Now, off to the side of the Actua Are's front stairs, there sat two skinny artificial trees. Why these fake trees had been planted in flowerpots with real dirt, or why the hotel staff watered them every day, was unclear. Even more unclear was how a Djinni had managed to bury itself in the dirt, so completely that it didn't appear anything was even buried there.

Well, almost. As part of that, it was also stuck. Its efforts to wriggle free quickly carried into the tree above it, shaking its golden leaves and jingle-bell berries much too excitedly to be the work of the wind.

(Besides which, there wasn't any wind.)