Wishful Thinking

Chapter 1

     "What's this?"

     Leah bent down to pick up the object half submerged in the dirt. She brushed it off and examined the strange brass lump. It looked like a gravy boat, or perhaps...  No, Leah thought. It couldn't have been a genie lamp. All those stories weren't real, and Leah didn't believe in magic.

     "I guess it couldn't hurt," said Leah to the deserted lot that was along the walk to her house. She rubbed the lamp. Suddenly, an eerie green mist emerged from the lamp and Leah was temporarily blinded. When she regained her sight, a man, who looked about thirty, was standing in front of her. He was wearing a ridiculous green suit and fedora to match.

     "Hello, my name's Xavier the Green Genie. I assume you know the rules. You only have three wishes. You can't wish for violence, people to die, and people who have died to be alive again," the strange man announced to Leah. Before she replied, Leah looked around to make sure she wasn't being watched. No one was near except for an elderly couple going for a walk. Leah opened her mouth to speak, but Xavier interrupted.

     "Oh, and you can't wish for more wishes. You get only three." Darn, Leah thought, that's what I was going to wish for.

     Then she remembered that she didn't believe in magic.

     "I wish for a puppy," Leah challenged. The green mist appeared again, only Leah wasn't blinded this time. When the mist cleared, Xavier was holding a Chocolate Lab puppy in his arms.

     "One wish down, two to go," Xavier placed the puppy in Leah's arms.

     Well of course he has a puppy, Leah thought, what kid wouldn't want a puppy? She needed to make her next wish more difficult. She thought for a moment.

     "I wish for an elephant to come running down the street with a ballerina dancing a jig on its back," she said finally. Sure enough, an elephant came running down the street with a ballerina in a frilly tutu dancing a jig on its back. Then the elephant and ballerina disappeared, followed by a burst of green mist. Obviously this guy was a real genie.

     "A rather odd wish, but two down, one to go," said Xavier with a slightly confused look on his face. "What shall you wish for next?"

     What should I wish for next? I've already used two wishes, I need to make this last wish count, Leah wondered. "Ummm... can I have a day to think about it?" Leah asked the genie.

     "Sure, kid, when you have your wish, just rub the lamp again and I'll appear," with that Xavier disappeared in a puff of mist, taking the puppy with him. Obviously he knew that Leah didn't actually want it. The lamp was still laying on the ground.

     Leah picked up Xavier the Green Genie's lamp and tucked it into her backpack.

     It's probably best if I hide it until I figure out what I want to wish for, Leah decided.