• Sand flew in small bursts from underneath Michee's feet. Her hands were embedded deep into the pockets of her pants and her head hung sadly as she shuffled along the shoreline. Her bland choclate hair hung limply around her her sagging shoulders and her pale feet were covered with sand and seawater.

    Michee was always kind to people but as you probably know the human race is not a kind one and her best efforts were returned with laughs and torments. She was used to this of course and she never gave up and never lost her good heart. But today it was crushed with what seemed like a sludge hammer and Michee didn't even care if it was still beating.

    Girls had pointed rudely at her square framed glasses and guys at had laughed and antagonized her about her obtuse build and nerdy disposition. To her it seemed that Cinderella stories were just that, stories. The wicked bad guys were never punished and those who perservered where never recompensed. The wolrd was never fair but to Michee it was more than that, to her the world just hated her.

    Today she had come for a calming and peaceful walk on the beach and what did she get? Exactly what she got everyday. Taunts and jibes and nothing but it. So she curled up in a ball on the sand and cried.

    Sad sobs raked soundlessly through her body and shook her with grief. She didn't feel bad for herself. She felt bad for everyone who had ever gone through unfair pain like she was now.

    When the sky was darkened and the beach had been emptied Michee wanted nothing more but to escape from this cruel world, if only for a minute.

    Cold shot up her legs as she plunged into the water and slowly numbed the rest of her. She closed her eyes and thought about the risk of sharks but for once she really didn't care. Michee slowly detached her mind from herself and her conscious floated away, exploring where ever her curiosity wandered.

    When Michee returned to her body she smiled inwardly as she realized that all her grief had disapated and began to drift back to shore.

    As she averted a sharp group of rocks a silver glint danced across the surface of the water and caught her eye. Her head bent forward as she peered into the water to distinguish the shining object and she dived down to get a better view. On the bottom of the ocean, lying still on top of a few dull pebbles, was a silver shell. Michee swooped down to grab the little shell and swam strongly to the surface again for air. She hurried back to shore to examine her new found treasure.

    In her rough hand lay a perfectly formed silver shell. The rough seawater had damaged it none and it shone as if just being polished. It was the size of a quarter with small engravings in another language on the edges. The shell was closed tight and no matter how hard she tried it would not open. Michee took the edge of her sleeve and dried off the shell but as she rubbed it it became very hot and luminescent and she dropped it to the ground. The light got brighter untill the point where it was blinding and Michee stumbled back and and fell onto the sand. A loud popping noise came from the shell and the light faded to reveal a green man standing before her.

    His arms were folded in an neutral way and a large ring protruded from his nose. A wrap covered his head and loose, baggy pants embroidered with gold hung around this strange mans waist.

    "Uh......hi." Michee said akwardly.

    "YOU HAVE RUBBED MY SHELL AND SET ME FREE!!!!!" Called a booming voice. It echoed of the ocean with the consistancy of loud thunder.

    Michee began to tremble at this mysterious characters words and wondered if she had made a mistake by swimming in the ocean that night.

    "You may have whatever you want in return." He said, a little quieter.

    Michee stared at the man and wondered if he really was some sort of genie. She had always thought that genies were in lamps and floated and were a little nicer to there rescuers.

    "Okay...." She said still a little confused. " I can have.......anything? Michee's mind raced through all her wants and tried to sort out the perfect one. Win Nobel Peace Prize, be rich and famous, solve global warming. There were to many things she wanted to do and to many people she knew she should help but Michee thought only of herself for the moment and she knew the perfect wish.

    "I wish I was a beautiful person!" Michee said with every bit of enthusiam she had. The genie closed his eyes and just smiled and smoke surrounded each of them. When it cleared Michee saw that the genie was gone and she raced to the waters edge to see her reflection. But she looked no different for on the inside Michee had always been a beautiful person.