The Aladdin on the Toilet:Volume 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Cracks

No sooner had I got on the bus heading back home from school did I understood the seriousness of the matter.

There was a strange crack stretching at the west sky under the setting sun. It was a long black line accompanied with two shorter black lines at either side of it. It looked like as if a small crack on the sky. Nevertheless, the weirdest thing was that the black line extended to the setting sun, so the whole picture of the sky looked like a crack on a painting with the sun as its main theme.

I took my hand and waved it a few times in front of my eyes to see if it was a black line sticking on my hair or my eyelashes. Honestly, this small line was hard to guess its distance from me. It just hung on the sky, not moving an inch no matter how the wind blows it, and just somehow got there, even though it didn't really have any effect on your life.

"Hey! Can you see it?"

I lightly pushed the girl beside me. She was a female student of 160 centimetres with a ponytail. On her adorable face were limpid big eyes, long eyelashes, and a delicate nose. I thought if any boy were to stand in my position, they would become elated for standing near this beautiful girl.

This was the only problem: she was my sister.

"See what?"

My sister, with her head lowered to memorise English words, sulkily lifted up her head. Honestly, even though we study in the same school, we would avoid each other on the road back home if we could. There wasn't a special reason for this: we just simply want to be with our classmates. After all, we had talked about everything we need to after living with each other in the same house for so many years. So meeting her today was a rare occasion.

"That's it! Look closely. There's a crack on the sun!"

I pointed to the sun outside the window, but the scene stayed only for two seconds for the bus had travelled into a hustling street, and a high-rise building blocked the sun.

My sister didn't even want to respond to me and kept her head low, memorising English words.

I heaved a sigh and turned my head. I spotted a few male students spying at my sister. This was not uncommon, as this sister of mine, two years younger than me, had inherited the beauty and the white skin that my mother had at her youth—of course limited to her youth. If our school were to choose a few beauty queens, my sister would be the first, if not the third at the worst. It was only her bad attitude—at least to her sister, that is—that was inversely proportional to her beauty.

Be that as it may, our relationship when we were small was very close, like usual siblings. My sister had also once said that she wanted to marry her big brother when she grew up. However, when she was a bit older, I, her brother, had gradually become her sandbags for punches and kicks. To be honest, it was also hard for me to imagine that the little girl who always walk behind me and cry all the time was now a beautiful young girl with ponytails and a glamorous appearance.

Nevertheless, talking back to the topic where we had left off, what was going on with the crack? I looked behind me, but the oil lamp genie that came out from the toilet wasn't at my side now, for I thoughtlessly made a wish: "I'm so thirsty. I want something to drink." And after Ammonia gave me a cup of white gourd tea, he used up off his stamina and disappeared. I would have to to rub the toilet next time I go to the washroom for him to reappear.

Alas! If he was still here, I could at least ask him what was this all about.

Although that crack didn't seem to have any influence on the world, I couldn't help looking at it, especially when the sun was gradually setting and hiding itself beneath the roofs of a row of houses, the crack still stayed at its original position, as if there was a piece of glass floating in the sky.

"Why would anyone not notice such a strange thing?"

I scratched my head, and it occurred to me that it wasn't really that unnatural. From the view of most people, this wouldn't affect their normal lives. They may expect the media or the news to make a special report for it. Or even they may speculate that their eyes were deceiving them.

I suddenly began to regret making a dumb wish that made Ammonia to disappear. After all, today was Friday, and I would most likely not go to school in the following two days to 'scrub the toilet'. Perhaps letting that guy to stay at my side would make my weekend a bit more fun.

—

My home was close to the school, so I arrived to the station I needed to get off in less than twenty minutes' bus drive. I took my schoolbag, got off the bus and walked into an alley with my sister.