An Unfulfilled Wish
By: Michael Cottle
The lamp was nothing special. White and blue, it was. Ancient, it seemed, but there was no genie. That was simply old fables. There was a story there- in the lamp. Warren dreamed of it. Of knowing its history. Maybe it was a fascinating past to know. Or maybe it was simple boring. It set upon his desk, and Warren stared into it. Lost and wondering at times away from the grind.
He glanced through emails occasionally. “We’ve got a formal complaint on our hands!” said one of them. It was from a salesman. It was from the worst kind of salesman- a corporate one.
“What a little prick?” Warren thought. The corporate disease was an epidemic. Pressure and fear were their ways. Inspirational and encouraging to employees, not really. They were dysfunctional and illiterate. He took a sip of a mug of mint tea to calm his nerves. The thought of it raised his blood pressure.
He loved a girl once. She was beautiful once to him- a Cassiopeia of sorts. He was too poor. He was too boring. He was too Warren. He would have taken a bullet for her, if only she asked. But she only asked to be let go.
It was a painful split that turned him inside out. Life was strange for a great while. He moved his bed into the living room. He cleaned the place for hours, but it was still nasty. But the mint tea was comforting. So, he drank it by the gallon. All day, every day, he drank it while he worked.
But he turned to move the lamp from under some papers- just some numbers jotted down, and he stroked its side just right. That’s when the genie came from within.
“Who disturbs my rest?” boomed a voice from the white and blue lamp. A ghostly figure emerged and towered over Warren’s desk. Warren was startled, to say the least, and his jaw dropped while his eyes opened wide.
“Wh...wh…wh…who are you?” Warren asked.
“You! It was you. What? You never met a genie before?” the ghostly figure asked. “Nevermind, you have but one wish, that I will grant if I can.”
“I don’t know” Warren replied.
“Make it snappy. There must be something you desire that is just beyond your mortal reach” the genie pushed. “What is it?”
“Give me a minute!” Warren said. “Let me think about it, alright?”
“My power vanishes quick!” the genie said. “You must decide now!”
Warren sweated, for he knew not what to say. He reached into the deepest part of him, and he grabbed what he believed to be his most ultimate desire. And just before the ghostly genie vanished, he blurted out something he didn’t even know what meant.
“I wish I had been enough” Warren said.
But the genie knew, and frowned. “My dear boy, that sort of thing only exists in the land of dragons and unicorns. I cannot grant you this request.” And he began to fade back into the white and blue lamp.
Warren shouted, “Please! Wait!” And he was overwhelmed with fear as he reached out for the lamp, and his most desirable wish slipping away.
And at just that moment, the phone rang, and Warren’s eyes flew open. His hands flew up over his desk spilling his tea onto his keyboard, and knocking the white and blue lamp to the floor. It made a loud crash, and was shattered about into an uncountable set of shivers.
He answered the phone anyway. “Hello” he said.
“Warren, we’ve got to do something with this new account. It’s the first shipment, and we’ve already got a formal complaint on our hands. What are you going to do about it?” the salesman asked.
“We’ve got plenty of other business” Warren said. “How about we don’t sell to these bastards anymore?”
There was chatter on the other end, but Warren could not hear it. He had already hung up the phone.
By: Michael Cottle
The lamp was nothing special. White and blue, it was. Ancient, it seemed, but there was no genie. That was simply old fables. There was a story there- in the lamp. Warren dreamed of it. Of knowing its history. Maybe it was a fascinating past to know. Or maybe it was simple boring. It set upon his desk, and Warren stared into it. Lost and wondering at times away from the grind.
He glanced through emails occasionally. “We’ve got a formal complaint on our hands!” said one of them. It was from a salesman. It was from the worst kind of salesman- a corporate one.
“What a little prick?” Warren thought. The corporate disease was an epidemic. Pressure and fear were their ways. Inspirational and encouraging to employees, not really. They were dysfunctional and illiterate. He took a sip of a mug of mint tea to calm his nerves. The thought of it raised his blood pressure.
He loved a girl once. She was beautiful once to him- a Cassiopeia of sorts. He was too poor. He was too boring. He was too Warren. He would have taken a bullet for her, if only she asked. But she only asked to be let go.
It was a painful split that turned him inside out. Life was strange for a great while. He moved his bed into the living room. He cleaned the place for hours, but it was still nasty. But the mint tea was comforting. So, he drank it by the gallon. All day, every day, he drank it while he worked.
But he turned to move the lamp from under some papers- just some numbers jotted down, and he stroked its side just right. That’s when the genie came from within.
“Who disturbs my rest?” boomed a voice from the white and blue lamp. A ghostly figure emerged and towered over Warren’s desk. Warren was startled, to say the least, and his jaw dropped while his eyes opened wide.
“Wh...wh…wh…who are you?” Warren asked.
“You! It was you. What? You never met a genie before?” the ghostly figure asked. “Nevermind, you have but one wish, that I will grant if I can.”
“I don’t know” Warren replied.
“Make it snappy. There must be something you desire that is just beyond your mortal reach” the genie pushed. “What is it?”
“Give me a minute!” Warren said. “Let me think about it, alright?”
“My power vanishes quick!” the genie said. “You must decide now!”
Warren sweated, for he knew not what to say. He reached into the deepest part of him, and he grabbed what he believed to be his most ultimate desire. And just before the ghostly genie vanished, he blurted out something he didn’t even know what meant.
“I wish I had been enough” Warren said.
But the genie knew, and frowned. “My dear boy, that sort of thing only exists in the land of dragons and unicorns. I cannot grant you this request.” And he began to fade back into the white and blue lamp.
Warren shouted, “Please! Wait!” And he was overwhelmed with fear as he reached out for the lamp, and his most desirable wish slipping away.
And at just that moment, the phone rang, and Warren’s eyes flew open. His hands flew up over his desk spilling his tea onto his keyboard, and knocking the white and blue lamp to the floor. It made a loud crash, and was shattered about into an uncountable set of shivers.
He answered the phone anyway. “Hello” he said.
“Warren, we’ve got to do something with this new account. It’s the first shipment, and we’ve already got a formal complaint on our hands. What are you going to do about it?” the salesman asked.
“We’ve got plenty of other business” Warren said. “How about we don’t sell to these bastards anymore?”
There was chatter on the other end, but Warren could not hear it. He had already hung up the phone.