LightWorkers: The Genie, the Hero, and the Siren

By Anna Sarelas

LightWorkers live among us, tasked with keeping Earth from falling into darkness.

Alex is a Genie, but ever since granting his first wish, being a LightWork

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hawkeye Publishing Pty Ltd
• Release date: Jun 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9781923105164

Anna Sarelas

Anna Sarelas writes upper middle grade and young adult fantasy that Jaclyn Moriarty describes as 'Delightfully original, twisty-turny, and thought-provoking.' Anna leads a double life. By day, she has a serious role managing complex workplace scenarios. By night, Anna writes about LightWorkers and kids doing cool things like saving the world and fighting to be heard. Living in Sydney Australia, and close to great cafes, bushwalk trails and in an area with thousands of bats that come out at night, Anna tries hard to not mix her days and nights, because then that would be a little too hard to explain.If Anna is not writing, she is chasing laughter - with friends, shows, or wherever laughter is to be found. Oh, and beauty, she can be found chasing beauty! Crunchy leaves, white sand, incredible clothes, fashion parades, and the eyes of people she loves.Anna has a Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing.LightWorkers is her debut novel.

Book preview

LightWorkers:

The Genie, the Hero,

and the Siren

Anna Sarelas

An orange bird flying in the sky Description automatically generated with low confidence

PROLOGUE

MY name is Alexander . I am a Genie.

Alex groaned. In three days, that was all he’d written. His friend, Serena, had told him how easy this should be. He could hear her words clearly. It’s all there. You know this stuff. Just get it all down. Show your parents that you’ve paid attention, that’s all.

But every time he sat down to write, no words came out.

Alex tried psyching himself up. You know what’s at stake. If you don’t deliver on this, then you won’t go to a normal high school. Serena and Jason will, and you won’t.

Alex groaned loud enough to shake his thoughts.

If his friend Jason were here, he would say that he was putting too much pressure on himself. He’d also probably tell him to do a couple of hundred push-ups or a twenty-kilometre run to clear his head. Push-ups made Alex tired. He could barely run around the block.

After months of pleading with his parents to go to a non-LightWorker school, his parents had moved from an unyielding no to a maybe.

Alex couldn’t go to a LightWorker school. He just couldn’t. The thought of being around only LightWorkers and only attending LightWorker parties and listening only to LightWorker talk and only LightWorker everything suffocated him.

He was a Genie. He knew he couldn’t run from that. He just didn’t understand why that’s all he had to be. When Alex tried to talk about this with his parents, his mum got sad that he was rejecting his history and his dad blamed it on the time that Alex had granted a wish, and it had gone wrong. So, they didn’t really listen to him.

It was Serena’s idea for Alex to meet his parents halfway. And that’s how the no became a maybe. The compromise that Alex offered included attending LightWorker Sessions every weekend and writing a summary of the history of LightWorkers on Earth to show them that he listened and cared and that by asking to go to a normal high school, he wasn’t shunning their world or anything.

Alex took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and rewrote in slow deliberate letters. My name is Alex. I am a Genie LightWorker. With each letter, his thoughts sharpened into focus. He knew this as well as he knew himself. He didn’t need to go to a LightWorker high school to be a LightWorker.

LightWorkers came to Earth from the Home Star during the 12th century BC. The Home Star is a planet near Venus with three moons and purple skies. Their descendants now reach every corner of Earth, each tribe spreading Light in their own unique way. The Light energy is then sent through the portals that connect Earth with the Home Star to allow LightWorkers to travel back and forth, sharing advancements in technology, medicine, irrigation, sewerage management, communication, and health.

When a portal to the Home Star is not maintained, that corner of Earth is plunged into darkness until the portal is brought to order.

I hope they don’t expect me to write about the history of the Council, Alex panicked. There was no way he remembered the names and dates of Council leaders and whatnot. The only bits of information he retained from the LightWorker Council history were the gory stories about the LightWorker prisons throughout the ages and the ways they tortured LightWorkers who turned bad.

He wrote: Some say that LightWorkers are aliens, but the answer is tricky. We are not from Earth, but there are now many, many generations of LightWorkers born here. So, the correct answer is, kind of.

Alex smiled at the thought of him and his friends as aliens. They didn’t have blue skin or large heads. Although his nose had grown way too big lately, Alex thought with a frown.

The tribes ensure their anonymity amongst humans with a strategy that is maintained to this day by hiding in plain sight.

LightWorkers tell their stories to humans every day, making sure that the name of each LightWorker Tribe is familiar and entwined with childhood memories, becoming part of the non-LightWorkers’ very identities.

The ninth tribe of LightWorkers that form the Council on Earth is the Protectorates. This tribe is from Earth and comprises Indigenous tribes that guard their native lands. The Protectorates guard the portals on each continent.

Reading over what he wrote, there was so much he hadn’t touched upon. He wasn’t sure how much information his parents wanted him to include. Should he mention the ways in which each tribe uniquely helped other tribes? How inter-tribal power worked? Famous LightWorkers throughout history? Famous LightWorkers now? More about the portals? He didn’t know too many details on all that, so maybe this was enough...

Kindness. The Home Star expels kindness by absorbing energy and then sending it back threefold through the portals. It is this energy that the LightWorkers on Earth gather, release, and accept back in greater quantities.

The energy that is sent back to the Home Star, the energy that powers our communities and drives LightWorkers across the galaxy, is produced through acts of kindness.

Alex read what he wrote again and again, hoping he’d done enough. At the last minute, he included the table he’d drawn up in one of the LightWorker sessions he’d attended.

1

One Year Later

Thirteen Days Remaining

Alexander

ALEX SAW THE MAN SITTING under a makeshift cardboard shelter. He could smell him from all the way over there. Alex stopped so abruptly that a person behind him bumped into him. Fortunately, the man hadn’t seen him, but Alex had to act quickly. He scanned the tunnel for somewhere to hide. It was Tuesday afternoon and a sea of black-clad people poured into Central Station. Alex lowered his head and flattened his hair over his face to blend in. He looked up for the briefest of moments, and when he did, Mr Keller’s eyes locked with his.

‘You! This is all your fault!’ Mr Keller pointed and screamed so loudly that everyone around Alex pulled their jackets close to their faces and walked faster.

His smell was so strong. A funky smell of beer and urine; the stink of a man who hadn’t showered in days.

‘Take my wish away! I don’t want any of it!’

People stared.

Alex felt in his backpack and rubbed his lamp. A thick smoke enveloped him, hiding him.

‘Where did you go? Come out here and give me another wish, boy!’

Alex emerged from the tunnel onto Elizabeth Street. He leaned against the traffic light to catch his breath. The red light elongated the shadows on his face, hooking his nose even wider. His fingers combed through his sweat-frizzed curls.

He’d had two bad Genies out of the many wishes he’d granted.

Four months ago, Mr Keller wished for ten million dollars. Seeing him homeless tonight behind a baseball cap with a few coins was a real bummer. Alex didn’t know what to make of it. Was it his fault if a person’s wish backfired?

On the night that Alex granted Mr Keller his wish, he’d found him in a pub on Devonshire Street playing the pokies. He’d been easy to convince; Alex barely had to pull out any magic tricks. Nor had Mr Keller taken too long thinking about his wish. The entire thing was done in ten minutes and Alex walked home in time to finish his homework before bed.

But now, screaming at him in Central Station, and making Alex detour through the tunnels to evade prying eyes, Mr Keller made him late.

Alex spoke into his phone. ‘Jason, it’s me. I’m running late, I’ll be there in about ten minutes.’

‘Hurry up! People are already here.’

‘People? Which people? I said that you could hold a small get-together!’

Alex picked up his pace.

His parents would kill him if they found out he was having a party one hour after they left. And what if his uncle came past and saw it?

Alex groaned. Why had he agreed to this? Jason couldn’t throw a small birthday party, even if he tried.

Alex heard the music before he turned into his street. About two hundred people were dancing on the road, spilling out from his house.

He gulped. Even with his parents currently on another planet, it would take a miracle to keep them from finding out about this.

Hesitating, Alex turned to leave in the direction he’d come. Maybe if he didn’t show up at the party, he could plead innocence to his parents about it all being a big misunderstanding.

Suddenly, a hand clapped him on the shoulder. ‘No you don’t! You’re not going anywhere.’

It was Jason. He grinned. ‘I thought you might get a little funny.’ He had his bare arm around a girl and had clearly been waiting for Alex.

‘Funny? Funny? Funny?’ With each repetition, Alex’s blood boiled more. ‘How could you? What is... Who are...?’ He was unable to finish.

‘Relax. Give me your keys. It’ll be fine. We’ll go inside, eat some pizza and have a few drinks. I have a chocolate cake for later.’ Jason’s voice was infuriatingly soft. ‘You’ve been talking about this day for so long. It’s all good. How long have you been wanting your parents to go away? It’s done. You did it!’

Jason even managed to flex his muscles for the girl while giving that speech.

It could have been the aftertaste of the Mr Keller incident, or the excitement of being home alone for the first time, but Alex decided his friend had a point.

‘You know what? You’re right.’ He gave his key to Jason before he could change his mind.

‘That’s the spirit!’

‘But someone needs to work some magic on my neighbours because my parents will absolutely kill...’. But Jason had already left. A cheer erupted as the music got louder.

‘Hey, are you okay? I was looking for you.’ Serena came up next to him.

‘My parents will kill me when they find out,’ he groaned.

‘They won’t find out. I’ll Siren your neighbours.’ Serena was also maddeningly calm.

‘This is all I need.’ Alex shook his head, taking in the scene.

‘What do you mean?’ Serena sat on a short red brick fence. The lights were off in the house behind her, and it looked like no one was home.

‘I bumped into Mr Keller on the way home,’ Alex said.

‘The guy who came past the shop a few weeks ago screaming that you ruined his life?’

‘That’s the one. He screamed at me again today.’

‘In public? How did you get away?’ Serena asked, chewing her bottom lip.

‘Genie Smoke.’

Alex only then noticed that everyone on the street looked vaguely familiar.

‘Hey, who are all these people?’ he asked.

‘Most of them are from LightWorker school, like Josephine, Tim and those guys.’

‘And everyone else?’ Alex asked, as he scanned the crowd.

‘Jason invited everyone from his gym,’ Serena sighed.

‘Of course, he did,’ Alex said through a clenched jaw.

‘How was it with your parents? Did they leave okay?’ Serena asked.

‘Yep. Although Cassandrus was there.’

‘Why?’ Serena groaned and stuck her tongue out.

‘Not only was he there but he acted all important, talking in confidence to my parents about Council stuff.’

‘Aargh,’ Serena conveyed their mutual distaste of Cassandrus.

Making their way to the epicentre of the party, Alex had to breathe deeply to stop himself from screaming at everyone to get out of there.

‘You can’t be like this all night. It’s done now. Enjoy it.’ Serena shrugged.

Jason had set up in the front yard a drinks and pizza stand and was being the ultimate party host. He shook someone’s hand, pulled someone else into a bearhug with a loud cheer, and called out for someone to throw someone else a beer. Jason repeated this exact sequence of moves many, many times. His friends poured in and he greeted them all with a, ‘Hey mate!’ and open arms.

Looking around, Serena laughed. ‘I can’t believe he talked you into a birthday party!’

‘What’s your birthday present to him?’ Alex asked, changing the subject.

‘Umm... to talk.’ Serena had the grace to look down as she admitted to that.

Alex’s eyes widened as he realised what she meant. ‘You’re joking! You agreed for Jason to flex his muscles and show-off being a Hero to a non-LightWorker, and then for you to swan in and make them forget everything they heard and saw! Oh, I feel sooo much better about saying yes to this party now,’ he said, with a goofy smile as he started picking up empty cans of soft drink.

It wasn’t long before Jason signalled to Serena that he was going to cash in on her birthday gift. Depositing an armful of rubbish beside the overflowing kitchen bin, Alex returned to Serena’s side, and they followed Jason as he walked away from the party with his arm around a pretty girl. Alex could see his friend humming to the beat of the music, looking pleased with himself.

He heard the girl ask Jason, ‘How do you get that muscle to flex like that?’ and rolled his eyes.

Jason took the girl to a side lane adjacent to his house. It was dark, save for a dull streetlamp that cast a heavy orange glow. The girl flicked her hair over one shoulder and Jason smiled and flexed his arm muscles even more. Then he leaned closer to the girl and murmured, ‘Do you want to see something else?’ as his muscles tightened and the veins popped.

Under the orange glow, the veins looked black, and his shirt ripped loudly over the music in the distance. He stood in front of the girl as a Hero. A LightWorker Hero. His arms were three times their size with the veins visibly pulsing through them, and his neck enlarged to support his chest that had ballooned out.

Serena whispered, ‘Should I give him another minute?’

Meanwhile, Jason had picked up a car in the driveway. He lifted it clean over his shoulders and placed it back down again.

‘What was that?’ The girl gave a nervous laugh and looked around, clearly now aware that she was by herself with a guy who had just ballooned out and lifted a car.

‘I’m a LightWorker. I’m from the Hero Tribe. Basically, we’re super strong. Like, super super strong.’ Jason’s voice was smooth as he tried to ease her visible fright.

‘You kind of look like The Hulk.’ The girl’s voice wavered as she took small steps back.

‘Yeah, but it’s more than that. LightWorkers are here to do good, and that’s how our tribe does good.’

‘Your tribe?’ she repeated.

‘Yeah, it’s passed down. You should see my little sister go into Hero mode!’

‘Little Meredith?’ Curiosity made her smile a little. ‘Your sister who came to the gym the other day when you forgot your wallet?’

‘Yeah, we are all from the Hero Tribe. Our purpose is to spread kindness and help people through our strength.’

‘Sure, and I’m a Fairy.’ Her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed.

‘No, you’re not.’

‘Maybe I am.’

‘If you were, I would know.’

‘How?’

‘Well for one, you’d be a part of the LightWorker community, or you’d go to a LightWorker school. And you definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see me Hero.’

‘LightWorker community?’ the girl repeated slowly. ‘There are more of you?’

‘There are Amazonians, Elves, Genies...’

Jason craned his neck in the dark looking for Serena.

‘Genies? You mean, I can make wishes?’ She sat up very straight.

Alex chuckled in the darkness.

‘Like, a proper Genie? Do I get three wishes?’ She wasn’t looking at his muscles anymore.

‘No, you’d just get one wish but...’ Jason shook his head. ‘Forget about the Genie Tribe,’ he muttered.

‘How do I get a wish?’ The girl’s face brightened with anticipation.

Alex exchanged a grin with Serena. This was not going according to Jason’s plan.

‘Fairies are the healers, Midases can turn things to gold, the Sirens...’ Jason spoke fast, clearly wanting to get things back on track. He wasn’t going to waste his birthday present talking about Genies.

‘Gold? Like, can they turn my phone into gold?’ Her face got even brighter.

‘Yeah, they... I can’t fix this, can I?’ Jason muttered. ‘Full disclosure, one of my best friends will be here any minute now to Siren you so that you forget everything I just said.’

‘Your friend is going to do what to me?’ She sprang up quickly, eyes wide.

Serena’s voice cut through the night. ‘Sheesh Jason, you’ve really got to work on your game,’ she said. ‘Hi, I’m Serena. Jason was not smooth at all.’

‘What’s going on?’ The girl was visibly scared now.

‘Nothing is going on.’ Serena locked eyes with her. ‘You are at a party with your friends. Jason, a guy from the gym, invited you to his birthday. He tried to make out with you, but he’s way too young so you rejected him.’

The girl nodded. ‘You are gorgeous. Are you on the cover of this month’s Cosmo?’

‘The party is that way.’ Serena continued to lock eyes with her. ‘Find your friends, have a great night, and don’t forget to tell them that you didn’t make out with Jason because he’s too young.’ Serena pointed her in the direction of Alex’s house.

The girl set off without even a glance in Jason’s direction.

‘You really didn’t need to go on and on about the whole rejection thing, we got it the first time,’ Jason snapped.

‘Happy birthday Jase! Was it as great as you hoped it would be?’ she asked him with a smile.

Jason rolled his eyes. ‘I can’t believe all she wanted to talk about was Genies.’ His voice raised an octave to mimic her excitement. ‘So, would I like actually get three wishes? Could he turn my mobile phone into gold? Could he make me ace all my exams for the rest of school? How do I meet a Genie? Argh!’ Jason finished in his own voice.

Alex laughed and punched him on the shoulder that had deflated to his normal muscly one. ‘You can deadlift whatever you want, and I’ll still be cooler.’

‘Whatever,’ Jason called as he returned to the party.

‘Right, one more house to Siren into forgetting about this party and I’m off,’ Serena announced. She always needed time to herself after Sirening.

Alex’s heart sank. ‘No, don’t go! I need your help – my house is being trashed!’

The sounds of laughter and singing came into focus – voices singing off-tune yet in unison. He sent her a pleading look and she sighed.

‘Fine.’

Walking back to his house together, Alex and Serena passed a bunch of Hero boys showing off for a group of non-LightWorker girls, playing catch with a massive tree they’d unearthed from the footpath.

As they got closer, they could see that some of the Midases had lit their hair gold. It was against the Council rules, but neither of them said anything. The Midases tended to do this at parties, but not usually in front of non-LightWorkers. They knew better than that.

‘Oi! I know you!’ someone shouted to Serena. ‘Hey! Weren’t you on the cover of...?’

Serena cursed under her breath.

‘Just ignore all this, we’ll just go and clean up, that’s what’s important right now.’ Alex knew how Serena got in crowds.

‘Hi, Serena!’ a LightWorker kid called.

‘Hey,’ she mumbled back without looking up.

‘What’s up with her?’ Alex heard someone say.

‘Typical. She never talks to us anymore.’

‘That stupid Cosmo cover,’ she hissed at Alex. Serena’s mother had lined up the cover without telling her as punishment after she was caught using her Siren powers to get food for Jason.

Alex held his breath as the two of them pushed through the crowd gathered in his front yard and through the front door. The house had been mostly okay when they were there half an hour ago, but who knows what could have happened since then? Alex pictured broken furniture, smashed beer bottles, drunk LightWorkers sprawled on the floor...

‘Umm... where is everyone?’ Serena asked looking around the empty living room. Alex exhaled in relief.

‘I chased them all out a few minutes ago,’ Jason said as he walked in behind her and headed to the kitchen. He was topless with his shirt hanging off his jeans.

Serena was peering behind furniture and through doors, as if she expected a mob of wild teenagers to be hiding somewhere.  ‘But why? I thought the party was going well.’

Jason shrugged. ‘I just moved everyone outside. Alex was getting all funny about people being in his house, and it doesn’t make much difference to them.’ He lifted some boxes of food and drink on his shoulders.

‘I’ll leave you two loners in here. If you feel like being with, you know, other people, then come outside.’ Winking at Alex, he turned and strode out the door.

‘To his credit, he doesn’t sound pissed off,’ Serena said as she laid down on the couch.

Looking out the window at the crowd on his front lawn, Alex’s spirits deflated. Even if he got the house cleaned up in time, there was still the matter of the hundred people taking pictures and telling friends – how was he going to keep his parents from hearing about the party?

‘Why would he be pissed off? He’s having a great night! Whereas I am going to be...’

‘Nothing will happen,’ Serena said. ‘I’ve Sirened the neighbours and I’ll Siren that last house when everyone leaves.’

‘Hey, can I use your bathroom?’ A voice came through from the front door.

‘Bathroom? What? N...’ Alex’s voice rose in panic.

Serena cut him off. ‘Alex, it’s Josephine! Of course, she can come inside!’

‘You