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ble. And frankly, it’s weird.”</p><p id="4b88">“You’re a genie?” question Jason. Though he knew the answer, his mind couldn’t wrap around what he was seeing was real. Jason gave himself a couple slaps to the face, rubbing his eyes, and reopening them. The man in the smoke was still there.</p><p id="9849">“Are you stupid?” the man in the smoke retorted.</p><p id="150b">Jason blinked a few times, trying to come up with a coherent question.</p><p id="b8c2">“So I can have 3 wishes?” Everything about this conversation felt wrong, unrealistic. Yet here he was. How was he to question it?</p><p id="84c7">“Yes, genius,” said the man in the smoke.</p><p id="1e00">“Okay, well,” started Jason, trying to think of 3 good wishes. But before he could say anything, the man in the smoke spoke up first.</p><p id="4358">“3 wishes,” he said,“Do not ask for more with one of your wishes. That’s not how it works, and you’ll be forfeiting a wish.”</p><p id="6616">“Okay,” Jason replied, “How about I wish for a million bucks.”</p><p id="8f63">“Certainly,” said the man in the smoke. He clapped his hands together, rubbing them a little before opening them wide. Before Jason’s eyes, bills flew everywhere, raining from the sky.</p><p id="1229">Jason watched it all fall, only catching a few in his hands before they landed in the muddy creek.</p><p id="11b2">“Really?” Jason shot at the man in the smoke. “You couldn’t have put it in a suitcase or something?”</p><p id="6688">The man in the smoke laughed “You didn’t ask for that. Next wish.”</p><p id="5f07">Jason thought long and hard about his next wish, making sure to think it through a bit so the man in the smoke wouldn’t get it wrong. “I wish for a Ferrari, in working order, all parts included and built.”</p><p id="211c">“As you wish,” said the man in the smoke. He did the same motion as before. Jason looked around, seeing nothing, when he noticed a new shadow forming above him.</p><p id="4b66">Jason’s eyes darted upward to see a car. He dived out of the way just as the car fell at least 10 feet, smashing down into the creek, splashing water everywhere.</p><p id="8fd2">Jason got up, soaked, looked at his damaged Ferrari.</p><p id="8242">“You could have at least put it on the ground!” shouted Jason, hands in the air.</p><p id="c482">“You didn’t specify,” the man in the smoke shrugged. “Final wish.”</p><p id="005d">Jason thought harder about this one. He wasn’t sure which way the man in the smoke would take his wishes, so he knew he had to be careful. After considerable time, to which the man in the smoke audibly expressed his annoyance, Jason figured out what he wanted.</p><p id="922e">“I wish for an alive German Sheppard that’s standing next to me and is friendly to me.”</p><p id="a8ea">“Whatever you say,” said the man in the smoke, going through his routine for a third time.</p><p id="c349">A dog appeared next to Jason, wagging his tail and panting. Jason crouched down and petted the new dog, happy to get one wish exactly like he wanted.</p><p id="0bde">“I’m going to name you Scout,” Jason said happily.</p><p id="1f35">“And that concludes our transaction,” said the man in the smoke, seemingly bored, “Do not attempt to rub the lamp again, I will be able to tell it’s you, and you do not get any more wishes from here on out. Thank you and have a good day.”</p><p id="a7d6">The smoke receded back into the lamp. Jason walked over to pick it up, rubbing the lamp again to see if the man in the smoke told the truth. Nothing happened.</p><p id="57c7">Giving up, Jason picked up as much of the money as he could, deciding to ignore any that were too soaked or muddy. Once done, Jason

Options

opened the passenger side door on his new ride, letting Scout jump in. He slid across the engine hood, jumping into the driver's side.</p><p id="0cb9">Turning the key, Jason listened to the Ferrari purr. He beamed, setting into drive and tearing out of the creek. Despite the damages to the lower part of the car, it still felt good. Considering it was free, Jason would take it for as long of a spin as he could before it fell apart. Who knows, maybe he had enough money now to fix it.</p><p id="4b4f">At home, Jason turned on the news while he ate dinner, giving Scout the leftovers.</p><p id="63e4">“Good boy,” Jason said as he rubbed the dog’s head.</p><p id="189f">Jason returned his attention to the news:</p><p id="7567"><i>“Several charities were hit earlier today by a seemingly coordinated attack. Thousands of dollars were stolen from multiple charity locations, for a total sum of one million dollars. Whoever these attackers were are still at large.”</i></p><p id="af9b">The forked dropped from Jason’s hand as he stood up quickly, pacing around his home. Everything came rushing into his head, connections being made, and more fears being discovered.</p><p id="3645">The man in the smoke didn’t create the money out of thin air, he merely transported it here. Which meant the car, and the dog, probably had other owners.</p><p id="33fd">Jason felt his body go cold, aware that no one would believe how he obtained all his new things. The only logical answer anyone would come up with was that he stole it all.</p><p id="8cbf">The door bell rang, freezing Jason in place.</p><p id="0cf3">“Mr. Connors?” boomed a voice from outside, “This is the police.”</p><p id="19b3">Having no way out of his situation, Jason trudged over to the door, opening it up with hesitation.</p><p id="81eb">“Hello?” Jason said, peeking around his door.</p><p id="f28f">With the door thrown open, Jason found himself on the floor, stomach down and handcuffed. He didn’t have time to react or think through his story. It was over quickly.</p><p id="04e9">“You’re under arrest, Mr. Connors,” said one of the officers, “For theft a car and a dog.”</p><p id="412e">The rest of the officer’s speech was drowned out. Jason stared at Scout while he barked wildly at the police. At least he cared about Jason’s well-being. But Jason knew he should have never rubbed that lamp.</p><p id="e8b2"><i>Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this short story, consider checking out some of my other work. Also, connect with me on <a href="https://twitter.com/zacharyseda">Twitter</a>! I enjoy engaging with other writers.</i></p><div id="48e0" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-canvas-11be37b8a1e6"> <div> <div> <h2>My Canvas</h2> <div><h3>A Flash Fiction Story</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*1sIKgNF54zkFWAAK)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="250a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/distant-happy-memory-7dc037304f4c"> <div> <div> <h2>Distant Happy Memory</h2> <div><h3>A Flash Fiction</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*VBe0TIvgKHCi9-5O)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Three Wishes

A short story

The rock soared through the air like it had caught the air and rode it. Gravity reasserted itself, tugging the rock back down towards the earth. It hit the mud, splashing up dirty water around it. Sunken a few inches in, the rock found its new resting place amongst other rocks recently thrown to this very location.

Jason snatched another rock next to him, arcing it the same as he did before, then chucked it into the air. It soared like the others, landing near the creek 50 feet in front of him.

He swiped the rest off of the rock face he sat on, letting them scatter around. Hugging his knees, he cursed out to anyone listening, though no one was around to hear it. Not this far into the forest.

Nothing he tried relieved him of his anger. Sitting still surely made it worse. All the built up energy just waiting to be used, to assist in draining his frustration.

Jumping up from the rock, Jason strolled down to the creek, following its current. He kicked at the water, letting it violently splash, soaking his shoes and pant legs.

“AHHG!” shouted Jason as he fell over into the creek, holding his pained foot. It throbbed, the same kind of feeling one gets stubbing their toe. Something in the creek caused this.

Jason peering into the water, seeing nothing at first. It wasn’t until the trees swayed slightly to the right that allowed light to glint off an object in the water. Jason reached in between rocks, picking up an antique oil lamp. Nothing like this was used anymore, so someone must have kept it around for years as a collection. How it got here was an even greater mystery.

Mud covered what appeared to be a symbol. Jason rubbed the mud away to get a better look. Heat radiated from within the lamp, burning into Jason’s flesh.

“Shit!” Jason exclaimed as he dropped the now glowing lamp. He checked his hands, seeing that they were surprisingly okay. Looked back towards the lamp, Jason stood in awe at the bluish-black smoke venting out of it.

The smoke morphed in the air, taking on a more humanoid shape the more that came out. Soon, Jason could recognize a blue-skinned man, distorted in the smoke, wearing clothes Jason didn’t recognize, but it surely wasn’t fashionable in America.

“What is this?” Jason asked aloud, not realizing he’d get a response.

“A genie, of course,” said the smoke back to him. It echoed all around Jason, as if it came from his head rather than the smoke itself.

“What?” Jason questioned, taking a step back.

The man in the smoke looked up at him, clearing hearing Jason. He seemed every bit annoyed at the exchange so far. “You don’t know what I am? Pitiful! I’m a genie, you can ask me three wishes. What will they be?”

Jason observed the smoke, stepping closer. Swiping his hand through the smoke, it indeed went through, splitting the man in half before the smoke rebuilt him.

“If you’d please not do that!” the man in the smoke hollered, frightening Jason, who backed off a few steps. “Believe it or not, that isn’t comfortable. And frankly, it’s weird.”

“You’re a genie?” question Jason. Though he knew the answer, his mind couldn’t wrap around what he was seeing was real. Jason gave himself a couple slaps to the face, rubbing his eyes, and reopening them. The man in the smoke was still there.

“Are you stupid?” the man in the smoke retorted.

Jason blinked a few times, trying to come up with a coherent question.

“So I can have 3 wishes?” Everything about this conversation felt wrong, unrealistic. Yet here he was. How was he to question it?

“Yes, genius,” said the man in the smoke.

“Okay, well,” started Jason, trying to think of 3 good wishes. But before he could say anything, the man in the smoke spoke up first.

“3 wishes,” he said,“Do not ask for more with one of your wishes. That’s not how it works, and you’ll be forfeiting a wish.”

“Okay,” Jason replied, “How about I wish for a million bucks.”

“Certainly,” said the man in the smoke. He clapped his hands together, rubbing them a little before opening them wide. Before Jason’s eyes, bills flew everywhere, raining from the sky.

Jason watched it all fall, only catching a few in his hands before they landed in the muddy creek.

“Really?” Jason shot at the man in the smoke. “You couldn’t have put it in a suitcase or something?”

The man in the smoke laughed “You didn’t ask for that. Next wish.”

Jason thought long and hard about his next wish, making sure to think it through a bit so the man in the smoke wouldn’t get it wrong. “I wish for a Ferrari, in working order, all parts included and built.”

“As you wish,” said the man in the smoke. He did the same motion as before. Jason looked around, seeing nothing, when he noticed a new shadow forming above him.

Jason’s eyes darted upward to see a car. He dived out of the way just as the car fell at least 10 feet, smashing down into the creek, splashing water everywhere.

Jason got up, soaked, looked at his damaged Ferrari.

“You could have at least put it on the ground!” shouted Jason, hands in the air.

“You didn’t specify,” the man in the smoke shrugged. “Final wish.”

Jason thought harder about this one. He wasn’t sure which way the man in the smoke would take his wishes, so he knew he had to be careful. After considerable time, to which the man in the smoke audibly expressed his annoyance, Jason figured out what he wanted.

“I wish for an alive German Sheppard that’s standing next to me and is friendly to me.”

“Whatever you say,” said the man in the smoke, going through his routine for a third time.

A dog appeared next to Jason, wagging his tail and panting. Jason crouched down and petted the new dog, happy to get one wish exactly like he wanted.

“I’m going to name you Scout,” Jason said happily.

“And that concludes our transaction,” said the man in the smoke, seemingly bored, “Do not attempt to rub the lamp again, I will be able to tell it’s you, and you do not get any more wishes from here on out. Thank you and have a good day.”

The smoke receded back into the lamp. Jason walked over to pick it up, rubbing the lamp again to see if the man in the smoke told the truth. Nothing happened.

Giving up, Jason picked up as much of the money as he could, deciding to ignore any that were too soaked or muddy. Once done, Jason opened the passenger side door on his new ride, letting Scout jump in. He slid across the engine hood, jumping into the driver's side.

Turning the key, Jason listened to the Ferrari purr. He beamed, setting into drive and tearing out of the creek. Despite the damages to the lower part of the car, it still felt good. Considering it was free, Jason would take it for as long of a spin as he could before it fell apart. Who knows, maybe he had enough money now to fix it.

At home, Jason turned on the news while he ate dinner, giving Scout the leftovers.

“Good boy,” Jason said as he rubbed the dog’s head.

Jason returned his attention to the news:

“Several charities were hit earlier today by a seemingly coordinated attack. Thousands of dollars were stolen from multiple charity locations, for a total sum of one million dollars. Whoever these attackers were are still at large.”

The forked dropped from Jason’s hand as he stood up quickly, pacing around his home. Everything came rushing into his head, connections being made, and more fears being discovered.

The man in the smoke didn’t create the money out of thin air, he merely transported it here. Which meant the car, and the dog, probably had other owners.

Jason felt his body go cold, aware that no one would believe how he obtained all his new things. The only logical answer anyone would come up with was that he stole it all.

The door bell rang, freezing Jason in place.

“Mr. Connors?” boomed a voice from outside, “This is the police.”

Having no way out of his situation, Jason trudged over to the door, opening it up with hesitation.

“Hello?” Jason said, peeking around his door.

With the door thrown open, Jason found himself on the floor, stomach down and handcuffed. He didn’t have time to react or think through his story. It was over quickly.

“You’re under arrest, Mr. Connors,” said one of the officers, “For theft a car and a dog.”

The rest of the officer’s speech was drowned out. Jason stared at Scout while he barked wildly at the police. At least he cared about Jason’s well-being. But Jason knew he should have never rubbed that lamp.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this short story, consider checking out some of my other work. Also, connect with me on Twitter! I enjoy engaging with other writers.