The world could be ending and Vividis would work right through it. While even dogs sought shelter under trees with their tongues lulling out in the sweltering heat,  Vividis was bent double in her family’s pottery studio like always. Sunlight began to finally peak over the tall solid mountain into the small town of Tinkerton. 

Vividis felt her eyes burn as she used surgical precision to place small shards of colored glass to her newest piece. Examining her progress, she was pleased with the colors she had chosen. When she fired this vase, the glass would melt, oozing down the sides. With a small gleeful giggle, she moved the vase over to the kiln.

“You’re up early.” Vividis’s father, Merick stated as he came into the studio.

“Never left.” Vividis casually replied. All her focus was on making sure the pot stayed properly upside down. If the lip of the vase was even a little uneven, her entire night’s work would be ruined. Merick stopped gathering his supplies to stare at his only child. 

“After you told me, ‘I’ll be up soon as I finish this piece’?” She could see that her father was furious. 

“It took me all night to make it just right.” Vividis defended, as she stepped back from the kiln to get a different perspective on how straight the vase was. Merick could see that what demanded several hours of her time, his daughter could have been resting. 

“Vivi, where did that glass come from?” Merick asked while his daughter stiffened up next to him. She would have preferred a good scolding about proper sleeping habits to this topic. 

“René.” admitted Vividis, purposely not looking her father in the eye. 

“You still talk to him?” Merick tried to look at his daughter’s face properly but she refused to make eye contact. Instead, she tidied up the mess she had made last night. 

“Only when our supplies come in.” Vividis tried to sound as aloof as possible. “Last time we met all he could talk about was the demand for stained glass windows.”

“Well, that would explain this then.”.  Looking over at her father to see what he was talking about she felt her stomach drop. Her father was rifling through the emerald green velvet bag René had given her last time they met. A bag filled with the leftover bits of colored glass he was just going to throw away.

“Papa, please.” scolded Vividis, swiping at her father to take the bag away by force. “He only gave those pieces because he was just going to throw them away.”

“Vivi, glass is like your unfired pots. It can be broken down and reused. This,” Merick shook the bag a little. “Was a gift, not charity. I fail to see why you won’t give this young man a chance.” 

“Because I am not interested in marriage, Papa.” Vividis took the bag away from her father.

“No one is saying anything about marriage.” defended Merick. He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. “I just don’t want you to waste your life in this studio.” Thankfully, Vividis did not hear what her father said.

“I came to tell you about a commission.” he said much louder, stopping Vividis from starting another project. Vividis made a face. 

Commissions. People who have zero idea what goes into making pottery, barking orders. 

“If you’re going to make a name for yourself you are going to have to take requests.” reminded Merick, shooing his daughter out of the studio. “Now go change, wash your face, and at least brush your hair.” Fuming, Vividis entered her house just adjacent to the family studio. Sitting in the middle of the living space was Grandmother Jade. Slouched in a chair, Grandmother Jade was soaking her feet in a steaming foot tub smelling strongly of mint. Vividis felt a pang when she remembered the vibrant, graceful woman who used to dance. Looking away, Vividis hurried to get ready.

* * *

Vividis tried not to fidget too much in the nice dress her mother picked out. She felt like she was swaddled in a bed sheet rather than wearing an outfit. The commissioner was just as out of touch as Vividis had imagined. Thankfully, her father seemed to be doing most of the talking as the two of them ascended the front steps of the mansion. 

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“I assume you brought a measuring string.” Asked the commissioner, looking at Merick 

Vividis looked between the two men. Her unasked question was answered soon enough as they were lead to what was obviously the ballroom. While her father made the appropriate compliment, Vividis was looking around the room to see what could possibly require a measuring string. There were no shelves or tables upon which to place the pottery.  The staircase leading up to the second floor had no place for anything extra either. Anything larger than a three-foot-tall vase was impossible for their family’s kiln. 

“Now the effect I want is for when my esteemed guests descend the staircase, so they are treated to seeing a spiral pattern spreading from the staircase.” The wealthy man explained as he led Merick a little ways up the staircase. 

“What?” Exclaimed Vividis, looking up at the man. 

“I know. It will be gorgeous! Colorful tiles stretching across the entire floor, a true testament of your talent.” the man gushed. “This year’s Fall Festival will accelerate your career for sure.”

“FALL FESTIVAL!” yelled Vividis. That was only six months away! It would take the entire family working nonstop just to make all the tiles needed for the job in that time. Let alone properly placing each one in its exact spot. 

“I know I am just as excited.” smiled the oblivious man. 

“Now hold on!” argued Vividis as her father began talking again. 

“Vivi, dear.” addressed Merick, looking down from his spot on the stairs. “I need you to go home and tell Mama and Grandmama that we have a big order coming. One that will change things for the entire family.” stressed Vividis’s father.

“Yes, Papa.” nodded Vividis, understanding completely what her father’s words truly meant. ‘This was not up for debate. Be a good little girl and go home.’ Almost fleeing, Vividis took off out of the ballroom and out the nearest door. 

It didn’t take her long to realize she had headed straight into the garden area. Too caught up in her own thoughts, she had no idea where she was going. 

“I’m lost.” Even as she said it aloud, she couldn’t find it in herself to care. 

Vividis knew that today was the last day of her life. Well, not literally. She knew that after today her cheerful days experimenting with her projects would come to a screeching halt. There were two outcomes from her father accepting the commission, and she did not like either one.

The first would be that her family would fail to complete the task on time. Followed by the utter destruction of their reputation. Then the whispers of failure would dog their every action for years to come. People would lose faith in their abilities and business would dry up.

On the other hand, the family could complete the task at hand, proving to all that their studio is beyond equal. Sure, it would be a happy time for the family for a while. Vividis just knew that once you complete one near impossible task the bar would be raised that much higher. Once word would get out all sorts of empty headed, idealist, rich types would be calling all hours of the day for grander, more impossible tasks just because ‘you did it once before’.

Either way, life will never be the same again. Vividis just wanted things to stay the same. Too distracted by her own thoughts, Vividis failed to see the manmade pond. The pond’s outlying wall was so small it barely reached Vividis’s shin but it was just tall enough to cause her to lose her balance. She managed a squeak as she toppled into the cold water.

 ‘Ugh. Now I really can’t go home yet.’ Complained Vividis, stepping out of the pond to squeeze the water from her dress.  

“’Tis a shame really. It was quite a lovely dress.” a calm masculine voice purred near Vividis’s ear. 

“Where’d you come from?” Vividis almost shouted out of panic. The man was dressed simply like the outfits the traders wore. Muted brown adorned with gold trimmings. 

“Calm yourself, my dear. I have come to help you in your time of need.” The man leaned in for a second, catching Vividis off guard. His eyes turned from a dark brown to a blue color for a second. Vividis felt her panic leaving her, replaced with a warm contented feeling.

“My time of need?” she parroted back drowsily.

“Yes. Your aching heart summoned me to this very place, my dear. So, tell me, what ails you so?” The man brushed one of the locks of hair out of Vividis’s face. 

“I just want everything to stay the same,” admitted Vividis. “I want to create what I want, not be a servant of the highest bidder. I don’t want to marry or have kids. I don’t want to toil until my hands ache. I don’t want to be like Grandmama.” Vividis admitted. She loved her grandmama but seeing her always reminded her of what she would someday grow to become, a shell of her former self. 

“How would you like to never have to worry about commissions or growing old?” offered the mysterious man. “I can make that happen for you.”

“You can?” breathed Vividis. “How?”

“Oh sweet girl, I am the granter of wishes and dreams. As a Djinn, it is my duty to soothe the ache in mankind’s heart. Just say the word and all your troubles will be taken care of.” He offered. 

Normally Vividis would be leery of such an offer. Logic took a backseat to desperation today, though. Some part of her mind even felt that she was just dreaming, which made it easier for her say, 

“Yes.” 

Vividis was seen again after that day. She was seen by every person who happened upon that fountain. The girl with the sad expression frozen in time.