THE MOMENT
(continuation/ had to break it up)
"Huh?" Alex knew he wasn't the brightest bulb in the toolshed. He usually managed okay; but, he could not understand what she meant. "Saturday's usually after Friday," he added with a chuckle.
"Usually," the genie nodded. "Not this time. Universe is ending Friday," she said.
"Which one?" Alex asked. "You just said Sharp Development is in billions of alternate universes."
"Yeah," she nodded. "All of them. I guess I should have phrased it like this: the multiverse is ending Friday."
"I wish the multiverse doesn't end on Friday!" Sudden panic forced the wish out of his mouth before he gave it much thought. Part of him was glad he got to use his third wish for something big and altruistic.
"You can't really-," again, she was interrupted.
"FOR MY THIRD WISH, I WISH THE UNIVERSE DOESN'T END ON FRIDAY!"
"Okay, granted, whatever. I guess our business is done, thanks!" she said. Red smoke began filling the room again, but Alex stopped her.
"Wait..., that worked, right?" he asked. The genie shrugged.
"I doubt it; but, you made your wish. My job is complete at least."
"What do you mean you doubt it!? That was my third wish!" he said. The genie nodded.
"You sure did. And, I did my job by sending your wish out into the universe; it's not up to me anymore. But, if I'm being honest, I get the feeling that's not quite going to be enough to change anything. To be fair, you only wished to save one universe; so, maybe. No guarantee it'll be yours though," she smirked as the plume of red smoke grew denser around her.
"BUT I WISHED FOR IT!" Alex was now less concerned about saving the multiverse and more interested in getting what he asked for.
"Yeah, you did," the genie nodded as she began to fade away into the smoke. "I swear, people these days have forgotten what the word 'wish' even means."