Matthew's Genie

Dust motes danced down to the rough wood floor. The paper thin curtain let in enough midday sunlight to highlight the ruinous state of the place. Centimeter thick dust covered most surfaces and all of the furniture had been wrapped in that thick clinging plastic that old people put on all their sofas. The whole house smelled of old, but this study in particular had the scent of antiquity. 

In the midst of this room lost to the decades there lay an oil lamp that shone with a gleaming gold shimmer, as if someone had polished it daily while neglecting every single square centimeter of space around it. Matthew had been searching for this lamp for so long that his life had ceased to be about anything else. 

Before the onset of his journey Matthew had had a life. He had friends with whom he played weekly board games with, a family that was excited to see him every time he returned home for a weekend. And he had, of course, had her; as much as any person can have another and be had in turn. When he first met her at a university party it was as if someone turned up the brightness setting on life. The way her midnight colored curls bounced along with her shoulders as she laughed hypnotized him. Her cheeks had already taken on the color of roses when she was introduced to him by his biology lab partner. Her lips were a shade of red that made him think of slightly over ripe cherry tomatoes. He had never been one to make a good first impression but they had hit it off. From the very first moment there was electricity between them. They could read each other’s minds as if they had known one another for years. The way they described love at first sight in the movies -- this was that. They went home together that night and spent the next eight months never leaving the other’s side. 

He thought back to that night and how much his appearance had changed. In the grand scheme of things hardly any time had passed, a few months is all. He was unsure if the two versions of himself would even be recognizable as the same species now. He had worn a green cotton t-shirt and blue jeans to the party. They were cheap but new and he had scrubbed his white sneakers with a toothbrush before leaving the house. His hair had been short and his face smooth. Standing in this mausoleum of a room his hair hung past his ears and he had not seen a razor in months. He wore the same white sneakers but they had taken on a shade of yellow so that they looked as if he had just stepped into something foul. 

He had felt so overcome with sadness that the tears would sneak out before he even knew he was crying. The pain he felt was physical. He had become so sad that it made him nauseous. He had not known that was possible. His mind and his body had seemed disparate things to him at times but now he saw that they were inextricably linked. The failure of one was causing the failure of the other. His sadness had permeated through his entire being and rooted itself in his bones.

He cleared his mind now and reached out to touch the lamp. He hesitated just before his outstretched fingers made contact with the shimmering gold. This was it. This was the moment he had left his life behind for. The reason that he had not spoken to his friends or family in nearly a year, why he had left university so abruptly. He took a deep breath down into his belly and forced away everything that clouded his mind and touched the lamp.

Immediately everything changed. It was impossible to tell if he was pulled down into the lamp or if the entire universe had spilled out of it but huge swathes of swirling color surrounded him and seemed to also somehow be a part of him, blending with his flesh like paints on an easel. He felt wind blowing through his torso and limbs as if a fan had gotten under his skin and was purging the stagnant blood and fascia out of him. 

Whaddya want? 

The voice seemed annoyed. As soon as he heard it the swirling winds and noises calmed and he found himself outdoors somehow. He was standing beneath a cherry tree in blossom on the top of a hill. All around him greenery rose and fell for eternity. The only sound now was the soft buzz of bees and a gentle breeze. The body connected to the voice had his back turned away from him and seemed focused on something else.

“Hello?” he asked tentatively, for he was certain he had not imagined the voice.

What. Do. You. Want. Incredibly simple concept, man.

Again the dismissive tone took him by surprise. This was not how it was really supposed to happen, he didn't think.

“Is this really happening? Are you,” he paused here and swallowed with anticipation, “a genie?” It seemed silly when he said it out loud and all of a sudden he could empathize with his family’s reaction to his telling them he was going hunting for a genie.

Yeah man, who else lives in lamps? I swear you people get stupider every year. I do not have a lot of high hopes for you guys. 

“Well that’s not really fair, is it?” Matthew said defensively. This was not at all what he had been expecting. “You’ve been doing this for thousands of years probably and I am just meeting my first genie, so maybe a little bit of confusion is normal.”

Thousands of years? The genie now turned around and stared him straight in the eye. He looked nothing at all like what a genie was supposed to look like. He had on black leather boots underneath straight leg blue jeans with the pant legs rolled up. His black and yellow plaid flannel was buttoned all the way up to his neck and he wore tortoise shell glasses with shockingly thick lenses. He had light brown skin, a thick black mustache and a lot of stubble. He wore a dingy five panel hat with some unrecognizable symbol on the fron. That is super racist dude. I’m not even thirty.

“What do you mean you’re not even thirty? You’re a genie. Genie’s live for thousands of years.” 

Duh, but before we’re thousands of years old (he said this in an obnoxiously mocking tone) we’re hundreds of years old. And before we’re hundreds of years old we’re almost thirty. And this is gunna blow your mind but when we’re born…..we’re fucking babies dude. 

The genie made explosion hands on the sides of his head. Matthew just stared at the genie for a few seconds and blinked. And then mumbling to himself the genie continued.

Maybe your wish is for me to explain how linear time works. Like I said… stupider every year.

Continuing to stare slack jawed, his mind raced. All the stories had said that genies were these magical beings who lived for thousands of years inside tiny lamps and existed outside of time itself. He just...did not think that it would look like this. The genie had started to turn back around but took a deep sigh and his disposition seemed to soften.

Alright alright man, listen I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off, I just hate when you guys interrupt me during a game. What’s up man? What kinda wish are you thinking? You wanna do like a tech billionaire kinda thing or what? Maybe like a super yacht?

“Well I was thinking tha- wait what game?” he finally realized what the genie had been doing. He was sitting on a dark green sofa facing an enormous television screen. He was playing a video game. The genie seemed to perk up at the question.

New Call of Duty dude! We get it like two or three months ahead of you guys because of this weird time dilation thing when you live near portals between realms and stuff, blah blah blah. But it’s sick dude, I’ve been straight up CAMPING with the sniper rifle.

This was the most enthusiastic the genie had sounded thus far, but it was the enthusiasm of a neglected dog being offered a tennis ball and not that of an eternal being balancing cosmic injustices with magic. With his head tilted to the side Matthew mumbled, “Call of…Duty?” His head starts to spin and the sadness that has infected his bones seems to flare up. 

Whoa dude you look like shit all of a sudden. Wanna sit? Here I’ll grab you a water.

The genie guided him over to the sofa and sat him down then handed him a water that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Don’t worry dude, the water doesn’t count as your wish

The genie winked like he’d made the funniest joke in the world. The coolness of the water in his hand seemed to slowly spread up Matthew’s arm. Eventually his breathing returned to normal, although he hadn’t realized that it had become irregular. He hadn’t known what to expect when he found the genie. All he knew was that he just couldn’t stand to continue feeling the way he did. The emptiness needed to be filled somehow. He certainly hadn’t expected the genie to be playing video games on a sofa like Matthew’s childhood friends. 

Here, man, you wanna play a little bit?

He offered a second game controller to Matthew with his eyebrows raised encouragingly. Matthew looked at the controller and then looked up at the genie again. “I’ve been looking for you for almost a year. I’ve been detained at a half dozen airports. I almost died twice. I’ve given up my whole life to find you so that you can fix me. All the while this sickness has been eating its way through my body more and more each day. I feel it spreading through my lymphs and riding my blood to every corner of my body. It’s only a matter of time before it kills me. And you… play video games?” Matthew said this last part like a question but there was no real answer that could give him the satisfaction that he wanted.

So like, no to the game?

“No, I would not like to play video games with you right now.” The genie was visibly disappointed at this. He sat back on his side of the couch and let out a long sigh. He rolled his neck to the left and made a long looping circle all the way around, stretching his neck. There were a few slight pops and Matthew wondered absently if genies got sore necks.

So is it like cancer or something? Matthew turned and looked at him confused. You said you had a sickness.

“I’m not sure,” Matthew replied, turning his head back to stare at the paused television screen, “It feels like there was an integral part of me that I just wasn’t born with. But it was okay, because I’d never really experienced that integral part, you know? I was fine living my life without it. Maybe I had even made peace with it to an extent. But then one day that part showed up and it made me feel like a real person finally. Like I didn’t have to question every single thing that I did or thought. Like it finally didn’t matter what other people thought of me because she thought I was worthwhile. I’m not sure I was actually a real person before she told me that I was just by being with me. And then, when she didn’t want to be with me anymore, well now I don’t know if I ever was a real person or if, even worse, I was for a little while and now I’ve returned to whatever I was before. And I have to live the life of something that the world sees as…less than.”

The genie extended his palm towards Matthew, stopping it five centimeters away from touching him, and raised it up to the top of his head and then slowly ran it down his whole body to his feet. The gesture reminded Matthew of being scanned with wands at airport security. 

Yeah, you don’t have cancer man. You don’t have anything wrong with you. I’m pretty sure you’re just sad, bro.

The genie looked awkwardly away from Matthew in the direction of the cherry tree. “I’m sad?” Matthew whispered as if to himself. After another deep sigh the genie responded,

Yeah man, you’re just sad. Shit, I shouldn’t say just sad cuz it really sucks to be sad, but yeah you’re sad. We can like, scan people’s bodies for stuff like cancer. Genies I mean. And yeah, you’re good on the cancer thing, so that’s pretty good news, right?

His expression lifted realizing he had some good news for Matthew. But Matthew continued to stare through the television screen, his disposition was that of a wet sweater. 

You know my dad told me this story once that’ll make you feel better. There was this guy, right? And he had a wife and like three kids. They were all happy and baked bread and like all that stuff that you do. But then one day they all died. I forget why, it was probably a plague or something. You guys have soooo many plagues. But whatever, they all died and he was super fucked up about it as you can imagine. He was so fucked up about it he took a job working at this lighthouse because seeing another living person just reminded him of what he had lost. So he’s just working this lighthouse day in and day out, right? He’s turning it on, he’s turning it off, the whole thing. But then one day this ship crashes on his island. It wasn’t his fault, they were just bad at driving boats. But he goes in the water and he saves like five dudes from drowning. So there you go, man. 

The self satisfied smile on the genie’s face seems to wrap around his entire head. “Wh- why did you tell me that? What does that have to do with me?” Matthew asked, frustrated. The genie wrinkles his eyebrows in confusion.

You’re the guy with the dead family in the story. So you’re going to, like, ‘live to fight another day’ or whatever. Maybe even save some dudes.

“Live to fight another day?” Matthew screams at the genie. “Are you fucking kidding me? The infinitely wise being tells me to LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY? Just my luck to get the absolute most shit genie.” Matthew was briefly animated during this outburst but the exertion left him deflated once again.

Whoa, dude, that’s kinda harsh. I’m like, a comfortably middle of the road genie. You probably haven't even met any other genies, anyway. 

“Sorry, that was rude. I didn’t mean that. You did get me that water.”

See? I told you. So whaddya say? You wanna jump into a Battle Royale with me? I always feel better after a few games. We could order a pizza later!

He gestured the second game controller at Matthew trying to entice him. With a resigned sigh Matthew accepted the controller and turned towards the screen. Loud rock music and the sounds of war permeated through the hillside as they shot pixelated nazis together.

So what’s your wish dude?

“My wish? I just hope everything will work out I guess.”

It usually does.