My wish is your command

I'd been walking for hours. The same trail I'd walked a thousand times before. I stop to smell the flowers and take in the sights of green trees and grass, as well as listen to the birdsong. It was looking like it'd be another beautiful day. Looking down, I see that something has made a trail down to the creek. Shrugging my shoulders I follow it down to refill my canteen. As the cool water flows against my hands I notice something buried in the mud. The little exposed to the water is brilliant gold. My heart hammers at the thought of something valuable. Digging my fingers into the mud until they're grasped around the object, I pull against the mud's hold. Up, up, up, until with one final grunt, I pull it free. An oil lamp. I swish it through the water to remove as much mud as possible. Once it's mostly clean, I can tell it's old despite looking new. I can't tell if it's solid gold or just plated, but either way it's beautiful. I grab a long stick, more a branch really, and run it through the mud, but other than rocks, nothing else is present in the water. I tuck the lamp into my jacket and start to make my way back to my campsite.

It takes a while, but as I reach camp I breathe a sigh of relief. There's nothing quite like home... Even if 'home' is a tent set up in the back of a cave and some rope bridges connecting to a couple nearby treehouses. For a couple years I'd lead a mostly solitary lifestyle. Off-grid, as they say. The peace, privacy, and tranquility that I found so soothing might be a turnoff for some, but to me it was a blessing. I revel in the solitude a moment before unpacking my newest treasure. The lamp seems to shine, even in the dim light of my cave. Looking it over I notice some mud I'd missed before. I lick the heel of my palm and start to rub the schmutz away. As I do, I notice a light shining from inside the lamp. Before I can act in any sort of way, a woman, surrounded by blue smoke, emerges from the lamp.

"Ah," She breathes deeply, "At long last I have been awakened again. Who frees me from my slumber?" She looks over to me and smiles. "My master. You have summoned me. For this my gift is yours."

"I-I don't... what... How..." All words escape me as this strange woman, so graceful in her movements, stretches and moans. "Who are you?"

She looks back to me and smiles. "Why, I am the Genie of the Lamp; Weaver of Wishes, Mistress of Magic, Granter of Gifts, and, perhaps foremost to you, Your Loyal ****."

"You're a genie? As in, three wishes, each with some kind of twist or caveat that turns the wish into some type of sick curse?" I slowly start to rise from my seat. "That kind of genie?"

Her smile is dazzling as she nods her head. "Oh, exactly. You've experience with my kind then?"

I shake my head, "Only stories and legends. I didn't think they were real."

This seems to take her by somewhat of a surprise. She leans forward, eyes wide. "Yet you sought me out? Having no experience with D'jinn you summon me? Brave."

"Less bravery and more happenstance. I found your lamp submerged in a riverbed and thought it might hold some... monetary, or perhaps aesthetic value."

She seems to think this over for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and smiling. "Well then, it seems you've got more than you bargained for. So, what are your wishes, my Master?"

"I don't think I'll be wishing anything from you. I may not have any first-hand experience with the D'jinn, but I've heard enough to know that anything I wish for is bound to backfire on me. No thank you."

At this her eyes grow wide. "You're not going to make any wishes?" As I shake my head no she pales a bit. "Then will you give me to someone who will?" Again I shake my head. "Why not?"

"Because, then you'll just screw up other people's lives. No, I wont do that." I cross my arms over my chest, standing firm. The genie seems to reel as the information sinks in.

"So you'll just keep me trapped in that accursed lamp? Leaving it and me to rust and be forgotten?" I shrug once again. "No... nonononono. Please. Please, my Master. I'll do anything... I... I can't go back to the emptiness, please." As she begs she glides down to her knees, grasping her hands together. I look down at her and smile.

"Okay."

That one word has her back on her feet. "Oh, really, Master? Thank you, thank you, thank you! I-" She stops as I hold a hand up.

"I plan to grant you your freedom, genie," Her eyes grow wide as I say that, and her mouth hangs open. "But, it shall be my final wish from you. In return, I want your promise that you will grant my wishes as I intend them, without tricking, fooling, bamboozling, or otherwise crossing me." She fiercely nods her head.

"Oh, my Master, I promise. I do so promise. But you should know that there are rules to the wishes, Master. Rules that I cannot break."

I waive my hand, "No wishing for anyone to fall in love with me, no wishing for anyone to die, no wishing the dead back to life, right?"

She nods her head. "And no wishing for more or infinite wishes. Mortals love trying to pull that one."

I nod my head in turn. "But other than that, anything is allowed?"

"Correct my Master. I shall grant your every wish as you intend, and in return you'll free me." Her smile is wild and carefree as a child's.

"Then it sounds like we have a deal." I hold my hand out and she grasps it.

"I'm ready, my Master." She is practically vibrating with excitement.

"Calm yourself, Genie, I need to make up my mind first. After all, I only get two wishes before I free you from your lamp imprisonment." She gives me a deep curtsy before returning to her lamp.

"Of course, my Master. I eagerly await your commands." She happily whispers as her form is enveloped with smoke and draws back into the golden lamp.