Aladdin - the Arabian Nights

Chapter 7

Aladdin was walking home from his market stall that day, which started out feeling like any other day. His merchant business had pretty much settled into a routine by now, and it had been a long time since any new challenges had shown up. Aladdin was beginning to get bored, to long for something different and exciting to happen, and to remember that for him, being a merchant had never been the end goal. Genie and Carpet weren't with him today, only Abu, riding as usual atop Aladdin's shoulder. As he made his way through the market, lost in his thoughts, he heard a cry he recognized as coming from the palace guards, calling for everyone to clear the streets and avert their eyes because "Princess Jasmine, beloved daughter of our glorious Sultan, whose beauty is unrivalled by any in Agrabah, comes to bathe! Any who dare look upon the Princess will lose his head!"

It wasn't the first time Aladdin had heard this, and every time he did, he found part of himself wondering what would happen if he did look at the princess. After all, in one breath the guards told him how beautiful Princess Jasmine was and how desirable she might be to look at, and forbade him on pain of death from doing it. Why tempt him if they didn't want him to look? How could it be such a crime just to look at another person, anyway? And how would they know if he had looked? Aladdin had stolen from the marketplace for years without the guards catching him; he was quite capable of slipping to a secret vantage point above the market stalls where he could see Jasmine but remain unobserved himself.

Maybe it was his fascination with anything to do with the palace, ready to burst out after trying so long to repress it. Maybe Aladdin was just so bored with his current life that he felt particularly rebellious that day. Maybe it was simply that this time when he heard the call, he happened to be near the bathhouses. For whatever reason, Aladdin decided that today, instead of just wondering what would happen if he looked at Princess Jasmine, he was actually going to do it. He would just glance at her, right as she was entering the bathhouse, at the point when she had enough privacy to uncover her face but would not yet be uncovering anything else. He knew the city well enough to know just where he should perch to be able to do it. One quick look to satisfy his curiosity, and then he'd go right back home and never think about it again. Before Aladdin could talk himself out of it, he had swung himself up to the top of the stalls and onto the roofs above, to the perfect place where he could see past the entryway into the bathhouse, but not the more private areas beyond.

From up here Aladdin could clearly see the procession, with guards calling for everyone to get out of the way and servants sweeping dust out of the princess's path, surrounding a girl in a simple brown dress and headscarf as they hurried her down this path and ushered her through the door. As she entered the bathhouse, Aladdin was surprised to see that this headscarf was the only head covering she was wearing; no veil or anything. Princess Jasmine reached up with slender, delicate fingers to pull her headscarf down, shaking free a long rope of silken black hair as she did, and Aladdin was able to get a clear view of her face. And he was instantly dazzled. Jasmine was gorgeous.

Her hair was full and thick at the top, cascading down her back in a silky, radiant waterfall, tied loosely at the base of her neck and then again a little ways down, before ending almost at her knees in a lush swirl. She wore a band of turquoise fabric around her head, into which was set a huge turquoise gemstone, which flashed in the sunlight but could not shine nearly as bright as her eyes. These were huge, bright-brown almonds which positively glowed above her narrow, delicate nose and full, reddish lips. As Aladdin watched, Jasmine glanced back at the door and frowned, as though she was upset. Aladdin wondered what about. He almost wanted to jump down and ask her. He wanted to fix whatever was making Jasmine unhappy, to make it go away forever, and to let her know that he was the one who had taken her pain away. He wanted to sweep her into his arms and take her away somewhere where nothing would ever hurt her, somewhere they could be alone, just him and her. He wanted to gaze forever into those huge, bewitching eyes.

"Wow!" breathed Aladdin.

Jasmine turned away from the door in much the same, reluctant way Aladdin would tear himself away from the palace, and sighed. With her long triple ponytail swinging tantalizingly behind her, she disappeared into the private chambers of the bathhouse. The door closed behind her with a suspiciously loud bang as though she had slammed it.

Aladdin remained staring at the place where Jasmine had disappeared for a good five minutes, with a dreamy, glazed look in his eyes, as he replayed every feature, every glance, every gesture over and over in his mind. Finally he was brought back to reality by a small smack. Abu, who had been waving his hand in front of Aladdin's eyes trying to get his friend's attention, had finally had enough and slapped him. Right. He should probably go before anyone found him here....

By this point, the streets had filled up with people again and Aladdin was able to slip down from his hiding place and join the crowd unnoticed. But if anyone had happened to glance at him on his way home, they might have noticed that he seemed to be almost floating off the ground with his head in the clouds....