There was pressure. Aladdin almost lost hope. His fingertips and forehead pushed against a wall … with just the slightest give to it. Aladdin kept pushing and found he was moving forward. He kept his eyes closed. It was like walking through an invisible wound in the wall that was nearly healed over and would soon be as solid as the rest. The pressure ended; he opened his eyes and let his breath out.
Inside was a miracle, the most fantastic scene Aladdin had ever seen. Before him was an archway of pure delight. The colors assaulted him, there was motion and what could be loud music from strange instruments coming from the other side. The sweet scent of candy wafted out.
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” The boy on Aladdin’s back was utterly transfixed and bouncing, kicking Aladdin’s sides as if he were a horse.
For Achmed, and for Almanzor, wherever he was, this scene was reality, Aladdin guessed, but for him there was a veil. He could sense it was all show. A great show, but a show nonetheless. Achmed was pointing straight ahead but Aladdin looked around and saw a side door.
That door whispered to him, “I’m for parents.”
Aladdin went that way and Achmed howled in dismay.
Once they were through the door, the temptation spell wore off in seconds and Achmed became manageable, curious instead of insatiable. There was a catwalk before them leading into a large chamber. As Aladdin walked along it, Achmed still on his back, he could see his brother sitting atop a small mountain of strange, wonderful candy.
“Almanzor!” shouted Aladdin. The boy cringed and looked around. He had sticks of candy in each hand and a full mouth.
“You don’t have to shout,” he mumbled.
“You can hear me?” said Aladdin.
“Just fine.” Almanzor seemed quite contented, but he didn’t look at Aladdin.
“Can you see me?”
“No.”
Aladdin heard the whispering voice again, “Ready, parents? The adventure is about to begin.”
Fear thrilled through Aladdin’s nerves. His voice was shaky when he said, “Almanzor, something scary’s about to happen. Get ready!”
A deep rumble sounded below the candy pile. It shifted and candy slid down its sides.
“To protect himself from Draco’s fire, young Almanzor may need the magic shield on his right,” said the whisper.
Aladdin saw a shield half buried under candy at the base of the pile. It was flashing.
“To your right, by the giant striped stick, a magic shield, Almanzor. Get it!”
As the boy started scrambling down for the shield, the rumbling turned to thunder and the scaly green head of a huge dragon lifted from the center of the pile.
“Who’s been eating my candy?” rumbled the dragon, looking slowly around.
By now Almanzor was crouching behind the shield. The dragon slowly inhaled, then breathed fire in Almanzor’s direction. The breath went on for many seconds, consuming the whole mountain of candy. At first Almanzor screamed in terror, and Achmed echoed him on Aladdin’s shoulders, but both stopped when they realized he was safe behind the shield.
“To defeat the dragon, Almanzor may need the sword,” the voice whispered. Behind the dragon, where it would have been buried under the candy pile, a sword hilt flashed.
“Almanzor, behind the dragon is a magic sword. Can you get to it?”
Almanzor was clearly scared but still had his wits. The fire ended and the dragon started snapping his jaws. Almanzor looked at the columns circling the room with narrow spaces between them. As the dragon lunged for him—head outstretched, ready to swallow him whole—Almanzor ran between a pair of columns. Trying to follow, the dragon got his nose stuck there. Achmed and Aladdin laughed and cheered.
Almanzor raced out between another pair of columns, heading for the sword.
“Watch out for the tail,” warned Aladdin. He could see the dragon’s tail thrashing sinuously, sweeping the floor in hopes of wrapping around a limb or torso. But with his nose stuck, it was blind movement.
Almanzor ducked back behind the columns, walked behind them, then darted out to grasp the sword. As his hand touched it, there was thunder, a flash, and the dragon’s nose popped free. He turned to face Almanzor.
“So, you would use the magic sword to piece my heart would you, young hero?” he rumbled. “First, you’ll have to get to me.”
The dragon inhaled again, and as he did Almanzor rushed forward and drove the sword deep into the dragon’s chest.
The dragon screamed and writhed, twisted and turned, and finally lay still. It was a spectacular death sequence, but in all that twisting and turning he never once brushed Almanzor.
Aladdin was thinking to himself, “Weapons better than those of the iron men.”
Almanzor held his sword and shield high and in his boyish soprano yelled “Allah Akbar!”
At this the sword and shield vanished, and so did the dragon. Almanzor looked disappointed, and so did Aladdin.
The voice whispered, “Congratulations to young Almanzor. His reward.”
Where the dragon had been a brass lamp now hung in mid-air.
“Thank you for coming to Adventureland,” the voice concluded. Aladdin shouted, “Almanzor, take the lamp quickly.”
Almanzor looked confused for a moment, then saw it and grabbed it. As he did, the entire scene faded … and the three of them were back in the courtyard.
Aladdin put Achmed down.
“Now go get Muntassir and don’t say a word to anyone about being inside, right? Remember, the elders will beat you if they find out. We won’t tell if you won’t.”
“Right,” said the six-year-old in a dazed way and he ran off.
Aladdin, relieved, took the lamp from Almanzor and shooed him on. “Your mother is worried. Run home, right now!”
Almanzor ran off in the direction of Aunt Haneen’s house and Aladdin was alone in the courtyard.
“A lamp, what an odd prize for a young boy,” he muttered.
He opened the small lid on top and looked inside. There was nothing. He slid his hands around the outside seeking some sort of hidden catch … and the genie of the lamp came out.
He was big, he was blue, he stood eight feet tall and stared down at Aladdin.
“Congratulations, Almanzor … say, you aren’t Almanzor!” said the genie.
“I’m Aladdin, his older brother.”
The genie scowled at him. He pointed a massive finger at Aladdin, “Why have you got the lamp?”
Aladdin thought quickly. Lying to an eight-foot blue monster would not do. Saying he took the lamp from Almanzor probably wouldn’t do, either.
“He had to go home. Mom was ready to skin his hide.”
“No foul play? OK.” The genie brightened. “You get the wishes then.”
“The wishes?”
“Of course—” The genie looked around him, noticing his surroundings for the first time. “What place is this? This is rustic-looking like I’ve never seen. What time is this? Let me check my watch.” A round object with strange markings appeared from nowhere, then disappeared. “My goodness, it’s been ten thousand years since the last winner!”
He looked down at Aladdin, with an expression just like one of Aladdin’s aunts who hadn’t seen him in a while. “Ten thousand years!”
Aladdin looked puzzled. “Ten thousand years, so what? Do I really get wishes?”
“Of course,” said the genie absent-mindedly. “Ten thousand years means a lot of changes. You, for instance, you’re … diminished.”
The genie shrank so he was slightly shorter than Aladdin. “You’re also pretty out of it. You don’t know what I do, do you?” The genie smiled like a cat with a canary in his mouth.
“I’m out of it? No way! You’re pretty out of it,” said Aladdin, “You don’t have a clue what’s happening around here, do you?”
The genie looked surprised. “You’re right. Actually, we’re both right. So … you tell me first: What’s going on here?”
Aladdin looked around. It wouldn’t be long before Muntassir and the boy showed up.
“I will, but not here and not now. Jump back in your lamp. I’ll call you out later.”
The genie did as commanded. As Aladdin walked out of the courtyard Muntassir came walking in with Achmed.
“There,” said the little boy, pointing at the wall.
Muntassir looked briefly at Aladdin, obviously losing interest when he decided he was too old to see the door. He put his chair in front of where Achmed said the door was, leaned back, and continued his afternoon siesta. The boy followed Aladdin out, clearly thinking he was going to be a lot more interesting to hang around with.
“What did you find?”Achmed asked when they were out of earshot of Muntassir.
“Nothing,” lied Aladdin.
“Nothing? No … not nothing … You’re lying, and if you don’t tell me what you found, I’ll go back and tell Muntassir that you and I were inside!”
It was primordial blackmail of the sort young kids have used on older kids ever since both have known how to talk. Aladdin raised his fist for a moment. He could either beat him until he promised not to tell, or yield.
“I give, I don’t know what I have. I’m going to find out more. Meet me behind the stable at the South Well after sunset and we’ll find out together.”