You wish to live for a thousand years? Think again.
My daily experiences dealing with Wishers.
It was another routine day, another Djinn call. I answered promptly as usual.
My Wisher was a young man, early 20s. Wore ragged clothes. Had chanced upon the lamp while going through some garbage and decided to rub it.
“Hello sir, I am your assigned Genie. You get the three wishes contract, wherein you are designated a wisher and I am a wishee. So, how can I help you today?” I blandly repeated my opening lines, as I always do.
“I want a lot of money,” he said.
“How much?”
“Twenty million dollars.” He spread his arms sideways to indicate the magnanimity of his wish.
“Ok, done. Your second wish, sir?”
“I want to marry the most beautiful girl in the world.”
“I can let you know who is the most beautiful girl, and I can put in a good word with her, about you. But I can’t force her to marry you.”
“All right, introduce me. That works.” He was grinning ear to ear.
“What is your third wish, sir?”
“I want to live for a thousand years,” he said.
I re-iterated, “Sir, please think again. Is that what you truly wish for?”
“Yeah, I am super sure on this.” He was ecstatic.
Regrettably, I had to fulfill that wish too, for him. As a Genie, I am obliged to fulfill any wish the law of entropy ascension allows me to. Something you humans call Second Law of Thermodynamics.
But I feel sad for him. In his excitement, he forgot to add the clause which says he should also stay young for these thousand years. Now after a few years, he will grow old and get bed-ridden. And then he will have to endure this old age for a thousand years.
“Why did I not caution him?” You can ask this. Well, I cannot actually suggest ‘wishes’ to people. That is against the Djinn Protocol.
We all need to live with the consequences of decisions we make, don’t we?
(Written from perspective of a fictional character, a Genie who works with a fictional organization Genie Incorporated, and who thinks she is the smartest Genie active in the workforce.)
