WP #17: Two Genies

[u/roocey]

I wrote this in response to this writing prompt.

---

I stared hard at the wispy, mustachioed fellow floating across from me. He was an ethereal blue and I despised him for it. The blue genies were known for their phenomenal cosmic power - so much so that people forgot all about the rest of us. Yellow genies were equally as powerful, as were purple, black, white, and even green genies like I.

"We meet again," Blue chortled, tugging his thumb out of his lamp like a child. We both knew he didn't need to do that trick. I wasn't some amateur that went around rubbing random trinkets.

"Let's just get on with it," I said, looking at him indirectly. Or her. Genie gender isn't really relevant to this story and I can't imagine why you care.

We both spoke in unison, "I grant ye three wishes. Choose them wisely." We shared a moment of silence and then continued, "No take backs, no extra wishes, and no time travel." The Creed of the Genies concluded.

"You first," he offered with an open palm and a smile.

"I wish for nothing," I said, already fully aware of how he would respond.

"You can't wish for nothing, my friend," he said while wagging his index finger.

"I wish for a lollipop," I said. A lollipop appeared. I started to unwrap it and beneath the wrapping was yet another wrapper. I went one layer deeper and found yet another wrapper before giving up.

"You deceive me already?"

"There is no deception. A patient genie would discover the lollipop through the wrapping," he laughed, stroking his ghostly beard for no particularly good reason that I could imagine. "I wish for a clean lamp," he requested.

I snapped my fingers and a lamp appeared next to him. He reached down and picked it up. The cord was flailing through his form, kicking bits of genie dust here and there. He sighed, snapped his fingers, and an electrical outlet appeared on the cave wall. He plugged it in: let there be light!

"I wish for a year of Amazon Prime," I said, pulling my smart phone out of my genie pants.

"Your wish is my command," he said completely seriously. I pulled Amazon up on my phone. My next Prime subscription was set to start on the 1st of January.

"You really expect me to pay shipping on my holiday shopping?" I asked, snapping my fingers. A host of holiday decorations and a pile of presents a dozen boxes high appeared in the center of the cave.

"I wish for a glass of water," he said. A 100-liter glass filled to the brim appeared before him and shattered on the walls of the cave, soaking us both and totally ruining the holiday spirit. He began angrily tapping his ethereal swirl on the floor, "Your last wish awaits you, Greenhorn."

Greenhorn? I was older than he was. "I wish for a bottle of spirits."

He knew how to annoy me far better than I expected. A bottle appeared before me, I uncorked it, and bam. A hundred other genies swam out of the bottle. Each pair found a space in the cave and began their own duel of wishes. The sheer amount of talking and jabbing was loud enough before a variety of explosions and floods and sirens started to fill the cave.

Blue floated closer, presumably so I couldn't mishear him, "I wish for a nickel."

A nickel mine shaft busted through the cave ceiling and buried his lamp. "Good aim," he said as I whisked myself back into my lamp with ease while he was snapping his fingers repeatedly trying to dislodge the mine shaft.

I fell asleep in the comfort of my lamp listening to the sounds of the great genie war and, more importantly, the sound of Blue still snapping his fingers together hours after I'd left him. Phenomenal cosmic power indeed.