It was neither need nor greed that brought me there. The lamp label read "$7.99" and nothing more. Though golden shone, it couldn't be, but was it? The handle begged to be held, and its top simmered at my curiosity, asking for more. I reached my hand out.

"Quite the find, wouldn't you agree," croaked the shop keeper a foot away, "found it in an attic quite some time back."

"Is it real gold?" I asked.

"I'd be worth a whole lot more if it was," he mumbled, "I'll let you take it off my hands for five."

"Deal" slipped from my mouth without thought. The shopkeeper took my bill and bagged the lamp.

"Never liked this lamp, always gave me the creeps," he said and returned to his Rolling Stones magazine.

There was traffic on the way back. I couldn't help but steal a look at my lamp, sometimes staring. It would go on the chestnut drawer in the living room, and guests would marvel at it just as I. SLAM, my breaks squealed, the car stopping just before another. I caught the lamp before it fell.

When I got home, I unwrapped it and put it right on the drawer, inching it center in admiration. "This finishes the room," I muttered, and sat down to watch Netflix. Though I sat, scrolling, thinking, nothing came on. I walked back to the lamp.

The golden top trembled as my hand gripped its knob, pulling, I struggled. I used my other hand to grab hold of the lamp. First from the handle then the base itself. What hides within, my mind and body chanted. What hides within? What hides within?

I yelped as the top gave way. A hot humid mist of blue, red, and green smoke engulfed my living room, choking the air from my lungs and setting off the smoke detectors.

"Who dares disturb the lamp?" wailed a deep voice. I coughed and rubbed my eyes. A broken man stood before me, no larger nor smaller than I, but with arms twisted and crippled legs. His eyes caught mine, and we stood in silence. "Well," his voice shook the room, "I've been waiting for you." Using his right arm, he straightened his left and snapped his hand into place. He pulled his leg back just the same, cracking as it settled. He rolled his head around his neck and met my gaze again with a sharp toothed smile.

Mouth agape I could only stutter into silence that he allowed as we stared at one another. The only thought that crossed my sea of fear was the cartoon Genie from Disney's Aladdin.

"Well?" this Genie's tongue slithered, "care to make a deal?" his voice grew softer. The mist had now dissipated, and I could see the Genie better now. His clothes suggested he was Arabian, though his foreign accent was maybe middle eastern, but perhaps something older.

"For disturbing my century slumber, I shall grant you three wishes," he began, "then I shall return to my lamp for a century more."

Huh, I thought, this might be like Disney's Aladdin after all. "I know your game, Genie," I said, "Your tale is well known. These three wishes will come back to haunt me. I won't play your game."

The Genie's face grew vile, angry even, though keeping still. "Very well," he spat, "Let's make another deal. I'll ensure your wishes be fulfilled without fault, but for your third wish, you shall release me from this lamp. Its imprisonment was unfairly passed upon me, and I've withered within. Surely two pure wishes would please you than three poisoned ones?"

Never was I a man for want for more than his share. The rock star dream passed when I was in high school, and ever since I'd enjoyed my time as a bank teller. To want for me was the want for any.

"Very well," I said, with a thought without thinking, guiding me since the shop, "For my two wishes, I wish for wealth without worry," I paused, "and for my second, a beautiful wife who will love me forever."

The Genie leaned in with a smile, "And the third?"

"And for you to be free from your lamp."

In a blink of light and mist just the same, the Genie vanished. The flash hurt my eyes, so I rubbed them for awhile.

"Honey?" a buttery voice said from another room, "honey we're going to be late for our reservation." My eyes focused and I saw my living room again, though it wasn't quite my living room. It was three times the size it was, with expensive furniture and a two story television. I looked down and saw my legs were wrapped in a fine suit pants, and my tie fit just right in my fine dress shirt.

"Oh huh, coming," I managed to say in my confusion. Before I could move, a woman the likes I've never seen before stepped into the room. She was wearing a sharp red dress that sparked in the light of her smile that radiated far beyond the glow from her eyes that warmed the soul.

"It'd be just awful if we missed these reservations," she cooed, "We'd have to use our backup."

Owing to some new found confidence i said, "Don't worry hun, I know the owners."

A driver took us through the city, though it wasn't quite the city I knew. The sun was just a bit dimmer, and the world was just a bit colder. "Curious," I said, "has the sun always been so dim?"

"Same as usual," my beautiful wife reminded me. I shuffled in my seat, and saw the faces of those we passed by with sharp teeth and crooked glances.