A Simple Wish?

A Simple Wish?

The beaches on Lake Michigan can be hot in the summer. The sand can roast your toes like firewalkers on hot coal. The smell of the lake varies with the seasons, but mostly it’s a strong, fishy scent. Dan squinted as he shuffled along a deserted part of the beach, the mid-day sun bearing down. He spotted something glinting in the Sun. As he approached, his right foot dragged a bit. A left-over reminder from a childhood operation. The bottle looked old, like it’d been aboard the Lady Elgin in 1860. Three hundred lives were lost in one of the worst shipwrecks in Great Lake’s history. The bottle was blue green in color and sealed with a cork. Dan was in his mid-forties and a mid-life crises. He was average in size, dark features, with a sly smile.

Dan held the bottle up to the light and pulled on the cork. Strangely, a smokey cloud swirled inside. Briskly, the cork shot off, and the smoke hurled outward and formed a vortex in front of Dan. As Dan shaded his worn eyes, a figure formed.

It was a genie.

Dan rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He spun his head around looking to see if anyone else was nearby to confirm the impossible. There was no one else.

The Genie was at least seven feet tall. He wore a purple turban, but you could see he clearly had hair. Another myth bites the dust. He glared at Dan while looking him over.

“You’ve released me.” “What are you called?” the Genie asked. 

“I am Dan. Just Dan.”

Dan’s heart was pounding; he could feel his pulse in his sweating cheeks.

“Dan, I am beholden to you for one wish, and one wish only,” said the genie, arms crossed tight. Dan’s head was on fire with thoughts. His marriage to Viven was a struggle, but she was the best thing in his life. He thought about his shitty job at the DMV, his rusted Plymouth Duster, and near-empty bank account. What he would give to live out his dream on the lake fishing—in a lavish yacht. Why not? His friends and in-laws would be so impressed!

But how would ONE wish cover all my wants— no, needs—he thought. Dan was giddy with excitement. His mind raced while he rubbed his palms together.

“Okay. Okay!” Dan said enthusiastically.

The Genie knelt and picked up tiny pebbles and cradled them in his bluish, soft hands.

“Genie, I’ve made up my mind.” “I would like 3 wishes.”

“Three?” the Genie repeated.

“Yes,” Dan replied.

“You wish to break a millennium of tradition and ask for three?” said the Genie.

“YES! YES!” Dan, now demanding.

The great Alexander conquered the world on ONE wish. Freud forever changed psychology on ONE wish. Columbus discovered a new world with his wish.

“Remember who saved you from the bottle.” “I command of you THREE wishes,” ordered Dan.

The genie dropped the pebbles to the sand, stood tall and beamed his eyes towards Dan.

“Oh what shall these three wishes be?” asked the genie.

“A Lamborghini, yellow!” “A Million Dollars” and to be invisible on my command,” gushed Dan.

Oh, the shit I can pull on my so-called co-workers! He thought.

“This shall be granted,” exclaimed the Genie as his voiced boomed and echoed along the shoreline.

In a flash, the genie was gone.

Dan hobbled to the parking lot and found his Duster was gone and a shiny new yellow Lamborghini sat in its place.

He revved the engine—smooth ride.

When he got home, his wife could not believe his story, but the Lamborghini was real. When Dan opened the trunk, he found a black satchel with 1 million dollars in large bills.

Stunned at his sudden wealth, Dan was giddy and eager to live the good life. He drove down to the Racine Harbor and bought the biggest sports cruiser yacht he could find. He climbed aboard and took her out for a spin past the breakwater, to the open water. Pleased with himself and what he’d accomplished, Dan paid a dockhand to rename the ship Three Wishes. He had it painted the same yellow as his Lamborghini. Dan quit his DMV job and started living the extravagant life.

He had yacht parties that lasted for days. He started drinking heavily. He became distant from Viven. He got more obnoxious ‘spooking’ his invisibility at his former workplace, basically wreaking havoc at the DMV. At times his pranks were dangerous.

His spending habits were out of control. Viven warned him of his drinking and foolish gifts he lavished upon her. She began to be resent the man she once cherished. The winds of change were rising and then it happened.

One night while cruising with his buddies, a drunken Dan ignored urgent storm warnings. A freak wave, a Meteotsunami, rose up and capsized the yacht.  Dan made it out alive, but two long-time friends perished. He mourned and turned outward, buying more things to mask the internal strife. He used his invisibility to mock neighbors and friends, getting all too carried away.

One day, he drove down to the beach where he had first found the bottle. You cannot see the other side of Lake Michigan, and Dan could not see what lurked on the other side of his wishes. As he sat in the car staring ahead at the waves crashing against the breakwater, his side window shattered. Three thugs surrounded the car and demanded he get out. 

“What’s this about?” he quivered.

“You know man. Where’s the cash?” said the man with a scarred cheek.

“What cash?” said Dan

“We know you have it! Hand it over…the satchel, the black satchel!” said the man, pounding a tire iron in his palm. “It’s our cash man!”

Panicked, Dan opened the trunk and nervously handed over the satchel with what was left of the cash.

“Where’s the rest of it?” the taller man demanded.

“I, I spent it.” Dan turned away, not wanting to make eye contact.

“What the F***, are you shittin’ me?” said the scarred man.

“Take the car, take it,” said Dan. Then he suddenly remembered his ‘spooking ability.’

He instantly disappeared. The three men freaked. They fumbled with the keys and drove off with the yellow Lamborghini and the rest of Dan’s cash.

Dan walked to a bar nearby and called an Uber, too ashamed to call his wife.

His wife was not sympathetic to his plight. She said the wishes had turned their lives upside down. Dan took an Uber back to the beach. He walked out to the breakwater and saw the empty bottle. As soon as he touched it, the Genie appeared.

“You tricked me! You wrecked my life!” screamed Dan.

“I?” replied the Genie. “What did I do?”

“The million dollars was stolen drug money, and the car… it’s all gone!” said Dan.

The Genie huffed up and stood over Dan. His shadow cast long that faded across the water.

“You, Dan,” the Genie said, “You were too selfish.”

“Selfish in your wishes, you could have stopped climate change or created fission power with unlimited energy without the pollution. You could have had world peace or stopped hunger, instead you thought only of yourself.” Dan dropped to the sand like a rag doll. He started to sob.

“What now?” he said, “How do I undo this?”

“Undo?” replied the Genie. “It is done.”

“There is one more fate that awaits you,” warned the Genie.

Then a voice cried out from over the ridge, near the parking lot.

“Dan…Dan!”

It was Viven. In a flash, the genie condensed into a plume of smoke and disappeared inside the bottle.

“Viven!” Dan replied as he limped towards her. Viven turned her head side to side, searching frantically.

“Over here!” he cried.

“Dan where are you?”

Dan, in shock, realizes he is now invisible.

Forever… unseen.