Six Sentence Story: Origin

"I suspect your next question is going to be about the 'three wishes rule' and I will tell you the same thing I've told every owner of my bottle -- you've been listening to too many Arabian Nights and Grimm fairy tales, or seen too many Disney movies," the Djinn said drily.

"You do know everything, don't you?" he said with wonder, and the Djinn snapped, "I know a lot of things, and I can guess a lot because I know human nature, but I do not know everything, I'm not the Creator."

"That brings up an interesting point, even before we get to what my grandparents were doing with your bottle and how they got it, how is it that you happen to exist and even talk about a Creator?"

"Everything had to come from somewhere, you know that," the Djinn said in a way that reminded him of his old high school history teacher explaining what should be obvious to a rather slow student, "and there are some fascinating stories if you took the time to look at them which talk about Adam and his first wife, Lilith, one of the giants, and how they were the parents of the Djinn -- not at all accurate, but close enough to the truth to know that we were created, just not necessarily supposed to be a part of your world in the way we are now."

"Which explains why the wishes never quite work out?" he asked, to which the Djinn replied, "Bingo!"

"That raises the next question, what do I do with you?" to which the Djinn, hearing his wife coming up the attic stairs, said, "Start by keeping me a secret!"

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Suspect.



Today is

Acton Fair -- Acton, ME, US (an old fashioned country fair plus midway, stage shows, and a great good time; through Sunday)

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Thoughtful Thursday

Birthday of Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Cobblestone Festival -- Falls City, NE, US (something for everyone; through Sunday)

Day of Songun -- North Korea

Discovery of the Runes/Odin's Ordeal ends -- Ancient Norse Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Uruguay(1825)

Kiss and Make Up Day -- a day begun by Jacqueline V. Milgate to encourage people to make amends and repair relationships if they need to

National Banana Split Day -- some sites have it as Aug. 10

National Park Service Day -- US (legislation creating the National Park Service was signed this day in 1916 by President Wilson)

National Second-Hand Wardrobe Day -- pull out the hand-me-downs or thrift store purchases and wear them with pride!

Opiconsivia -- Ancient Roman Calendar, Vestal Virgin Festival in honor of Ops

Prairie Village Jamboree -- Prairie Village, Madison, SD, US (keeping the old prairie life heritage alive for new generations; through Sunday)

Rumpleskunkskin's Bride Escapes to Heewigoland Anniversary -- Fairy Calendar (Fairy celebration, Goblins get grumpy)

Soldier's Day -- Brazil

St. Genesius of Arles' Day (Patron of notaries, secretaries; against chilblains, scurf)

St. Genesius of Rome's Day (Patron of actors, attorneys, barristers, clowns, comedians, comediennes, comics, converts, dancers, epileptics, lawyers, musicians, printers, stenographers and torture victims)

St. Louis, King of France's Day (King Louis IX; Patron of barbers, bridegrooms, builders, button makers, construction workers, Crusaders, difficult marriages, distillers, embroiderers, French monarchs, grooms, haberdashers, hairdressers, hair stylists, kings, masons, needle workers, parenthood, parents of large families, passementiers, prisoners, sculptors, sick people, soldiers, stone masons, stonecutters, tertiaries, trimming makers; Québec, Québec; Saint Louis, Missouri; Blois, France; Carthage, Tunisia; La Rochelle, France; New Orleans, Louisiana; Oran, Algeria; Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France; Saint Louis, Missouri;`Versailles, France; Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Louis; against the death of children)

Umhlanga -- Swaziland (Reed Dance for the Zulu King; a fascinating week long ritual with beautiful costumes, dancing and singing, culminating as well as in a speech in which the King addresses the people, on Aug. 31)

Watermelon Festival -- Winterville, NC, US (sticky fun; through Saturday)

Whiskey Sour Day

Zucchini Festival -- Obetz, OH, US (family fun and zucchini; through Sunday)



Birthdays Today

Blake Lively, 1987
Rachel Bilson, 1981
Alexander Skarsgard, 1976
Claudia Schiffer, 1970
Rachael Ray, 1968
Albert Belle, 1966
Cornelius O’Landa Bennett, 1966
Blair Underwood, 1964
Joanne Whalley, 1964
Ally Walker, 1961
Billy Ray Cyrus, 1961
Tim Burton, 1958
Elvis Costello, 1954
Gene Simmons, 1949
John Savage, 1949
Martin Amis, 1949
Anne Archer, 1947
Anthony Heald, 1944
Frederick Forsyth, 1938
Regis Philbin, 1933
Tom Skerritt, 1933
Wayne Shorter, 1933
Sean Connery, 1930
Althea Gibson, 1927
Monty Hall, 1923
Leonard Bernstein, 1918
Walt Kelly, 1913
Ruby Keeler, 1909
Clara Bow, 1905
Hans Adolf Krebs, 1900
Ludwig II, "Mad King" of Bavaria, 1845
Francis Bret Harte, 1836
Allan Pinkerton, 1819
Ivan the Terrible, 1530


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"42nd Street"(Musical), 1980
The Wizard of Oz(Film), 1939


Today in History

The Council of Nicaea ends with the adoption of the Nicene Creed, 325
The Children's Crusaders under Nicholas reach Genoa, 1212
The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, is formed, 1537
Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers, 1609
Hundreds of French settlers arrive in New Orleans, which had been founded only a few months before, marking its true beginnings as a city, not just an outpost, 1718
James Cook begins his first voyage, 1768
Alice Meynell becomes the first female jockey, in England, 1804
British forces destroy the Library of Congress, which then contained about 3,000 books, 1814
The New York Times perpetrates the Great Moon Hoax, 1835
Captain Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim the English Channel unassisted, 1875
Kitasato Shibasaburo discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet, 1894
The United States National Park Service is created, 1916
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly nonstop across the US, 1932
US Army officer and missionary John Birch is killed by the armed supporters of the Communist Party of China, considered by some as the first victim of the Cold War, 1945
Zimbabwe joins the United Nations, 1980
Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn, 1981
Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist Prime Minister in Central and Eastern Europe, 1989
Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary, 1989
The Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed between the Dogrib First Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo (now called Behchoko), 2003
Acting as a private citizen, former President Jimmy Carter travels to North Korea to negotiate the release of Aijalon Gomes, a U.S. citizen, 2010