WWC: My Wish.

[The Great Thundorz]

Late one night, I was running home late from work. I knew I was going to get yelled at in the morning for this. As I neared the door, I tripped and fell face first in the grass! When I got back up, I found that what I had tripped over was a lamp. It looked dusty and old, but I had no time to think! So I ran in, got to my room, put the lamp down and went to sleep. I woke up in the morning, feeling tired and lazy. I looked to my right and found that lamp still there. I took it and looked it over, curious as always, and rubbed it with my sleeve, only to find it started to shake! In three seconds flat, a figure appeared before me. To my utter surprise, a genie was before me! I gasped with shock as I stared at him in all his glory! He was purple in color, had a turban on his head. He had no legs, but a mere wisp-like tail that allowed him to hover. His beard was the only hair on his face, and those sapphire-like eyes stared straight into my soul!

Then, he spoke.

"I am the Genie in the lamp, but you may call me Jinn. Once every hundred years, someone finds my lamp and I give them three wishes! You may either save them for a rainy day, or use them right now! It does not matter to me, for I have all of eternity to wait."

I could not believe my eyes, Jinn, as he called himself, was waiting for my call! Although I found it odd that he had no shirt on, who cared! I had three wishes, and right now, I was the luckiest man in the world! Then a knock came to my door and Jinn quickly vanished, in to the lamp he went and in came mother.

"Were you late again last night?!" She asked with a harsh tone in her voice.

"Y-yes mother... I am --" But she was quick to the draw and threw my backpack in my hands.

"Get dressed, then come down stairs to eat. When you get home, you will be grounded!" Upon her leaving, she slammed the door! Jinn came back out at this and looked at me curiously.

"Why were you late?" Jinn asked.

"I had to do something for a friend, he made me go all around the block. I feel like such a fool, every one likes to abuse me and push me around! Even my own parents! I get no respect, and I frankly just wish..." I stopped upon my discovery. "... That's it! Jinn! My first wish!"

"Hmm, interesting." Jinn spoke out. "Very well, make the first wish."

"I wish I was the most respected person!"

"Very well." Jinn snapped his fingers at this, crossing his arms against his chest afterword. "Done."

"Done?" I asked.

"Go on, you will be late if you stay here." With that, Jinn went back in to the lamp. I got up out of bed and got dressed like always, our school had some stupid uniform, so I looked like a fool. I put that lamp in to my backpack, hidden beneath all the school work and such. Out of my room I came, but nothing looked different. It was nothing like another version of it at all, so maybe Jinn had lied. When I went down stairs, I rushed in to the kitchen, only to find my breakfast waiting for me already. Mother was never this fast, and when I looked to her, she smiled at me.

"There's my favorite boy!" She said to me with such joy, it was unusual for her! Father looked over his newspaper and smiled as he adjusted his glasses.

"How's our favorite son in the world?!" He asked. He was usually cranky, tired or otherwise. But no, instead, they treated me like royalty!

"Um, well..." Before I could go on, they spoke faster then I could!

"Do whatever you like, it doesn't matter. Fail your grades, kick the dog, who cares! If you wish to be left alone, we will do so, dear!" Mother said with such an awkward tone to her voice, it made me worried this was all a prank. But to my surprise, she came over and picked me up, putting me down in my usual seat. Walking away, she went back to her work. I looked at father, but he went back to his newspaper. But this time it was different, they seemed nervous behind that cheerful expression, and I wondered just what was going on. But I ate any way and walked outside. To my surprise, at the bus stop where i usually went, everyone smiled and allowed me to stand in line first. But they kept a fair distance, no one tried to look at me. Something had gone wrong, and I had to find out what.

On the way to school, I sat in the back for some privacy. No one seemed to mind, but they all sat up in the front. It was unusual, so I got that lamp out. "What is wrong with everyone?" I asked the lamp as if it would talk, keeping my voice down to a whispered hush.

"You wished to be respected, and so I have granted you that. For now the whole world will acknowledge you as a king! But there must be a price to pay for this, and so in return for this respect, you have now gained envy from others. Your parents are scared, your friends are frightened. Your teachers will quiver with fear, and... Well, need I go on?"

"You mis-understood what I said, I did want respect. But what I meant by most respected in the world, I meant I wished for everyone to stop being so mean to me. Now I am cursed and and it is all because of you! Undo this wish, so that I may return to normal!" But deep in my heart, I knew the answer. And when Jinn spoke, he too, knew how I felt.

"You have made the wish, now it is beyond my power. If you want me to get rid of it, fine, wish it away. But that will only leave you with one wish left, and after that, I am gone for another hundred years! So either wish it undone, or fix it yourself. Either way, the whole world now observes you as such!"

"No, that's not fair!" I thought it over long and hard on the way to school, but I knew in my heart that this wish would ruin my life. "Very well... I wish for my first wish to be undone!"

"Very well." Responded Jinn, and just like that, I was back in my bed. But now I knew, as I got dressed, the usual result happened. Mother was angry at me and reminded father I was to be punished. He brushed it off, tired as he was, and continued to read. I ate my cereal, done as soon as I sat down. When I got outside, everyone laughed at me. I was a mess, and they knew why. When I got on the bus, everyone was cheerful and loud. But only I, the one who sat in the back, was miserable and lonely.

The day went by as usual, I was miserable like always. I was only new to the sixth grade, and yet everyone hated me! I wanted to regret my wishes, but there was nothing to regret. Two down, one to go, that was how it was. My wish... I only had that one wish left. I thought it over long and hard as I was picked on by the teachers and students for being out of place. Why they did this, I still do not know to this day. But either way, the result was the same. If I did not use this last wish, then would I die a lonely person?

The next day was odd, for I felt something unusual come over me. Every time I looked at that lamp, the feeling grew stronger. On Saturday, I felt prideful having this wish. I was still the luckiest man in the world! When my friends came over and asked if I wanted to play, I told them off, called them scum even, and slammed the door to let them freeze! My rage burned in my chest, I felt so angry! I wanted to get back at them, and then I remembered my one wish.

I wish to be the only person in the world.

I rushed to the lamp to make this wish, but I stopped and looked outside. They sat on my lawn, crying at what I had said and my heart suddenly sank. "What do you wish for?" Jinn asked.

"... I wanted to wish to be the only person in the world, but then I remembered, who would I have left to interact with? My life is a curse, and yet I bring pain upon others... The wish can wait, for I have to make amends!" So I rushed out my room, Jinn returning to his lamp. I went outside and made amends, apologizing out as best as my heart could until they forgave me. I don't remember why, but we soon ended up laughing over something, it was so silly they said. Then we played catch on my lawn for an hour or two before they headed off. My friends were important to me, why should I become prideful over others? That night, I felt confident that I had such great people as friends.

On Monday, I felt greedy. When I got on the bus, those three punks who pushed me around asked if I could do them a little favor. They wanted me to cheat, what low-lives. So I told them off, told them that I was keeping my knowledge to myself and that they could go away. At first they were puzzled by this, then they turned away from me and didn't look back. I kept my lamp hidden, why should they get free things when I never got anything in return?! When in class, I watched them struggle as they had not studied. They were most likely to fail, and suddenly I felt sad for them. Had they had someone to study with, they would be able to pass this test, but instead, they would fail and be a failure to those that loved them. When I went to the bathroom, making sure no one was around, I got the lamp out and Jinn appeared before me. "What is your wish?" He asked.

I wish for everyone to be smart.

"Jinn... What would happen if I wished everyone was smart?" I asked him.

"Ah, everyone would be able to figure out things, pass everything with flying colors. But then, would they ever learn? Everyone would instantly know what to do, everyone would never have to seriously study and schools would be pointless. Why, is that what you wish for?"

"No... But it's just, they always ask me to help them cheat. They always ask me to do things I don't want to do, yet when I don't want to, they fail. What do I do, Jinn?"

"That is up to you to decide. You are perhaps the closet thing to a friend they have, so maybe it would be wise to talk to them?" With that, Jinn went inside the lamp. Talk to them? He wasn't serious, was he?! After class, I went and talked to them. They said they didn't know how to normally ask anyone, so they normally had to do things rougher. I agreed to help them study that night, and at my house, we all ended up studying. They said they would stop asking so much from me and when they left, I felt like I could share my knowledge instead of my work. As I went to sleep that night, I thought about the problems we went over and how I could solve them.

On Friday, I had noticed a pattern. On Saturday, I felt Prideful against my friends. On Monday, I felt greedy against my abusers. On Tuesday, I had felt lustful for this one girl in school and tried to treat her like mine. In the end, I wanted to wish she would fall in love with me, but then I spoke to Jinn again and he told me that if love was forced, would there really be any love at all? So I apologized to her and we hung out that night, she said we should hang out more. On Wednesday, I felt wrathful at my parents for never appreciating me. I wanted to wish for them to notice me more, but I asked Jinn again and he said that if they really didn't care about me, why would I still be around? I talked to them and after an hour of arguing, we all started to laugh at a joke father told. After that, we decided to talk more, and that mother wouldn't be as much of a grouch to me.

Then Gluttony came in the form against my teachers. Envy at myself, and then, Sloth for Jinn. Finally, it was time to confront him. "You have all this great power, yet you just grant people whatever they want, don't you? I keep suggesting you these wishes, yet you always seem to give me advice back in return. So Jinn, what would happen if I wished myself to be a genie, huh?!"

"Well." Jinn started. "Then all you have accomplished this past week will have been lost." Those simple words woke me up to the reality of what was happening. I looked at him, confused.

"... You didn't." I said.

"Ah, you are on the right track it seems. It is true that I cannot grant you anything, but you did make a wish, and you wished it to be gone. You ended up gaining respect not through a wish, but through your own actions. I have been watching you, each day testing you with a sin that makes you human and watching how you progress. You have done well, I must say. You have done what others would have thrown aside and ignored. So, with that said, what is your last wish?" My mind twisted and turned, I thought it all over, he had been testing me! My wish HAD come true, but not through magic. It had come from me actually doing something about it.

"I wish to keep my life the way it is going. I have done so much without the need of a simple wish, I had been blind to the fact I could do something though. I let others push me around, I let others think of me as a nobody, because I didn't speak up for myself. That is my final wish, Jinn. Do with it as you wish, for I know now I have everything I ever needed!"

"Very well! Your life shall continue to go the way it is, and no longer will magic be watching over you. But with this, you must remember to continue doing things for yourself as well! Remember this, and your wish shall come true!" Jinn went back into the lamp for the last time, and he was gone just like that! The lamp was gone at last, and I was left wondering. The next day I was coming home that night when I tripped over something, catching myself on my arms. When I looked to what I had tripped over, it was a dusty old lamp. Rubbing off the dust, it turned out this lamp was not magical, but a normal lamp. I kept it from that day on as a sign. A sign that maybe Jinn was still with me, watching me, in some way.

It's been years since that event happened, the day my life changed. I tell children about my story, my wife and... My son. He is only five years old and has a sister coming his way! Today I will hand him his present from us on his fifth birthday, and he will open it to find my lamp. He's always loved that thing, I don't know why, but there is just some special charm I always found about it. If Jinn is still watching me, I hope he will watch over my son too, so that he may lead a successful life. Ah, that reminds me... If I could wish for anything still, it would be for my children to realize what I could not. But then, who knows. Maybe they need the trials and errors I came across, to get to the happy life I now have. Only time can tell, and I look forward to watching it with my wife at my side.