The Wish

Genie

The story began with the sound of dried leaves being crushed under his feet. The boy was walking rapidly cutting his own way through the forest. The sun had just passed over the boy’s head. Without any sign of white (or even black) clouds, the sky filled its emptiness with sky-blue color and a white, bright circular spot at its centre diverging lots of light beams. A sweat drop flowed down the boy’s forehead, but the sun had no intention to stop heating him. The lakes nearby his town were already dried up. The forest too had no signs of water. The usual green color shades in the forest were replaced by the brown-red color shades. But he wasn’t interested in the color theory of the nature.

The boy had walked a long distance and didn’t remember the path for return journey. He didn’t want to return. His life was hell back in his town. But the way he was walking was not going to take him to some new city for a new start. He didn’t want a new start. He just wanted to finish his old life; in fact he wanted to finish his life. He had no reason to live. But he had no way to die.

The boy had tried to kill himself many times, but couldn’t. He had failed to tie a rope to a ceiling fan. He fought much but his small height and the broken four-legged stool kept his hands and the rope quite away from the ceiling fan. He had also tried knife but had no courage to see his own blood. What if I didn’t die in one shot? There will be a lot of pain. I won’t be able to hit second knife shot. His hands were shaking when he lifted the knife. The idea was discarded instantly. He failed to steal a gun from his town’s only police officer. Even the lakes were dried up because of heat and the boy had no option of drowning. There were no mountains near his town to jump from. It seemed that the God was putting all his power to keep him alive. Frustrated due to his existence, he decided to leave his house and walk into jungle to allow his death to swallow him.

Here too, the boy had got nothing more than disappointment. The complete forest was deserted. He saw no living being except few insects crawling over the trees. He had expected few wild animals that might help him to kill himself. He had failed for everything in his life, even for suicide. Now he was wandering.

Walking few more minutes the boy heard a light sound of flowing water. His legs moved in the direction of sound. The river in the forest too was dying. Very small area around the river was green. That area contained some grass, small plants and few big trees with very few green leaves. The tired boy drank some water and sat under a tree. There was no sign of any wild animal near the river. He thought that God was trying to trouble him all the way.

Looking at the water he couldn’t stop his thoughts. The sixteen year boy had lost his mother very early. His drunken father never looked after him. His step mother wasn’t so good at him. And he had no reason to feel like Cinderella. He was not going to hit with some angel. His step mother never allowed him to watch movie which was the only pleasure in his life. He hated a thin, short heighted, long faced man with small, straight mustache who called himself as a teacher. He thought the teacher was responsible for his failure in exams three times. All hsi friends hated him. They never talked to him unless they needed some help. He also failed to help his father who worked at some construction site. The boy felt boring to move bricks and sand. He never loved his father and his father’s work. Soon he learnt to hate everything in his life. It wasn’t surprising for such a boy to think of suicide.

The boy saw a flat, long and thin stone near his right foot. It reminded him of his teacher. With a spark of anger he took that stone and threw it in the river. It jumped on the water two times before it sunk. It seemed to be fun. He took few more small stones and threw them over the river. First one jumped three times before drowning. Second one jumped five times while the third one drawn without jumping. That made him smile. He took another stone which was somewhat bigger than earlier ones. He wondered by looking at that lamp-shaped stone. He gazed it for a while before concluding that it was black not deep blue. Looking at the river he rubbed the stone in his two hands, kissed it and threw. The stone jumped seven times before disappearing into the water. The new record didn’t make him much happy.

After throwing only four stones the boy was bored. He sat down gazing at the ground. He ignored the cold wind which had started flowing. The dark clouds suddenly appeared in the sky and covered the sun. The darkness was accomplished by the movement in the river. The boy didn’t notice that the water was not moving with the wind. The circular waves appeared on the water surface. He, now surprised with the sudden change in the atmosphere saw the lamp-shaped stone coming up the water surface. The stone was now shining and it was clear that it was deep blue not black. He was too startled to react. The purple colored smoke started coming out of the stone. Within a moment, the purple smoke became too dense to see beyond it. Slowly a blurred human figure appeared behind the smoke. The purple smoke spread all over the air and a man came out of it. He could do nothing but watch. The man put his bare purple colored foot down on the ground and his eyes filled with the boy’s image. And then poof!

With a blinking of eyes, the dark clouds disappeared and the sun peered out, the air became still and the water waves vanished. The atmosphere returned to its original state without taking much time. A strong and muscular man was standing in front of the boy. His skin was purple colored and wore only white pants. His bare and strong torso was full with jewelries which extended beyond his neck. The white pants had large radius at the middle and narrowed at the top and the bottom. His long hands supported only three fingers and a thumb all with golden rings. It was difficult to locate his forehead on his round, purple face because of his bald head. He had two circular white eyes without pupils and a small nose at the middle of his face. The big smiling red lips opened and showed his fare teeth. The completely purple man with long and sharp ears looked at the boy. “Yes, my master.”

Though the boy was in the jungle to die, he was scared with the purple man. It was not what happens regularly. He gazed at the man for a while. Hearing his strange request, he dared to talk. “What the hell are you?”

All the expressions on the man’s face dropped suddenly. “That was the weirdest welcome I ever had.”

The boy looked more puzzled.

“You are the youngest master I ever had. Let me introduce myself.”

The curious, puzzled and startled eyes of the boy made the man uneasy.

“I am a genie, just like one from Aladdin movie.”

“That one was blue, I have seen the movie.” The word ‘genie’ boosted the boy with confidence. Because now he knew he was master. He had seen the movie thrice.

“Yeah, but I am purple. Now make a wish. I can complete your one wish.”

“Only one? That genie can complete three wishes.”

“Yeah I know. But I can only one. Now quick, make a wish. I have other things to do too.”

“So I guess you’re not as powerful as that genie.”

Now the fear transferred from the boy to the genie along with a small anger.

“No that’s not the case,” the genie tried to defend. “I can complete your one wish with some conditions.”

“You mean limitations.” This time the boy was quick.

“Not the limitations. It’s just conditions that I can’t harm my own master, I can’t harm anyone else unless the first condition is on stake, I can’t mess up with the time and most important…”

The boy though disappointed by knowing he was not going to be killed by the genie, frowned this time.

“… If you wished for something which you already have, I will vanish without completing it and you will never find me.” The smile reappeared on his face suddenly and he said, “Now quick my boy, I don’t have whole day.”

“Do you live in that stone?”

The genie could do nothing but yell. His youngest master was troubling him. He had to choose some other way.

“My master, just say Oh my genie I, your master make a wish of … and then make a wish. Isn’t that simple? Just try it out”

“What should I wish? You’re not as powerful as Aladdin’s genie. At least he had big lamp to live.”

The frustrated genie replied, “Please make a wish and free me from my duty. Just say Oh my genie I, your master make a wish of…”

The boy said nothing; rather he ignored the genie and sat down. “Come on man, I have lots of wishes which are impossible to complete. There is no point in asking them.”

“Just make any one of them, I’ll make that happen.”

“No, you can’t. You can’t do anything. I can wish of many things but you can’t fulfill them all.” The boy exhaled heavily and continued, “I want to be rich, I want to pass my school exams, I want to taste the alcohol and cigar though I’m not adult yet, I want to touch the sun, I want to marry Katrina…” the boy stopped and looked down.

“Hey, look at me,” the genie said with soft voice, “I can fulfill your one wish and I’ll prove that I am more powerful than that blue imaginary genie. Anyway, what was the last wish you just said?”

The boy looked at the smiling face of the genie. A small red colored shade appeared over his purple cheeks.

“Stay away from her.” The boy threatened him.

“Cool down my boy, I was saying for you.”

“But the genies can’t do anything in love matter. I have watched Aladdin.”

“That genie can’t but I can.” The genie smiled “I am not as weak as him.”

“So you can?”

“Yes I can. Just say Oh my genie, I, your master make a wish of marring Katrina. Then I’ll take some purple powder from my left pant pocket and spread over you, then some more purple powder from my right pocket. Then I’ll throw some more powder high in the sky. I’ll say ‘Oh Lord, with the power you gave to me, I ask you complete my master’s wish’. Then the sky will turn black and lightning will strike the ground. Along with the lightning purple smoke will rise and Katrina will appear in front of you, ready to mingle.”

“Really? Is that so simple?”

The genie nodded. “Just make a wish, my master. She is waiting for you.”

“Oh my genie” the boy started making his wish, “…I, your master make a wish…” he suddenly stopped.

“Just complete you wish my master.” The genies emphasized.

“Do I really want to marry her?” the boy looked puzzled at his own wish.

“Yes, you said it’s you wish, don’t you?”

“But will she marry me? Where will she live? With me, in that small cement hut? I am a poor guy. I can’t afford her costly cloths and those makeup things…”

“You mean cosmetics?”

“Yes, those costly cosmetics and … I won’t like if my wife worked in film and dance with someone else in front of the world.”

“So you don’t want to marry her?” the genie asked sadly.

“I thought I want but I don’t. She’s beautiful and good actress; but as a wife? No I don’t want her to be with me all the time.”

“Then make some other wish.”

“Can you make me touch the sun?” The boy was excited this time.

“Sorry, but I have some conditions. I can’t hurt you.” The genie said with an apology. “What about that exam thing? I can make you pass.”

“Nah, I don’t want to waste my wish in those damn exams. I can manage them. I want something big from you.”

“Then should I make you rich?”

“How much money can you give me?”

“Just say Oh my genie, I, your master make a wish of being rich. Then I’ll take some purple powder from my left pant pocket and spread over you, then some more purple powder from my right pocket. Then I’ll throw some more powder high in the sky. I’ll say ‘Oh Lord, with the power you gave to me, I ask you complete my master’s wish’. Then the sky will turn black and lightning will strike the ground. Along with the lightning purple smoke will rise and when you’ll return back to your town, you’ll find a big palace in place of your cement hut. You will be the richest person in the world.”

“But even if you gave me that much money, one day it’ll be finished. What will I do after that? I need some constant source of money.”

“What kind of source?”

“Anyway, leave that wish. I don’t want only money. You know I can’t buy happiness with that money. Once I had stolen money from my dad. That really didn’t make me happy. I want something which will make me happy forever.”

The genie was not happy with his master thinking so much about the wish. He had many plans within his lamp-shaped stone. The boy was wasting his time. His round shaped eyes were now cashew nut shaped in disappointment. If he had eyebrows, those too would be in same shape. The young boy was sitting on the ground with his chin in his right hand and his left hand tapping his left leg. He had never thought so much. He knew that his life had given a great chance, and he didn’t want to miss it. The thought of suicide was far away in his mind.

Stuck with thinking about the wish, the boy tried to change the topic. Just as curiosity he asked, “Why are you so purple?”

The genie chuckled before answering, “The God made me this way.”

“And what would the God have done if you had hated purple?”

“I do hate purple.”

It surprised the boy. The man in purple, with all his purple powers hated purple.

“I actually, love pink. It was my mother’s color.” His white round eyes were blurred with water. His voice was low. He had never talked about his mother to anyone.

“Genies have moms?” the boy asked.

“I don’t know if she was my mom. But she used to look after me all the time and used to love me a lot. And that’s how we define mother, right?” A tear drop fell down his eye. The water vanished in purple smoke before hitting the ground. “She told me to love purple. I can’t change the way I look, but I can love it and it made my life better. She told me to love myself as I am.”

“Where did she go?” the boy asked after a silence of few seconds, looking at the muscular man who had turned into a small child.

“She broke the curse.”

“Curse?”

“You know being a genie is a curse. You have to live in a small stone. You have power but you can’t use that. You have to wait patiently for someone to be your master. You have to be his slave unless he wishes for something. And when he got his wish, he was happy; you have to go back to your small home again, waiting for someone new.

“There’s only one way to break the curse is…”

“To be free, isn’t it? I have watched t he movie.” The boy interrupted.

“No, that’s in the movie. The only way to break it is if someone asked wrong wish.”

“Wrong wish?”

“Yeah, wrong wish. If you asked for something which you already have, it’ll be a wrong wish. It’ll be interpreted as you have everything and need nothing more. So there is no need of the genie anymore.

“Someone asked wrong wish to my mom.” Looking high in the sky he continued, “And now she is free.”

The vaporizing tears were no more surprise for the boy. “I know how it feels. I too have lost my mom. And you can’t bring her back, right?”

The genie nodded. “I can’t play with the time.” Looking high again he said “It’s just a part of big plan, my boy. God must have some plans for you. That’s why you’re not with your mom, and neither me.”

“Plans for me?” The boy laughed. “No way. I am a junk and no one can have plans for me. Everyone hates me and no one wants me. God had punished me with my life.”

The genie chucked. “Well but now, God has given you a great opportunity to change your life. You don’t find a genie every other day, do you? Make a wish which can change your whole life.”

“But how? A single wish cannot change my life. I have lots of troubles in my life. You even don’t know all my problems.”

“But you have only one wish to ask, kid. I can’t go back to my house unless you make a wish. Till then, I’ll have to live with you and believe me, I am a useless fellow to live with. I am not the genie from that movie to play with magic all the time.”

“I can’t think of one wish to solve all my troubles. It’s complicated and…” suddenly a lightning struck his mind. The boy became silent and lost in his thoughts.

“Hey genie, can you give me some power to complete my any wish, anytime I want without making me genie.”

“Oh my God!” The genie exclaimed. Looking at the boy he thought. The stunned expressions appeared on his face. “With that wish I’ll make you as powerful as genie without actually making you genie. That means you’ll be more powerful than me. I am not harming you and I am not harming anyone and I am not playing with time. Oh my God! It’ll make you happy forever.”

The boy smiled for his intelligence.

“You trap me in words, boy. It’s a perfect wish. It’ll complete your all wishes.”

“Oh my genie, I, your master make a wish of power within me which can fulfill my any wish anytime I asked without making me actual genie.” The boy wished without wasting more time.

The genie took some purple powder from his left pant pocket and spread over the boy, then some more purple powder from his right pocket. Then he threw some more powder high in the sky. With a loud voice, he said, “Oh Lord, with the power you gave to me, I ask you to complete my master’s wish.”

The sky turned black and lightning struck the ground. But along with the lighting, the purple smoke didn’t rise. Instead heavy air started flowing. The darkness covered all the ground and lightning struck few more times. The genie was surprise and looking at the boy with scared eyes. The wind made a wall between him and the boy. Slowly, the dusty brown colored wind turned purple and wrapped around the genie. The white round eyes were gazing the startled boy. Slowly the genie’s image behind the wind faded. His feet vaporized in purple smoke, then his thighs.

“You made a wrong wish, my son.”

Then his waist vaporized, and then his stomach, his chest and all the jewelry along with his fingers, his palm and then his arms. Just before his face disappeared into vapor he said, “You already have the power to complete all your wishes.”

The genie vanished in the air and sky again became blue. The lighting was gone and air was still. The startled boy looked at his hands and thought what the genie had said. “You made a wrong wish. You already have the power to complete all your wishes.”

 

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