THE MOMENT
Rachel was helpful; she insisted on it. She lived her life vigilantly searching for an opportunity to lend her expertise and she found a whopper of a chance that morning. She rushed forward at the pudgy young woman that found a magical lamp. She knew the stranger must have been lucky to find a lamp in the park bushes and if Rachel played her cards right, that luck would rub off on her too.
"Excuse me! Wait!" she called out as the woman rubbed the lamp and smoke billowed out of it. She picked up speed and got there before the genie was fully formed.
"You don't want to make any wishes yet!" she blurted out.
"Hi," the blonde smiled at her. "Why not?"
"Hello, my name is Rachel," she introduced herself, then pointed at the genie's torso that floated between them. "I saw it on TV! There's a law firm that specializes in making the perfect wish." Years ago, she might have been more interested in the existence of a genie; but, it was common knowledge by now. Genies happened so often, that businesses sprung up around wishes. Rachel hadn't been lucky enough to find a genie yet; but, she had an emergency fund to engage a lawyer the moment she did. And, if she could get this stranger to call, maybe she could get the genie given to her after. Everyone benefitted from her kindness. "You should call them, I have the number!"
"I'm Barley," the woman replied with a smile and a shrug. "Thanks for the tip; but, I don't wanna bother anyone with my wishes. I kinda know what I want," she added.
"Kind of!?" Rachel was shocked. "You can't give a Genie 'kind of'! They're evil and they'll twist you up in all kinds of malicious ways! YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM!" Barley giggled and turned to address the genie.
"Are you evil?" she asked.
"Sometimes," the genie shrugged with a smirk and Barley giggled some more.
"Seems trustworthy to me," she nodded. "Anyway, it's lunchtime, so I'm gonna order. Do you want anything?" she asked Rachel.
"I ... What?" Rachel was suddenly confused and it wasn't a feeling she enjoyed. "Are you asking me out???"
"Nah, you're not my type," Barley shrugged the answer without missing a beat. "It's just me then, uhhh, I WISH for ... a #3 combo, please!"
"Granted," the genie replied and a brown paper sack appeared with a drink on the nearby picnic table.
"Did you...," Rachel began to ask in frustration as she followed Barley to the table. "You WASTED a wish on food!?? What's so good about that combo??" she asked. There had to be something special about it.
"Dunno what it is yet," Barley smiled as she sat down. She put the genie's lamp aside and began to unwrap the. "All kinds of restaurants have a #3 combo. And it'sss......," she stretched out the sound as she opened the package. It looked like a hamburger; but, there was a distinct rainbow sheen in the meat. Rachel was sure it was tampered with magically. "Awww, Unicorn...," Barley sounded disappointed, but shrugged it off. "Not my favorite; but, still food. Thank you!" she smiled at the genie, then bit into it. Rachel couldn't believe what she was witnessing.
"How?" she sputtered. "Why? You wasted a whole wish... and, it wasn't twisted...?"
"I get that a lot," Barley answered after she swallowed the first bite. "But, you know, it's not really a waste if I get what I want, right?"
"OF COURSE IT'S A WASTE! You could have SO MUCH MORE!"
"I dunno, this is a lot already...," Barley shook her head. "I don't think I can finish all this food."
"Not FOOD!" Rachel grew angrier and more determined to help by the moment. Barley really needed it; she'd proven to be rather simple. "Don't you know a genie can give you anything you want!?"
"Yeah," Barley giggled. "It's lunchtime; I wanted food."
"You need to call this number right now, before you make another wish!" Rachel set her purse down and dug through it frantically. "Where is it!?" she was putting pressure on herself to find it and save this poor girl from herself. Barley watched for a moment while she worked through the meal and she noticed Rachel getting more and more stressed.
"I WISH you find what you're looking for," Barley smiled.
"What!?" Rachel stopped digging to make sure she heard correctly. "Did you make a wish?" Then, she felt a worn business card bump her hand in her purse. She snatched it out and looked at it. It was the card she was looking for.
"You didn't have to waste that wish! It was in my purse!" She was angry on principle now. "I would have found it eventually!"
"But, you found it now," Barley answered.
"Please, I beg you. Call this number before you waste your third wish!"
"You're really nice, but no thank you," Barley shook her head. "Wishes are kinda personal, you know? I don't think adding extra people helps anything." She was stupid; but, that was okay. Rachel knew how to talk down to children.
"If you had help, you wouldn't have gotten a unicorn burger! It would have been something extra yummy that you wanted! Like, lots of candy!" Barley giggled.
"If I knew what I wanted, I would have asked for that. I didn't know so it's fun to be surprised sometimes."
"YOU CAN'T TRUST A GENIE WITH A WISH LIKE THAT!" Rachel screeched.
"Sure I can," Barley replied. "I WISH for a nice surprise!" The only thing that kept Rachel's fury in check was the knowledge that Barley was making her third wish; she knew exactly what she was going to do with the genie once she had a chance. She waited to see what would happen, then, she vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Enjoy your meal, Master Barley," the genie smiled and gave her a courteous bow.
"Thanks, she was kind of loud...," she giggled. "Wait. Where'd she go?"
"Somewhere else...," the Genie grinned with an evil glint.
"Well, I can't argue with that," Barley giggled and resumed eating as the genie returned to the lamp.