A boy found a magic lamp one day and out came a genie who exclaimed "I shall grant a single wish that you desire!"
The boy himself was very greedy in life and felt insulted that he was allowed only one wish. "That's it?" He retorted, "All the stories I've heard about you guys usually involve three or more wishes!"
"Well, unfortunate for you, I'm not like most genies and my limit is at one wish per person," the genie responded.
"Oh yeah, well I'm not buying that!" The boy said with a mischievous grin. "I wish that you could give me another wish!"
The genie pondered for a moment, playing with his mustache, before responding, "You know what? That I can do." Then, he suddenly went away in a puff of purple smoke.
The boy waited for hours, but the genie had yet to show up again. Hours turned into days, days turned to months, and months turned to years. The boy, now a man, reviled the genie for going back on his word and tricking him into thinking that his wish could be fulfilled. He became cynical in life, alienating friends and family and even jobs over his attitude. He soon turned to a life of crime that involved theft, assault, and even murder. He was eventually arrested and was sentenced to death row.
Ever the cynic, he cursed those that had wronged him and life in general. A few days before his sentence was to be carried out, a man with a familiar looking mustache in a suit walked into his jail cell with a clipboard.
"You're the genie from my childhood!"
"You have a good memory, I see," the genie said calmly.
"You just left me without giving me my wish, you bastard!" The man seethed at the genie.
"That's not true, you wished for another wish and here I am to grant it for you. We never agreed on the time or place."
The man threw up his hands in frustration. "Fine, then get me the hell out of here!"
"I'm afraid I cannot," the genie explained. "As I said, we never agreed on the details of the second wish and my powers are limited in even granting a second wish at that. Unfortunately, your options are limited."
"Then...what can I wish for?"
The genie raised his clipboard and hovered a pencil above, "What do wish to eat for your last meal, chicken or fish?"
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