Karen Traub

Summary

Sven, an environmentally conscious man, frees a Djinni from a discarded Fireball whisky bottle while cleaning Thompson's Pond, earning him three wishes.

Abstract

On his day off, Sven, who has taken up the hobby of cleaning Thompson's Pond, encounters a magical Djinni after freeing her from a miniature Fireball whisky bottle. The Djinni offers to grant him three wishes as a reward for his good deed. Sven, who is grappling with the moral implications of using the wishes for personal gain versus the greater good, is also intrigued by the potential relationship dynamics with the Djinni, hinting at themes of conflict and coexistence between opposites. The narrative is part of the author's exploration of fiction writing, focusing on the interplay of light and dark, good and evil, and the necessity of conflict in life.

Opinions

The author expresses a clear disdain for littering, particularly the disposal of trash such as cans,

Sven and the Fireball Djinni

Good deeds don’t always bring reward, but when they do…

Swimming along the surface of Thompson’s Pond on his day off, Sven is getting used to breathing normally with his new one-piece face mask and snorkel. The compact fins fit his extra-wide feet better than the old frogman flippers he used to squeeze into. He feels sleek and graceful in spite of the weight he gained during the pandemic, but more like a manatee than a dolphin.

Already this year he has picked up so many cans and bottles. The worst are the rubber worms. Fat worms fall off fishermen’s lines and are left on the lake bottom. They bloat and eventually explode into poison microplastic. His hobby is recovering them.

Spotting a glint of color, he dives down and retrieves a tiny bottle.

“Fireball. Always Fireball,” Sven thinks as he tosses the nip bottle into the hull of his wooden boat anchored beside him. He can’t understand people who want their whisky to taste like candy. But then he can’t wrap his mind around people who use the lake as a trash can either. “Asshole,” he thinks with every piece of trash he collects.

Later, feeling refreshed and energized, he looks up at the big sky as he steers his quiet electric motorboat to shore. He hears a rustle coming from the pile of junk. Sometimes a small fish is stuck inside a can. He looks. Nothing.

He hears the words “help me.” It seems to be coming from the Fireball bottle. He shakes the water out of his ears. He wonders if it’s a touch of sunstroke. He unscrews the cap.

Out pours a golden liquid. And before his very eyes there appears a perfect, living woman.

“I am the Djinni of the Fireball bottle. I am in your debt. I will grant you three wishes.”

Thanks to Microcosm for the August Rings of Conflict Challenge. In this first week I am introducing the main characters and setting the scene.

Sven wonders what kind of an idiot buys nip bottles and then throws them out his car window. How will he use his three wishes-for his own benefit or for the good of others?

And the Djinni! Who put her in the bottle? What will she do when she has paid her debt to Sven for releasing her? Is she an ally to humans? Could there be romance brewing- or perhaps the perpetual battle of the sexes?

Writing fiction is new to me and I am enjoying letting my imagination dance with real life issues. In this month’s challenge I look forward to exploring the attraction and repulsion of opposites that creates and destroys life. Light and dark. Good and evil.

Conflict is an essential ingredient to existence.

A recent graduate of the Newport MFA and lifelong troublemaker, I’m a top writer in Reading on Medium. My poetry and prose have appeared in Brevity, Multiplicity and Voices of the Valley Anthology.