Mismatch Wish - Part One

Taking a deep breath I turn to look over my living room, my gaze darting about as I search for more cleaning to do. I had been up since the wee hours of the morning, slowly working to tidy and get my living space back into working order after months of neglect.

Walls had been dusted, bedroom cups washed, and floors vacuumed. I can't help but look over the room with a satisfied grin, from the freshly dusted bookshelves to the dishes drying by the sink. Slowly turning to my old and well-loved green sofa I begin to pace over to the canvas bags sitting on the cushions.

"I think it's about time..." I mutter with a grin, pulling open the bag as the eclectic haul inside catches the afternoon sun.

I had needed some reason to clean, some motivation to get my home in order. To that end I had decided to redecorate, making a weekend of gathering up interesting curios and items from various secondhand shops and markets. Rustic framed artworks, delightful potted plants, and all manner of interesting finds practically spilling from the bags.

I quickly set about unpacking, organizing the various items to the best of my ability. Plodding around the apartment I find sunny areas for the plants, plan where to put in nails for the hanging art, and tyr to find places to display some of the more unique or interesting items.

As I reach the bottom of the first bag I feel my hand touch cold metal, the moment of confusion falling away as I pull free a small antique oil lamp made of heavily tarnished brass. Holding up the intricately made little lamp by the large curved handle I look it over, the darker splotches giving the whole thing a warmly aged character.

"You'll make a great incense bur..." I begin to mutter, pausing as I catch the sight of a small scuff mark running along the side of the cute little antique. Looking back into the bag I let out a short huffing wince as I stare down at a small roughly shaped ceramic pot in the bottom along with some crumbled dried clay that had come off during the jostling in the bag.

Sighing to myself I wander to the kitchen, quickly fetching a nearly empty tube of polish that I had purchased years ago.

"Hopefully this will..." I mutter, grabbing up one of my dish towels and quickly pouring some of the polish onto the scratch. "... Do... The... Trick..." I continue, rubbing the scratched section vigorously as I try to clean up the damage.

Thankfully, the harsh discolored line quickly disappears as the chalk-like mark is cleaned away. For a moment I smile down at the tiny object, my lips forming into a pout as I notice the difference in color between the polished and unpolished section of brass.

"Fuck..." I grumble, walking back over to the couch and dropping myself onto the cushions. "I really wanted to keep the pat..." I mumble with a deep sigh before just applying more varnish as I try to finish the job.

As I rub the metal, shining up the tarnished brass more and more by the second, the metal seems to heat up in my hands. For a moment I simply believe it to be my body heat and the rubbing heating the metal, however, after only a minute or two of vigorous rubbing the metal becomes almost unbearable to hold.

With a yelp of pain I drop the lamp, the slow rise in heat having gone largely unnoticed until it had become too hot to hold. My heart skips a beat as I watch the small brass antique tumble to the floor, my mind racing at the thought of damaging the freshly polished metal or the hardwood floor.

However, the lamp pauses in the air an inch off the ground. A small line of pillowing reddish purple smoke seeps from the mouth of the oil lamp, the thick plumes of smoke forming a barrier between it and the floor.

"You didn't just..." snaps a frazzled and high-pitched voice, the unseen person pausing to simply let out a loud exasperated groan.

As more smoke seeps out, pooling along the floor, I pull my feet up onto the couch to avoid touching the colorful haze. The lamp itself begins to jostle and shake, the metal shell bulging as muffled grumbles emanate from inside.

Suddenly, a large blast of colored smoke erupts from the top of the lamp as the lid snaps back. My eyes water and my lungs burn as I find myself surrounded by smoke, heavy hacking coughs soon following as I try to see through it all. As the haze begins to clear I find myself staring at a young woman or at least the top half of one.

Her long black hair is a complete mess, the long locks fraying out wildly and in knots as though they hadn't been brushed or combed in weeks. A large set of deep dark brown eyes dart about in a panic, the heavy black winged make-up framing them beautifully. Her features are perfectly dainty and alluring, her olive-toned skin adding an exotic element to it all.

She is dressed in a revealing set of silk straps, the bundles of pink and light blue fabric hanging from her busty petite frame haphazardly and without much thought. Her slender arms are filled with fraying pieces of parchment, three of which rest in her delicate hands. Her wide hips seem to disappear into the smoke, a thick trail of smoke linking her to the lamp and replacing her legs entirely.

"Okay okay okay, so what did..." the young woman nervously mutters, her tone reminding me of working in retail while under some immense time pressure.

Her words are cut short, the loud beeping of the smoke alarm quickly overshadowing her. With a loud squeal she seems to jump, the thick stream of smoke beneath her growing thin as her upper body lurches upwards. In the shock, raising her arms defensively, the bundles of papers and parchment tumble to the floor.

"What is... What's..." she squeals, looking around for the source of the noise before finally spying the smoke detector. Raising a finger towards it she seems to focus for a second, biting her lower lip as the white plastic dome on the ceiling suddenly shifts into an old ornate iron chandelier.

For a moment she seems to sigh with relief as the sound disappears along with the smoke detector, the momentary calm vanishing as she sees the papers spread across the floor.

"Nooooooo..." She groans, swooping down to pick up the papers in a frenzy/ Her eyes dart back and forth as she picks them up, glancing to the corners of each page before shoving them under her arm. "I just organized..."

"Who the fuck are..." I begin to shout, falling silent as the young woman glares up at me from the floor before rushing up to stare into my eyes inches away from my face.

"I'm Amira, Master" she states, playing up the title she had given me. "Genie of the lamp, granter of truest desires."

"This can't be real" I wheeze, still coughing as the plumes of smoke slowly clear.

"Well, it is" huffs the young woman, her attention shifting back down to the papers littering the floor. She quickly swoops back down, snatching up the papers and sorting them out as she holds a few to the side. She holds up a page to the light, squinting as she tries to read it.

"So what are your three wishes?"

I pause, staring dumbly ahead as the young genie grabs the last of the papers up and returns to simply hovering above her little lamp. My mind races with the possibilities, all I could achieve with three wishes.

"Today please" Amira huffs, glancing to the parchment nervously before quickly following up with "Master."

"What do you..." I begin to mutter, cocking an eyebrow at her. "Is there a time limit or..."

"Yes..." she snaps, wincing a little as she nibbles at her lower lip. "I mean no, but I'm behind schedule so..."

"Schedule?" I mutter in confusion, unsure what she meant by that. "I mean, I need to think this out carefully. I don't want any monkey..."

"No monkey's paws?" Amira asks, her gaze quickly snapping between the small few papers in her hand and the bundle under her arm. "Look, you make three wishes right now and I promise no monkey paw nonsense" she explains in an exasperated manner, her gaze turning to me expectantly.

"So... are there any..." I begin to ask, shifting nervously on the couch as I still simply stare at the floating young woman in awe.

"Rules? Sure" she snaps, trying to urge me to go faster. "No killing, no bringing back the dead, no forcing people to love you" she explains hastily, holding up the fingers in her free hand with each rule. "You want money? You got it. You want someone to fall head over heels for you? No can do."

"Oh that's one" I state, grinning ear to ear. "I want to be rich."

"Done!" Amira chirps, snapping her fingers as a piece of paper forms in her hand out of wisps of purple smoke. "Two more"

"Um... Let me just..." I mutter, trying to think and struggling to think of wishes under all this pressure.

"Come on, come on" whines the young genie, her nervous glances only growing more nervous by the second.

"Uh... I guess I want long life and perfect health" I state, watching as two more pieces of paper form in her petite hands.

"Basic, got it" she scoffs, holding up the three newly formed pieces of paper.

From the other side of the thin sheets I notice the writing on Amira's side. I can just barely make out my name in the top right-hand corner, today's date resting in the top left. In big bold text across the center sits my wish, exactly as I had worded it.

I wait for a moment, half expecting something to happen any second now. However, I merely watch as Amira shuffles the three new wishes into the large stack before returning to the three she had scrounged from the floor.

"Umm... What are you..." I begin to ask, leaning over to try and read what was written on the parchment in her hand. Amira quickly shifts the paper away, looking down at me with a wince.

"Look...um...okay so the truth is..." she mutters, glancing between me and the papers. "I have a bit of a... a backlog?" she nervously explains with an awkward chuckle.

"A back... what do you mean by..." I ask in confusion, trying to work out what the hell she was talking about.

"It all started with that stupid sacking..." she grumbles, revisiting some ancient event in her head. "They made three wishes and then... well... I couldn't grant them to a dead person. I've been behind for centuries now, I swear I have the worst luck out of..."

"What do you mean behind?!" I snap, lurching up in my seat in shock.

"I'm not meant to have these" she hisses, waving around the extra sheets of paper that practically make up a full reem. "I don't know what's wrong with me but people just keep dropping... I need to get rid of the old ones before I can... you know... it's first in first..."

"What about my wishes!" I shout, already feeling entitled to the mystical boons I hadn't even thought real a few moments ago.

"You'll get three wishes" she explains, gritting her teeth. "Just... not... yours" she states, heavily wincing before pointing her finger at me.

I'm thrown back into my seat, my whole body pinned into the cushions as wisps of purple mist begins to wrap around me.

"I'll try to make it as normal as possible" Amira explains, her visage soon disappearing from view as I find myself entombed in the reddish-purple smoke. "No monkey's paws, no sudden unexplained changes people will notice.

I open my mouth to say something, only for a thickly perfumed plume of smoke to rush in to fill the void inside.

I hear some papers rustle as Amira reads the three wishes from her collection before muttering...