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Lydia’s Wish 
by Lee Mitchell 

“I wish for power.” The words stirred something deep and emotional within her. This was it, the end to so much anguish. No one would ever hurt her again. “Absolute power.”

The djinn shook his head. “No power is absolute, not unless you’re God.”

There had to be some truth to his words. The being’s appearance, which remarkably resembled that of a gawky middle-aged man, had much to be desired. If he was all-powerful, he probably would have done something about that a long time ago. Had he not spouted out of the old perfume bottle Lydia picked up for two bucks at a garage sale last week—emerging first as a fine, red mist, then transforming before her eyes into the figure before her—she never would have taken him for a genie.

Still, the young woman refused to be deterred. “Then I wish to be God.”

“Only God can make another god.”

“Then I wish for as much power as you can give me.”

“Power comes in so many forms,” the djinn said. “Could you be more specific?”

Lydia frowned, and her chest went tight. “I want to be able to do anything. Alter time and space. I want to be untouchable.”

“Do you have any idea how many ways I could interpret that?” The djinn rolled his eyes. “Have you never read ‘The Monkey’s Paw’?”

The young woman sucked in a deep breath, crossing her arms. “Okay… I wish for infinite wishes.”

“Is that your final answer?”

Lydia felt a shock of surprise. She raised her eyebrows. “You’re really willing to grant that one?”

“If it’s what you really, really want. Think long and hard. I have plenty of time.”

She responded with a resolute nod. “Final answer.”

“Okay, close your eyes.”

She did as she was told. The air picked up all around her, and she smelled something hot and earthy that reminded her of cinnamon and sulfur. There was a resonant sound, like the clinking of glass, and then everything went silent.

Lydia opened her eyes to a dazzling red display all around her. She peered through the surface beneath her, taking a moment to orient herself. She couldn’t make sense of it at first: She was still in her room, but everything was distorted, enlarged, and tinted red.

And she was confined.

The bottle.

She spotted the man as he moved to peer in at her. He had to be twenty times her size, parts of him distorting as he shifted to get a closer view of her.

“Hey there,” he said, his words nearly too muffled to hear. “Sorry about that—well, not as sorry as you probably are. It’s been so long. What year is it, 1950… ’60? I might need a minute or two to process; I’m a little overwhelmed.” He set down the bottle, buried his face in his hands, and cried. “I thought I’d never get out.”

Lydia slapped at the sparkling red surface. “This isn’t what I wished for. Let me go!” Her words reverberated through the tiny, glass space.

“You now have infinite wishes… other people’s, mind you, but you didn’t specify that any of them needed to be yours.”

Panic surged through the core of her body, and she felt hot, shaky, and weak. “I thought that was a given!”

“Was it?” The man picked up the bottle once more, holding Lydia in his hand. “I really don’t so.”

“Then I wish to be free,” she cried.

“That’s the only wish someone else can grant, I’m afraid,” said the man, wiping away his tears. “I wish you the best of luck.”

.

Fiction © Copyright Lee Mitchell.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Author Lee Mitchell:

Alisha Brown led a mundane life until the day monsters started trying to kill her and random strangers began to shy away from her in awe.

All hell broke loose, quite literally, after Randy Thomas turned right on Main for Honey’s instead of making a left for home and then murdered his beloved wife in an unusually gruesome way. Escaping police and stopping traffic in New York City with a gas-spewing tentacle erupting from his mouth, his fears are confirmed: That one small backslide would serve as the final tipping point for all mankind, inviting in a timeless destructive force that would lead him to the frontlines of the war to end all wars.

A growing population has succumbed to their worst fears, some transforming into dreaded fictional monsters—leaving the streets flooded with vampires, werewolves, spontaneously combusting humans, and other horrors—while others have become angels and demons determined to fight in the holy war they believe is upon them.

Questions soon arise as Randy’s and Alisha’s roles in this bizarre apocalypse become uncertain. One is a professed sinner, the other an asexual virgin. Each has been touched by the hand of fate, and each believes they are humanity’s last hope. But belief can be a funny thing…

The Divine Darkness is the first installment of The Divine Darkness apocalyptic horror trilogy.

Available on Amazon!