “Your face,” he cries, pointing. “It’s … it’s blue!”

  You leap off the couch and race to a mirror.

  Oh, no! Your face really is blue! Now what?

  If you wish your face were its normal color again, turn to PAGE 53.

  If you don’t mind having a blue face, turn to PAGE 18.

  The closet door flies open.

  “Aaaaahhhhhh!” Kate screams, gripping your leg so hard you think your blood will stop flowing.

  Inside the closet, flinging its arms and legs wildly, is a huge metallic creature. Its silver skull is enormous. A long gray tongue darts out at you between terrible silver teeth. The tongue makes a sickening sucking sound.

  Randy’s friends back away from the closet. They scream in such blood-curdling terror, you can’t hear the band playing just a few feet away.

  “What is it?” a girl screams.

  “I don’t know!” Randy shouts back.

  Whatever it is, it looks hideous. And deadly.

  You’re doomed.

  Turn to PAGE 74.

  You stare at the bones, stunned. Too freaked out to move.

  Then a tiny voice snaps you out of it.

  “Get me out of here!”

  You glance at the cola can on the kitchen counter. “Mom?” you ask. “Are you all right?”

  You lift her gently from the can and set her on top of the toaster oven.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” She pats her hair. “But what’s going on? Is your brother having a party? Make all those kids go home!”

  She’s bossing you around from the top of the toaster oven?

  Yup! And you’re going to obey her too. Because even though she’s only five inches tall — she’s still your mom! And now you’re in BIG trouble.

  THE END

  “Well, I guess I want to be rich,” you tell Jenna.

  “Who wouldn’t?” Jenna responds. Then she ducks her head. You can see she’s trying to hide her laughter. “They all ask for that,” she mutters. She fakes a yawn. “Bor-ing.”

  You feel your face flush. But you don’t really care what she thinks. Now that you’ve decided on a wish, you want it to come true!

  “So will you make me rich?” you demand.

  “Okay, fine. No big deal,” Jenna adds with a shrug. “But you have to say ‘I wish I was rich’ or else I can’t deliver the goods. It’s a primo genie rule.”

  You close your eyes and cross your fingers for good luck.

  “I wish I was rich,” you announce.

  WHOOOOOOSH!

  The room fills with a huge, white smoky cloud. You can’t see a thing until …

  Take a look on PAGE 135.

  The monster insect’s claw is about to close on you.

  “Aaaahhh!” you scream in horror. “No!”

  You grip the baseball bat tightly, swing your arms back, and let it fly.

  WHAM! You smack the claw hard with the bat.

  BAM! A second hit.

  KA-SLAM! BAM! WHAM! Three more hard hits.

  “Yiyyy!” you scream as the bat strikes one final time.

  All at once, the giant claw pops open. It flies open wide, like a huge clam shell — revealing the horror of what’s inside.

  You gasp when you see it. Ten or fifteen smaller metallic claws — each one big enough to pinch your head off. Or crack your skull into a thousand little pieces, like a nutcracker.

  The multiple claws spring out at you, snapping, snapping viciously.

  “No!” you scream in utter terror.

  All at once, you don’t care what happens. You don’t care whether you ever see your real mother again. All you want is for this monster to go away.

  “I wish the monster would disappear forever!” you shriek.

  Turn to PAGE 87.

  You decide not to follow the parrot.

  Wait a minute. Are you NUTS?

  A genie in a cola can sends you to a deserted island. You don’t have a prayer of ever getting home. Then, out of nowhere, a parrot lands on your shoulder and says, “Follow me.”

  And you’re not going to follow the parrot?

  Do you really think that’s the best choice?

  Tell the truth — how many of these GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS books have you read? Is this your first one?

  If it is, you’re excused. You obviously don’t know how these things work, so we’ll give you a break. Go back to the bottom of PAGE 28 and choose again.

  But if you’ve ever read a GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS book before this one — you should know better!

  That parrot was obviously some sort of super-smart bird. Or maybe the genie in disguise. Or an escapee from a Florida theme park. Or maybe it worked for a secret government agency.

  One way or another, that parrot was going to help you. You should have known that!

  You also should have known that when you make a silly choice, you wind up on a page that has two words at the bottom:

  THE END

  You tiptoe along the polished marble hallway. This house is huge! You hope you don’t get lost.

  You gaze down an enormous stairway and spot the front door. You glance around quickly. Good — you’re still alone. You dart down the stairs and out through the double oak doors.

  Outside, you wander over to the ten-car garage where the driver is polishing a new Rolls Royce. You wonder if he has the same orders as the butler.

  Only one way to find out!

  Ask him on PAGE 137.

  “That’s it!” you cry. “The answer!”

  “What is it?” James asks. He
raises an eyebrow.

  You ignore his question. You’re too busy figuring out a plan. Yes! You’ll fix everything with another wish!

  Now all you have to do is find that cola can.

  “James!” You smile at the butler. “Do we have any cola?”

  “There are forty cases of cola in the pantry. Shall I get you a can?”

  Forty cases? Uh-oh. Which can has the genie in it?

  If you open every can until you find the genie, turn to PAGE 59.

  If you order James to do it for you and go check out the big-screen TV instead, turn to PAGE 8.

  Those angry parents seem ready to tear your head off! And they’re coming closer.

  “I’m sorry,” you try to explain. “But it was so hot and — ”

  All at once, the group of grown-ups rushes straight at you!

  Yikes! You whirl around and run through the studio.

  “Grab Wilfred! Grab Wilfred!” the parents chant.

  They chase you through the dark backstage area and then down the maze of hallways leading to your dressing room.

  You spot your dressing-room door. You reach out for the doorknob when a mother with long red fingernails grabs your costume.

  “Got him!” she cheers. You hear a ripping sound as you wriggle out of her grip. You yank open the door to the dressing room and slam it shut. Luckily, it has a lock.

  Outside, the angry parents pound on your door, shouting at you. “Come out of there! We’re going to give you what you deserve!”

  Inside, you close your eyes and quickly make another wish.

  But you’re so hot — and nervous — you can’t think. So you just wish for the first thing that comes into your head.

  Turn to PAGE 77.

  How do you say “tough luck” to your mom?