This is not a tale from the past.

  The story of the Genie from the Center of the Earth is written in the Book of the Future. Let’s peek through the window of our imagination and take part in this adventure.

Let’s walk through the magic door which will let us live for a moment what will take place in the future. According to the Great Book, this is what will happen...

Unless the boy-man

the man-boy, writes it anew.

On an island of tomorrow…

Claudio and four other children are the sole survivors on the planet Earth. Everything has been destroyed. Erupting volcanoes and earthquakes are a constant threat.

Claudio is the eldest. He is about thirteen. Skin tanned by the sun, shiny eyes, he is sensitive and intuitive; he sometimes remembers his village in Latin America. He feels responsible for the group and often assumes the role of a big brother.

There is a girl in the group. Her name is Sarah. She is shy, quiet, tender. Her straight blond hair reaches her shoulders. In the land where she was born there were many windmills. She is eight years old.

Ramasane loves birds and finds messages in the clouds. He’s only seven but has owned many elephants, and even now, at night, he calls to them.

Mashadi, nine years old, with eyes as mysterious as the night, used to live in the desert. He feels that the distance between the grains of sand and the stars is only a question of time.

Prio, the youngest of the bunch, is only five. In difficult moments, he sings. He cries alone. He dreams of dragons and princesses. He misses his Daddy and Mommy very much. His village was so beautiful…the pagodas.

─ Claudio ─said Sara─ where are you going?

─ I still don’t know ─replied Claudio­─ but we must keep walking. Maybe we’ll meet somebody soon.

─ There are no signs of life. I feel afraid.

─ Let’s hold hands. We will feel safer, protected.

The five children, hands entwined, continued their journey around the Earth.

Suddenly, Ramasane exclaimed:

─Wait! Look! Do you see that? There’s a river of lava. It bubbles as it gets lost in that immense hole.

─ The ground is not firm! ─ said Mashadi─ It is as hot as the desert sands.

─ Look! ─ exclaimed Sarah─­ what is that floating over there? It looks like a box with a stone in the center.

─ It’s not a box─ replied Claudio─ It’s a gourd! A gourd with an emerald!

─ I wonder to whom it belongs─ Prio added.

─ I’ll try to reach it─ said Claudio. Look where I’m going. Follow my footsteps.

─ Oh, Claudio, please be careful! ─ cried Sarah.

─ Hold on tight. Don’t be afraid─ answered Claudio.

With great difficulty, the children drew closer to the emerald-studded gourd. They almost reached it when the floor beneath their feet gave way.

─ What’s happening? ─ asked Sarah.

─ We are sinkiiiiiiing! ─ yelled Claudio.

The children fell through a great hole which seemed to have no end.

─ We are sinking, yet we’re floating as if on a cushion of air. ─ said Claudio.

It was true. There was no danger. They were slowly descending to the very bottom of the earth.

─ This is like a flying carpet but instead of rising to fly, we are sinking deeper and deeper! ─ exclaimed Mashadi.

─ Is everyone all right? ─ asked Claudio.

─ Yes, except descending like this gives me a queer feeling in the pit of my stomach. ─ said Sarah.

─ Look! Below! Everything is illuminated! ─ said Ramasane.

─ There seems to be a door. ─ Prio added.

─ Oh, it’s a door covered with emeralds. The same gem we saw on the gourd.

Reaching solid ground the children contemplated the beautiful green door. They had no idea where they were.

Who could live here? The door opened. They decided to enter. Slowly, they pushed the door open…

There is a child sitting on a throne. At the far end of a magnificent chamber, illuminated with sapphires and rubies, in the very center of the earth, seated on a pure-gold, petal-shaped throne, there was a strange creature.

From a distance he seemed like a child. His head was a bit larger than normal; his immense eyes were blue. He seemed to see all, know all. He was dressed in green. His tiny hands rested on his knees… He was the Marvelous Genie from the center of the Earth.

─ Who are you? ─ asked Sarah. 

There was no answer. The Marvelous Genie from the center of the Earth, he who balances the World of Vegetables and the World of Metals… started to cry.

─ Why are you crying ─ asked Sarah. He fixed his blue eyes on her. A voice was heard, beyond a human voice:

─ I am not accustomed to speak. ─ said the genie ─ I send out thoughts that work and become real. I thought I was beyond emotion, but seeing you arrive has moved me profoundly.

─ Are your tears real? ─ asked Prio.

─ Real and sincere –replied the genie

─ Tell us. Why do you cry? We are unable to cry ─said Sarah.

─ I am the Genie from the center of the Earth and I am sad, very sad ─explained the genie.

─ Is there something we can do for you? ─ asked Claudio.

─ Perhaps there is. Maybe… listen! Our planet Earth, that I love so much, is sick, very sick. And I cannot find the medicine to cure her.

─ What’s wrong? ─Claudio asked.

─ You saw the poor Earth was shaken by those terrible quakes. Its temperature has risen so high that my diamond thermometer has shattered into a million pieces.

─ How terribly ill! ─ exclaimed Sarah.

─ Through the volcanoes, her thousand mouths, she has tried to get rid of the disease. Poor earth, she suffers so much. Without intending to, she has harmed her favorite son, her material son: man. You must have noticed, children that Mother Earth is often trembling. She is trembling because she is cold.

─ Cold? I would think she is trembling from too much heat ─ Ramasane added.

─ Mother Earth is feminine. Although there’s heat, she trembles internally from coldness.

─ Poor thing! ─ exclaimed Sarah.

The Marvelous Genie from the Center of the Earth stepped down from his throne and invited the children to make themselves comfortable on purple-colored cushions. Then he spoke:

─Our Mother Earth deserves more comprehension, better care… she has given us everything we require to live in this world.

─ Exactly, what made her sick? ─ asked Claudio.

─ The wars… the hate… the cruelty… the apathy.

─ Are those the names of sicknesses? ─ asked Sarah.

─ Much worse ─ replied the genie ─ they eat away the soul. Complete disintegration. The souls disappear without a trace.

─ Our parents? They didn’t know about this? ─ asked Claudio.

─ They never paid any attention. They never weighed the consequences.

─ Is there something we can do? ─ asked Mashadi.

─ It might be too late ─ replied the genie.

─ Late? For us time has ceased to exist ─ said Claudio

­

─ What would happen if we children gave all our love to Mother Earth? ─ asked Sarah.

─ A group of angels tried it once and they failed. They love us dearly, but they vibrate at a different level.

─ We are human children ─said Sarah ─ and we would like to try.

The children stood and formed a tight circle around the genie. They closed their eyes to concentrate better. Sarah spoke:

─ We promise to love the Earth. We shall care for her and cherish all her animals, plants, mountains, seas, and rivers. We shall destroy only what we must use to sustain life and, most important of all, we promise to respect each other no matter if our skin color, our capacity to learn and our goals are different.

The genie started to cry again. The tears rolled down his pale cheeks.

─ Why are you crying now? ─ Sarah asked him.

─ Because a child’s goodness moves even the very center of the Earth.

The genie had the gourd with the emerald. It enclosed the love of the five children who desired only the very best things for Mother Earth.

I believe… Yes! I believe she was cured. She never mentioned being cold ever again.