Ben Cruz, a middle aged man who doesn’t like his life

Ben is the dictionary definition of “peaked in high school.” Back in the day, he was the captain of the football team. He was the most popular guy in school. He was also one of the best, if not the best, looking guys in school. It seemed like all the girls wanted him, and all the guys wanted to be him. Everything was going his way. That is until he went to college. He got injured during one of his football games in his sophomore year, and his chances of playing pro-football went up in flames. And his grades weren’t exactly the best either. To top ohis misfortune, his parents had to file bankruptcy, so all the money he was using for college was gone. He had to take out student loans, which he only just finished paying off.

He’s currently working a dead-end job at a fast food place. And he doesn’t even have his good looks anymore. All the stress has caused him to lose some of his hair, and he’s put on over a hundred pounds of fat. He lives in a crappy apartment with his girlfriend, or should we say “lived” and “ex-girlfriend.” Emilia has grown tired of Ben and thinks she can do a lot better, which is true. She’s decent looking and has a better job than him as a teacher. We find him currently standing outside the apartment door. She hands him a box full of his stuff and slams the door on him.

Ben hasn’t really maintained any close friendships, so he has no one to call. He finds himself just roaming the streets. He trips and hears glass shatter as the box hits the floor. There can only be one thing in there encased in glass. Ben rushes to get the box and see the damage. The glass case with his family heirloom is broken. His great-grandfather found this solid gold lamp during a visit to Europe. It was just in the street. He took it to someone and he was told it was solid gold. Instead of selling it though, his great-grandfather kept it in a glass case. He just thought it looked interesting. It was passed down to Ben’s grandfather, then Ben’s father, & now Ben himself.

He ponders selling the lamp. After all, it is solid gold. Whatever money he can get for it will surely be enough to get a new place. He takes the box with him behind a dumpster, just in case someone spots the lamp. He crouches down & checks to see if there’s any dents in the lamp, as that will definitely lower its value. After not seeing any dents, Sam thought to make sure and started rubbing the lamp, to see if he can feel any dents. Suddenly, a puff of smoke started coming out of the lamp, catching him off-guard. Once the smoke clears, he sees a, beautiful, woman in a genie outfit. “Ah, finally. I am free,” the woman says. She looks down at Ben. “You must be my master.”

“What?” Ben asks. “My master,” the woman replies, matter-of-factly. “You rubbed my lamp and now are my master for life.” Ben stands up. “What do you mean, ‘for life?’ You’re a genie, right?” he asks. “That is correct, master,” the genie replies. “OK, first, can you stop calling me master? I don’t know why, but it’s making me feel a bit uncomfortable. Just call me Ben,” he comments. “Very well mas … I mean, Ben. My name is Samira,” she responds. “Thank you, Samira. Alright, second, I thought genies only did three wishes.”

“Perhaps other genies, but not me. You are stuck with me for the rest of your life,” Samira answers. Ben thinks he’s losing his mind. “Prove it,” he tells her. “Prove to me that you are a genie.” She gestures to the lamp in his hands, and states, “I did just come out of a lamp, didn’t I?” He looks down at the golden lamp and agrees that her coming out of it should be enough proof. It should be. “OK, I wish for all the glass in that box to be cleaned up.” Samira snaps her fingers. “Wish granted,” she says. He checks the box and sees if there’s any loose piece of glass in it. There is not. He looks at Samira, ecstatic. He always wanted a second-chance at life, and now, because of her, he can get his wish. “So, you can do anything, right?” Ben ponders. “Yes,” the genie responds. He asks, “So, if I wanted to become younger, you could do that?”

“Yes. In what way would you want to do that?” Samira asks. This confuses Ben. He asks for clarification, “What do you mean?” Samira explains, “Do you want to just age yourself down right now in current day, or would you prefer to have your modern-day consciousness travel back in time to inhabit your younger body?” He didn’t even think about the second option being a possibility. Now he has to ponder this.

Does he want to just be 18 again in the present time, or does he want to be 18 again in 1995? On the one hand, if he travels back in time, he has so much knowledge that could benefit him in the long run. On the other hand, does he really want to live through the late 90s & early 2000s again?