Wish Granted

Marshall Finn ran home as fast as his short legs could take him. He kept looking back to make sure the boys who picked on him didn’t follow him from school. It used to be just one bully that Marshall had to deal with. Someone told him to stand up for himself, which he did, and that only resulted with the original bully bringing his friends along to terrorize Marshall. Normally, he would run straight home to his room and cry into his pillow. He knew how much his father hated seeing him cry. But the tears he held back could not be concealed by the isolation of his bed. Marshall wanted to scream so he went into the garage where he thought nobody could hear him.

The young child believed he could climb into the backseat of the car and scream his frustrations away but alas, his father had locked the car doors. Frustrated, Marshall kicked one of the rear tires and wildly swung his arms at the car hoping he could somehow jolt the car door open. He pressed his arms against the window of the car and buried his face into his arms letting the hot tears roll down his arms. His breath quivered with dry heave as he fogged up the window. When he felt that he had cried all he could cry he lifted his head ever so slightly. It was then that he saw the reflection of something in the car’s window.

Something on the garage shelf directly behind him glimmered, almost as if it was beckoning to him. Marshall found a sturdy box and slid it next to the shelf before climbing on top of it to reach for the mysterious object. At first, he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. It looked like a small tea kettle that had been squashed under some great weight. Marshall thought there was some sort of intricate carving on the side but the bronze or whatever metal it was made of was tarnished. He rubbed at it as hard as he could. Just then the object started to glow and vibrate. The faint light emanating from it made the object grow warmer and warmer.

Thinking it would burn him, Marshall’s instincts told him to let go of it immedieately. Instead of bouncing off the ground it stuck to it and made a high piercing sound, like a bell that only Marshall can hear. Smoke emerged from the spout and accumulated just over Marshall who was unsure as to why he wasn’t more scared than he probably should have been. As the smoke cleared a figure emerged who the young boy realized closely resembled the intricate carving on the object’s side.

“Who are you?” Marshall asked.

“I am the genie that you summoned,” he answered.

“So that was your lamp?”

“Yes. I know it doesn’t look like a traditional lamp.”

“Why not?”

“Quite simply, it doesn’t look like a traditional lamp because it isn’t one.”

“I guess it can’t be very traditional if it has a genie in it. I’ve never seen a genie before.”

“Ah, you’ve heard the stories. So you know how this works?”

“I get three wishes.”

“That’s one thing that the stories have wrong I’m afraid. You see, we don’t offer three wishes. Well, at least I don’t. I can’t speak for the other genies. I only offer one wish. So you better make it a good one, one that you really want.”

“Only one? That makes this a harder choice. Why do all the stories say three wishes?”

“It’s an understandable mistake. The answer is quite simple. As I said, you only get one wish. However, I know how hard it is to know exactly what you might want so I give you two chances to alter your original wish. You can see how that can be misinterpreted for three wishes.”

“I see.”

“So what do you wish for, young master?”

Marshall furrowed his eyebrows and stroked his chin as he thought hard about what to spend his one wish on. He bit his lower lip when he realized that the answer was so obvious.

“I wish,” Marshall said, “that all the bullies of the world would disappear. I don’t want them to be hurt or killed or anything horrible like that. I just want them to disappear from the face of the earth. Bullies are horrible people and I don’t want them around anymore.”

“That’s a noble wish. Most people I knew wished for their own personal gain but to rid the world of bullies could make the world a better place.”

The genie just stood there looking at Marshall who was confused as to what was supposed to happen next. After all, this is the first time he was given the opportunity to make a wish come true. As much as he hated his own bullies, he knew that getting rid of all of them was the only way to go. But the genie didn’t do anything to indicate that he had done anything.

“Are they gone?” Marshall asked.

“Not quite yet, young master,” the genie answered.

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

“The thing is there’s still the matter of your alterations. I’d hate to fulfill your wish without you using it to its full potential. I’m a magical spirit, not a salesman. I have no reason to take advantage of you.”

Marshall nodded indicating he understood. He sat on the box he had used to climb up and get the lamp and he thought what flaws could have been in his initial wish. It was then that he realized that the bully who had chased him home was a boy too. Sure, he was a much larger and intimidating boy, but he was a boy nonetheless. This boy had a mother and a father and other people who cared for him. Marshall was ready to make his first alteration.

“I’m sure they have family and friends that care for them. I mean, I know it’s hard for me to see how they could be cared for so deeply, but I’m sure they are. Otherwise who would be sending them to school every day?”

“You have sound logic and wisdom for a young boy. And quite merciful as well,” the genie remarked, “So how would you like to alter your wish?”

“Wherever you end up putting those bullies, I’d like for their loved ones to be there too. They can love each other and be a family and all that, just… I just don’t want them to be able to do all pick on innocent people.”

Marshall got off the box and picked up the lamp. He walked out of the garage and back into the house followed closely by the genie who was patiently waiting his final alteration. The boy sat at the dining table and looked at his distorted reflection on the lamp before realizing another flaw in his wish.

“Some will wonder where all those people end up,” Marshall spoke without looking at the genie.

“If it is your wish then I can put them all somewhere safe. They’ll all live their lives as they normally would have but none of them will harm you anymore.”

“But they’ll never be seen again?”

“When they disappear, they will remain that way.”

“Someone might think they’re hurt even if they aren’t. Then the police or something will come looking for them. It’s not their fault, just their job, but they might figure it out. They’ll take your lamp away and they might put me in jail for making a simple wish.”

“That does seem troublesome.”

“I think I’m ready to make my wish with all the changes and everything. I wish all bullies of the world would just disappear. But they should have the chance to live their lives with all their loved ones. And anyone who can undo that would be just as bad as the bullies themselves so they should just disappear too.”

“Wish granted,” the genie said as he smiled at Marshall. With a wink, the genie snapped his fingers and with the sound of the snap reached Marshall’s ears he woke up in the schoolyard.

The playground was emptier than usual and the streets were quieter than Marshall was used too. It was end of the day and the remaining kids played as if it had always been this empty. The young wisher cautiously walked back into the school building pretending he needed to go to the restroom. Instead he sneaked up to his classroom and saw that the boys who picked on him no longer had desks. There were no hooks with their names on them for their coats on their cold days. None of their cubbies for their books were there anymore. And, most glaringly, they were missing from the class photo by the teacher’s desk.

Marshall walked back on the playground and walked with confidence for the first time in two years. He felt hopeful about how a school day would end. He even caught himself looking forward to going back to school for the rest of the week, rest of the year even. In the corner of the playground he saw a child from a younger grade sitting by himself, cradling his head between his arms. Marshall went to ask what was wrong. This younger child was quiet and didn’t know how to react to Marshall’s questions. In an attempt to be friendly, Marshall took a ball and brought it to the quiet boy and invited him to play but the little one refused.

“What’s wrong?” Marshall asked. He got no response. “I know nobody can be picking on you. I used to get picked on a lot.”

The boy turned his back to Marshall and curled up into a little ball, quite obviously ignoring Marshall.

“That’s right, you probably don’t even know what it’s like to get bullied. There’s no reason to be scared. Just come on and play. We have a chance to play without anyone telling us what to do.”

Still no answer.

“Come on!” Marshall raised his voice, agitated. “What’s wrong with you? There’s no reason you should be sad! Play”

Frustrated at the quiet boy, Marshall took the ball in his hand and threw it at the little one. The quiet boy started to cry and the tears streamed down his face. Marshall saw the look of pain on the boy’s face and recognized the pain in his eyes. And upon realizing what he had done, Marshall ran straight home into his room and cried into his pillow.