Three Wishes
Everything seemed quiet when Nathan Chessworthy woke up. Nice and peaceful, he thought as he threw back the covers with a smile, exactly as I had ordered. That genie was the best thing that happened to him.
He stepped off his old bed, stretched and headed over to the window of his new home. It was lovely with the waterfall so close to his house. In the distance he could see the tall turrets of the old castle and the thatched cottages of the small village below. In a few minutes, he would call to check in with his guards, but for now he was going to have a shower in those falls. He shook his head, not believing his luck.
Six days ago while walking on the beach, he stumbled upon an old looking bottle buried halfway in the sand. He had picked it up and had stared at it. Nathan looked it over and with a sly smile, rubbed it to see what would happen. Sure enough, out popped a genie who gave him three wishes, but with a few restrictions.
“Choose wisely,” the genie told him, “because I can only give you exactly what you ask for, not what you expect. The rest is up to you. And, unlike some other genies, your wishes will be granted while you sleep.”
When the genie was sure that Nathan understood, he told him that he was ready to grant him his wishes three.
The first of Nathan’s wishes was to become the wealthiest living man in the entire world. As promised, his riches were waiting for him when he awoke.
The second was to be king of all he surveyed. “Granted,” the genie replied. And when he woke up, he found himself in a castle with servants and townspeople scurrying to and fro, waiting to do his every bidding. Suddenly he realized that he didn’t want anyone around, that he didn’t want anyone to know that he had all this wealth and power. He just wanted to be alone, to enjoy all this in his solitude.
And so, Nathan’s third and final wish was his desire to keep all these things to himself. The genie looked at him skeptically. “You are sure that’s what you want?”
Nathan nodded his head. “Of course,” he said, smiling.
“Then your wish is my command,” the genie told him.
Now here he was, laughing and soaking under the ice-cold waterfalls. When he finished, he grabbed his hooded terry robe and pulled it around him. It was then he noticed how strangely quiet it was. There was nothing, not a bird, not a deer, not even a fly. There was no wind and no airplanes overhead. He shook his head and pulled the hood over his hair. Probably his imagination, he decided and headed for the door.
It led into the kitchen where he found everything he needed, including a refrigerator. Nathan opened the door expecting to find it fully stocked, but there was nothing in it. He frowned and closed the door.
He walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet, but no water came out. Puzzled, he walked into the living room. Not a stick of furniture, nowhere in the entire house. No radio, no television and no telephone. Not a thing.
Panicking now, he threw open a closet door, only to find it empty and devoid of anything. He ran to the bedroom, found his bed was still there and sat down on it, bewildered. He was very lucky that the genie had at least left him that much, along with his robe that he always kept on the bedpost.
There must be someone or something else here, he thought. How could this be?
Still in his robe, he got up and ran out the back door, past the waterfall. The car that he asked for and received, a 1964 cherry red Mustang convertible was waiting for him. The genie had included this in his first wish. He turned the key in the ignition, expecting the car to start, but the engine wouldn’t turn over. He looked at the gas gauge. It read empty.
He hopped out of the car and began to walk down the hill toward the village. No sign of life anywhere, not even a hint of an existence of any living thing. He entered one of the abandoned cottages where he found a phone and a television set that didn’t work.
He took a quick tour of the place and didn’t find a thing except an old yellowed newspaper, which was lying on the floor. It was dated July 29th, four days ago.
Right after he made his second wish.
He picked it up and turned it over. That’s when he caught the headlines on the front page. “Sudden unexplained illness has surfaced in Europe and Asia and is responsible for killing everything in its wake. It is headed to the United States with a vengeance.”
I don’t believe this; he thought, crumbling it up. It’s impossible. Nobody? Not one single being anywhere.
But then he remembered the genie’s words
“Choose wisely because I can only give you exactly what you ask for, not what you expect. The rest is up to you.”
So now he had his money, his house and his kingship, but what could he possibly do with it? He was truly lost.
“How does it feel to be the last person on earth, Nathan?” he thought to himself. Then he began to cry.
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