A Whole New World

by Liz Braswell

“Don’t let life’s unfairness, don’t let how poor you are decide who you are. You choose who you will be, Aladdin. Will you be a hero who looks after the weak and powerless? Will you be a thief? Will you be a beggar—or worse? It’s up to you, not the things—or people—around you. You can choose to be something more.”

The sultan still sat in his beautiful golden-domed palace, playing with his toys while people starved on the streets.

The bottommost chamber had been excavated in the dead of a black night by workers who were then murdered and buried under the very stone steps they helped lay—to preserve the secrets of the palace dungeons.

“when anyone can reach up and take as much as they want—gold stops having value. Like sand.”

Had this all happened…before? Was the treasure buried not because of some mad old sultan who wanted his wealth to die with him, but because someone nearly destroyed the world by bringing too much gold into it? With the help of a genie, whose lamp was the only “worthless” thing in there…Maybe it was all hidden to protect people from the power of wishes.

It’s not all about gold and jewels and heists and stealing from ‘the man.’ It’s also territories and percentages and fair shares…and not quite fair shares when someone’s family is ailing and needs a little more. It’s about loans no one is ever going to pay back. It’s about conflict resolution—because in our case, an unresolved conflict results in daggers coming out. It’s about dealing with people, treating them fairly, and listening to them even if you don’t agree. Sometimes it’s about making everyone unhappy—the same amount.”

Magic is only as great as the mind controlling it,’”

“‘There is no more powerful force on earth than a mother frightened for her children,’”