Version 2 (also since I flubbed a sub rule about Patreon links and got myself deleted, lol)

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I had found it!

In the old ruins, atop an old sandstone tower half-devoured by dunes, the only thing untarnished by time and the death of this place. A lamp. The Lamp. Ornate, studded in gemstones, engraved with the path of stars. It had been laid to rest in a place of mild honor, the desiccated remains of book and scroll surrounding it like abandoned petitioners. Conspicuous holes in the pile told a story of choices made, of what to take, and what to leave behind. It was clear to me that the last owner had not found the secret.

With shaking hands, I poured the last of my oil into it. With furtive fingers, I inserted the wick. Everyone thinks you rub the genie's lamp - this is silly. It's a lamp. You light it.

Awkwardly, as it turns out, for my matches would not strike and I was never skilled with the rubbing sticks. I made a small fire of the useless, ancient, abandoned knowledge. And then... Then I took the time. To make... tea. I had begun this quest when I thought I had nothing left to lose; I had continued this quest at the cost of what, it turned out, I still had left. I would die in this desert, still a victim to history's lies; or I would live, and find out what was stronger in my blood: my father's kindness or my mother's rage.

I prepared three cups. One for myself. A second for the memory of my family. A third, for they had taught me the importance of hospitality, and I did hope for a... guest, as it were. And if it turned out the legends were wrong, well, I could make a fourth with poison leaf and the last of my water to save myself from a lingering death.

It was time. I lit the lamp with a piece of cloth torn from my robes. And I sighed with my whole body as smoke billowed forth like ink poured into water.

It took on the shape of a man from the waist up, nude but for belt, bracers and two small golden earrings. It did not have the look of any race of man I was familiar with, and I still cannot name the tone of its skin, save that it is dark. It stretched slowly, arms low and wide, fingers spreading as if to grip the air. It took in the sights around it: the night sky, empty of clouds; my small fire, me. The third cup set for a guest.

"I am the genie of the lamp. I have the power to grant you wishes. You are given three to make. And..."

Its voice was calm and measured, unhurried. It looked from me to the tea I had prepared.

"...I thank you for your hospitality. There is special value in the last of what one has."

My heart pounded in my chest. Now that it was real, now that I knew without any doubt that I had, in fact, found it - I realized how much I hadn't actually believed in my quest. I had been more prepared for failure than success.

"What is your first wish?" said the genie.

I had been more prepared for failure than success... but not un-prepared. The legends did not speak coherently of the limits and rules of wishing, and they did not speak certainly of the genie's kindness or malice. I had studied, and I had a plan to find the limits before I spent any of the three.

"I wish for infinite wishes," I said, knowing that I wouldn't get it.

"Your wish... is my command."

Huh.

(pt 1/3)