A Genie's Trick

My mind shook like an earthquake, I was tired, alone and afraid. A voice kept whispering in the back of my mind.  

'Should I buy it?’ 

I shook away the thought and looked around. My mind drifted away again. For a second, I forgot where I was and where I'd been. I reached inside my coat pocket and, brushing past my wallet, pulled out my silver pocket watch. The time on the gears read 4:15 PM. Then it all came back to me, as I gazed at my surroundings. I was in a store, an off-hand store; a place where people trade in their old goods in hopes of making a better future for them in someone else's life. A few other people where in here besides me, looking at other off-hand items, none of them I knew. I’d forgotten the name of the place and I was too busy to go search for it. I was still focused on the question at hand: 

'Should I buy it?’ 

The thing I was meant to "buy" was a coat. An old brown coat that hung well below my knees. A small dark stain covered a small portion of the left sleeve. It was the type of coat you would wear in the rain to keep you mostly dry or a coat you'd wear on a cold snowy night if you had nothing else to wear. It was a sad old thing that looked miserable. 

And I was thinking of buying it. 

"Well, what do you think?" said a deep voice. 

I looked up from the miserable image. The cashier was looking at me, expecting an answer. He was an older man, in his late fifties, a few good years older than me, but I didn't care, he seemed nice. 

“Um, yeah,” I said weakly. I seemed unsure of myself as I fumbled my pocket watch back inside my old jacket. “Sure, I’ll get it.” 

“Glad to hear,” he said cheerfully. “That’ll be thirty-two dollars.” He started to open his old cash register. 

“thirty-two dollars!” I exclaimed loud enough for everyone around me to turn their heads in shock. I’d forgotten the price when I placed it up at the register. “No way! Just look at it! It’s at most fifteen!”  

“sorry,” he said in an old apologetic voice. “But it’s thirty-two. It still has good quality raw materials.” 

“Yeah right,” I replied as I slowly pulled out my wallet from my own jacket. The jacket I owned was too cheap for me to wear it, and I large hole had begun to expand inside the left pocket. As I reached inside and casually pulled out my large leather wallet, my pocket watch slipped out as well and fell to the floor, cracking the center bit and breaking the hour chapter. 

“No!” I cried out as I watched the piece of jewelry disappear right before my eyes. It wasn’t just any old watch too. It was Gotham Silver-Tone Mechanical watch, worth at least one hundred and fifty dollars new! I got it for myself as a birthday present last month, and just like that, it was gone. I clenched my jaw and turned my hands into fists as I stared down at the mess on the floor.  

The cashier just looked shocked, unsure of what to do. “Jeez, I’m sorry sir,” he said even though they both knew it wasn’t his fault.  

I reached down and picked up the watch. It was all still in one piece, but it refused to continue ticking. The minute pin was stuck at sixteen and the hour pin stayed motionless as four, making the time read 4:16 PM. I shoved the broken time reader back into my coat pocket, the one without the hole and I continued to withdraw my own wallet. I reached in and grabbed two crumpled dollar bills, a wrinkled ten, a twenty and placed them on the counter, grumbling as I went about doing so.  

I walked out of the store feeling miserable. I’d just lost a hundred and fifty dollars' worth of a watch and lost another thirty-two on an old jacket. I pushed open the glass door and stepped outside. The air was crisp and cool, shallow winds brushed past me, reaching underneath my original jacket. My teeth started to chatter, so I quickly pulled off my own jacket and strapped on the new one. Warmth soon drenched over me. I looked down, I certainly felt warmer, but I didn’t look any better. I was of average height for my size, but the jacket was a size too big and made me look skinny. Either way, I took out my wallet, which was now quite a bit lighter and shoved it into the pocket of the new coat and continued walking down the street back to my apartment.  

Right across the street was a bench that looked out over the ocean. I crossed the street, hands stuffed inside of my new pockets, and sat down on the bench. Just three feet in front of me was a thirteen-foot drop into the cold water below. I sat there on the bench just staring out at the ocean. In my right hand clutched tightly was my original jacket. I looked over at the old thing empathetically. It truly was old and cheap. I remembered that my watch was still in there, so I reached over and pulled it out, examining it in my hand. It was no longer valuable, or useful. I stared at it, then I looked out at the ocean, then back at the watch, then the ocean again, then I made up my mind.  

I stood up, my fist curled up into a ball, leaned back and hurled the watch forward. It flung out in front of me, flying for several yards before finally plunging into the deep cold-water seconds later.  

I don’t why but I felt a bit better doing that. Of course, that didn’t improve my overall mood. So, I turned around and sat back down on the bench. My hands were getting cold, so I shoved them deep inside the coat’s pockets.  

And I felt my hand touch something smooth.  

I frowned. I didn’t put anything in my pockets besides my wallet, which I felt my left-hand touch. My right hand now clutched something new. It was small and felt round.  

Almost like it was made of metal.  

Now grasping it, I pulled it out and examined it. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a watch!  

A Pocket Watch!  

But it wasn’t just any pocket watch. I recognized it instantly. It was a Tissot T-Pocket Watch! Those things are worth a fortune; over twelve-hundred dollars! And I held one in my hand, I was sure of it. 

 “Oh my,” I said quietly. It was the only thing I could think of saying. The pins on the watch even moved, it clearly read 4:23.  

I frowned again. This wasn’t in the pocket before. So, where did it come from? It couldn’t have just appeared out of thin air. 

‘could it?’ I thought to myself. No, that was silly. This isn’t magic, magic doesn’t exist.  

And yet, this still happened.  

To test, I picked up an old jagged rock near the bench. I carefully placed the new watch on the bench just so it didn’t get ruined. I looked back out at the ocean, leaned back and hurled the rock at it. It didn’t go as far as the watch did, but it still sailed across the sky and dropped dead into the ocean. I waited a few seconds before running back to the bench and plopping myself down on it. I slowly reached my hands into my pockets again, inching their way towards the bottom, hoping to feel something.  

And they did.  

Clutched in my hand this time, as I withdrew it from the coat, was a small white round object no larger than a pea. I held it between my fingers, carefully examining it trying to see what it is. Whatever it was, it was very shiny and glittered in the cloudy sunlight. I couldn’t be certain, but I had a guess.  

A pearl!  

A real pearl, sitting in the palm of my hand. I estimated the value was most likely well over four hundred dollars. Just like the Tissot, I placed it on the bench. I released my hand, but the pearl started to roll off the surface and I just barely was able to reach down and grab it just before it disappeared among the grass that covered the frozen ground. I placed it back on top next to my wallet so it wouldn’t be tempted to evanesce.  

I had to try this magical gift at least once more. A large smile appeared on my face. I looked around eager for anything else to toss into the ocean. My eyes caught sight of a small light twig sticking out of the dirt a few feet away. I Ardently reached down and forced it out of the ground. I drew back and flung it into the water. I raced back to the bench and immediately sat down. I reached inside and pulled something out. 

This time, it was again a stick, but appeared much longer and wider, about seven inches tall. The top was a large wood carving of a dragon’s head. Its mouth shot upwards with large and powerful jaws and two rows of delicately carved teeth that showed brilliant carving skills. It was truly a work of art.  

Disappointed, I was less than satisfied. I simply placed it back down on the bench next to the pearl, watch and my wallet. 

‘My wallet?’ 

Of course, my wallet! How could I have been so blind! There was almost no money left in it and it could use some filling. Greedily, I extended out my hand and snatched up the old empty wallet. I turned back towards the ocean and, using all my strength, I shot it forwards with all the power left in my body.  

The wallet flew for several yards. It passed the spot of the twig and kept sailing. It now past the rock and continued flying. Near the resting place of the watch, it started to descend, and within thirty feet ahead of the watch it dove down into the water, never to be seen again. 

Now, I went back to the bench. I slammed myself down causing the pearl to fall into the grass. Closing my eyes, I reached inside my pockets waiting to feel the sweet sensational feeling of cash. 

Nothing. 

I opened my eyes. My hands came out empty. I immediately dove them back into the coat pockets, again nothing new came out. 

I stood up and looked at my seat. The watch was there as well as the wooden Dragon, but no wallet. 

Nothing. 

I looked under the bench expecting a surprise but found again nothing. 

Hoping for one last chance. I slowly reached my hands deep inside my pockets.  

And nothing new came out. 

I looked up, not sure what to think. A tear started to form across my eye, my wallet, the one I deliberately threw away; the wallet that contained all my credit cards, my ID cards, my driver’s license and photos of the people I loved most... all gone. 

“What did I do?” I said quietly to myself. But even I didn’t have an answer. 

With nothing left to do, I collected the few possessions I had obtained, dove my hands into my pockets and continued my walk back to my home.