2713. Only one wish
© Bruce Goodman 3 May 2023


I don’t believe in genies. Well, I didn’t till I observed this event and upon asking around discovered it could be verified by other witnesses.

Alexandra lived two doors down from me. They call it a “Retirement Home” but really it’s one of those institutions where old people with memory difficulties go. I’m not too bad, but Alexandra has some bad moments.

However, she was totally lucid when she discovered a genie in a bottle. I think it was an empty rum bottle. Nothing fancy. I had always imagined genies living in bottles that had a little more sophistication. Anyway, Alexandra said she had this genie come out of the rum bottle and was granted one wish. I always thought you got given three wishes but she said to me, No! Only one!

She took the genie and the bottle outside. Our “Retirement Home” is on a high hill overlooking the city. Alexandra said she wished she was standing on top of that hill in a thousand years’ time. What would the view be like? How would things have changed? What about climate change and population growth? How would people travel?

She was granted her wish. She drowned.

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