Fiction Friday- Gene

[Fiction] Friday Challenge for September 7th
A character gets three wishes…

It was 6:00 AM on a Friday morning. She woke up lazily, wishing to savor the last moments of groggy freedom. The house was quiet. She sat down at the computer to read her favorite blogs. She had a writing deadline that day, but she hadn’t written anything and was scratching her head for ideas.

Gene woke up and went to her. He kissed the top of her head. "Do you wish to get some coffee, honey?"- he said.

"That depends. Is that going to cost me?"

"No, silly goose! This one's on me."

"Hmmm, alright, I would like some coffee, Gene. I-would-like, I said."

"Coming right up!"

Gene. You can never be too careful. He is a trickster. They have been together for a long time and he still has the ability to catch her off guard with the whole wishing thing.

Ten years ago she met Gene at the big flea market in town. She was bored and lonely, and decided to spend an afternoon looking at tchotkes and other assorted crap. A vendor specializing in "mystical antiques" showed her the lamp. It was beautiful. "It comes with its own genie inside," said the old man. "That is the best part."

"Well, if it's so great why are you selling it?"

"This genie only grants wishes to women, ma'am."

"I see. I guess I'll take it then."

When she got home she decided to clean the lamp and put it on display. As she started to polish it, the rubbing woke up the genie inside. He came out in a flash and stood next to her in a casual manner. "Did you call, my mistress?" Whaaaa…? It's true what the old man said?

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"I am Gene, and I am here to make your dreams come true. I have the power to grant you three wishes. What does your heart desire?"

"Oh wow! So you live inside that thing?"

"I have, for a while. But now I am here with you. Want to make a wish?"

She was delighted and started thinking hard of what she was going to wish. But after five minutes she was anxious. She did not want to waste her wishes. "So how does this work, Gene?"- she asked. "It's simple," he said. "You make three wishes, I'll grant them and then I am out of here." "What about the lamp, do I keep it?" "It's my house, so I'll have to take it with me."

Gene was nice-looking and soft-spoken. She found herself irresistibly attracted to him. She did not want him to leave, it was so hard being lonely and he looked like he could be good company. So she took her time making her wishes. Actually, she had only made one wish in all these years. She made it right off the bat and she did not have to think twice. "I want to be wealthy and not have to work again to support myself." Gene granted it by rigging the multi-state lottery, causing her to be the sole winner of a 340 million-dollar giveaway. Way to go Gene!

They had been living together for ten years now. They got married (he proposed) and had children together (he asked her for them). But Gene was still very much a genie who wanted to trick her so he could get his freedom. If she had said "I wish to get some coffee," he would have counted it against the two remaining wishes. She was convinced he would leave her in a heartbeat as soon as all her wishes were granted. So she clung to her remaining wishes fiercely.

As he made his way to the kitchen to start the coffeepot, Gene sighed. In his mind, she had technically run out of wishes a long time ago. Eight years ago they passed by a jewelry store and she gazed longingly at a ring on the window display. He heard her wish for it without words, with such intensity that he knew this was a real one. So, two weeks later he proposed to her, with that very ring. Two years later, when she was pregnant with their firstborn, they were sitting together on the couch and he was rubbing her belly absently when he heard her silent wish. "Please let this baby be healthy." Six months earlier they had had a miscarriage, and there was no way he was going to let that happen again. So he granted her wish, again without telling her.

Gene wasn't going anywhere. She had granted him what his heart had wished for. When he met her, he had been tired of a life of nomadic servitude. Grant three wishes, leave, wait for new master. Repeat for infinity. She had given him so much, and for that he was forever bonded to her in love. And yet, there was no way he could convince her of this. He knew better than to even try.

So, as he served her the morning coffee, he quietly worked his magic on her. A minute later she felt a surge of inspiration and started typing rapidly, the story coming to her almost fully formed. She was happy, and that's all that mattered to Gene.