Chereads / Tickled Tales: Laughter at Every Turn / Chapter 4 - The Genie with a Catch

Chapter 4 - The Genie with a Catch

Karima that merchant who was selling lamps at a small, congested stall deep inside the heart of West Asian bazaar. Business was not booming; rather, most of the clients were interested in dates and spices than dusty old lamps.

Then suddenly on a particularly hot afternoon, while Karim polishing an ancient, oddly shaped lamp, a cloud of glittering smoke erupted from that lamp. Suddenly, a towering genie with a magnificent beard and rather annoyed face was appearing out of that smoke.

""His arms folded, the genie thundered, 'Congratulations. You've found the lamp. I am bound to grant you three wishes.'''

Karim blinked. "Three wishes? For real?"

"Did I stutter?" retorted the genie, rolling his eyes. "Yes, three. But before you start, there's a slight... condition."

Karim narrowed his eyes. "Condition? What kind of condition?"

The genie sighed dramatically, like a tired teacher explaining algebra. "Every wish you make will come true, but... it will also come with a minor inconvenience. Tiny. Almost nothing."

Wow! " Inconvenience! Psh! No probs! I'm in game!"Okie-doe," the said genie, calling forth a clipboard from thin air. "State your first wish."

After a pause, Karim grinned and said, "I wish to be the richest guy in the whole bazaar!"

Now the genie snapped his fingers and in seconds, Karim's stall turned into a grand, gold-plated shop filled up with riches. Coins fell from the ceiling above, and merchants and customers crowded around, staring in awe.

Karim was very elated until he noticed that all the coins were making a deafening clink when they hit the floor.

"What sounds so loud?" asked Karim, listening with his hands over his ears.

"Oh, that's going to be the trouble," the genie said, idly inspecting his nails. "Your riches will always come with incessant obnoxiously loud clinking sounds. Forever."

Karim winced at another load of coins falling to the floor. "Fine! I'll fix this with my second wish."The genie smirked. "Go on."

"I want the most delicious food in the entire world," Karim declared, imagining kebabs, biryani, and baklava, "enough to last me a lifetime!"

The genie finger-snapped again. Immediately Karim found a table piled high with enticingly appetizing dishes, bathing the whole room in heavenly aroma. He pulled a juicy piece of kebab from the lot and bit into it, but immediately spat it out.

"Why is it salty?!" cried Karim as he gagged.

"Ah," came the shrugging genie, "the trouble. Every dish you eat will be either overly salty or over-spiced. No exceptions."

Karim glared at the genie. "You know, you're ruining my life,"

"You rubbed the genie lamp, bud," yawned the genie.

Karim was pacing back and forth, coins clanking beneath his every step, his tongue still painful from the kebab. "Okay, so for my last wish, I play clever on this one. I wish..." Dramatic pause. "I wish the most beautiful, obedient camel in the world would be to help me carry in my riches."

The genie raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers.A camel appeared in front of Karim—so beautiful it looked like it had just come out of a picture. Its fur shone in bright sunlight and its stature was regal. Karim was stunned—until it opened its mouth.

"Do you know how hot it is outside?" The camel complained. "I swear! Understandably, today you bring me from the bazaar of all days. And as for the bazaar, I don't want to go on about it-ugh, the dust! Just terrible for my fur!"

His jaw dropped. "It...talks?"

Totally sniffing down her nose, the camel snorted, "Oh not talk; just complain. A lot." You better get used to that, buddy."

Karim turned to the genie, who was smiling like a mischievous little kid. "This is what you call a minor nuisance?"

"Hey," the genie vanished into the lamp, "you wished for it. Enjoy!"

The camel was off ranting about the bazaar's shade or lack thereof, the jangles, and the spicy kebabs when the genie disappeared.

And so began the life of Karim, the richest man in the bazaar and the most irritated - a story that would be told for many generations to come.

To be continue...