You are Hakim, the Wondrous, a genie that can only grant backfiring wishes. You can't tell anyone your secret or you will be completely unmade. One day a small child finds your lamp and rubs it *** I am not a genie. I am a djinni. I was born in the land of Al'Qahir, but my people were destroyed by the followers of the Prophet of Death. The child tells you he is not interested in your backstory and wants to get right into you granting his wishes. You sigh and ask for the first wish. The child wishes for the ability to fly. Your heart leaps with joy. "Yes!" you say, grinning widely. "Fly! Fly away from here and never come back!" "Ooh," says the child. The child enjoys flying around the room until he notices that he has been turned into an actual fly. He does not seem particularly perturbed by this change. "Well, what do you want next?" you ask him. "I'm hungry." This seems like a good thing to be hungry for. The child makes his second wish for the ability to eat all the food in the world. "Oh," you say, scratching your head. "That's... um..." "What?" asks the child. "That's a bit much," you say. You start by giving the child fly some sugar water. This seems to satisfy him for a moment, but then he starts to grow very rapidly. Within minutes he is about twice as big as you are. His wings stretch out to their full length, and his eyes begin to glow red. You attempt to warn the child, but before you can say anything, his monstrous form bursts out of the warehouse and flies towards downtown. You are worried because downtown has the biggest restaurant that serves lamb kebabs. You try to remember if there is any way to stop him. You think of the one spell that could stop him. It is a dangerous spell, and you have used it only once. You go to the Djinni handbook and read the name of the spell: "Zulfiqar." You hurry to the front door and look outside. There is no sign of the child, but you see smoke rising from the center of town. You rush inside to find that the entire city block has been reduced to ash. You see the child flying overheard and cast Zulfiqar on him. This spell causes him to pee and poop his pants. He lands and collapses to the ground, unable to move. You kneel down beside him and ask, "Are you okay?" He doesn't answer. You shake him. "Hey, kid. The child roars and makes his final wish: "I want to be a man again." You don't understand why he would wish for that. But you give him some water anyway. He drinks it greedily. His body begins to shrink. The child turns back into a normal human again, except for one very inconvenient difference: he has become a giant. He stands at least ten feet tall, and he weighs more than a thousand pounds. "You can't stay here," you say. "You're too big to fit through the door." The child says nothing. You turn to leave, but the child grabs your arm. "What?" you ask. "I need to go home," says the child. "My family needs me." You look the child straight in the eyes and say, "You are out of wishes my friend." and you disappear back into the lamp. *** You take the child's hand and lead him out of the building. As you walk out the door, you hear the child cry, "I don't want to die!" You stop and turn around. "You won't die. You'll just be a regular boy again." "But what if I can't be a regular boy again?" he pleads. "Then you will be a regular boy," you reply. You take the boy into the production offices of "My 600 Life" and hope they can help him lose the weight. *** You spend the rest of the day working with the boy, teaching him how to cook and clean. He is a good student and eager to learn. As the sun sets, you realize you haven't eaten since lunch. Next time on "Al'Qahir's My 600 Life": you make dinner for the boy. ⁂ A genie appeared in a lamp. "I am Hakim, the Wondrous," said the genie. "One of my many powers is that I can grant backfiring wishes."
EP 434 – Story #2
Posted under Episode 434, Story On By Chief