The Djinn's Trial

A man was hiking on a mountain trail for almost half a day. He had accidentally lost his food along the way and was growing weary by the minute as even his water supply was running low. At one point on his journey, the man fell off a ridge and found himself before the mouth of a cave. There before him was an old bronze jar, and an inexplicable urge suddenly rose within him to get close to it, as if it were calling out to him.

When he tried to move, the man felt a sharp pain spread across his entire left leg. It was most likely broken. He crawled forward and forced himself to sit up, and then he grabbed the mysterious jar that was before him. The lid of the jar then popped off, releasing a gust grey mist. Suddenly, there was a being before him that took the form of a humanoid shadow, undulating where it stood like a mass of black and grey smoke.

“Human, you are granted three wishes.”

The man didn’t know what to say; he couldn’t even move his legs.

“I mean you no harm. I’m a djinn, and I can grant you three wishes, but three alone. Tell me, what do you want?”

“My leg… Can you heal it?”

“Yes. Granted.”

The man found himself able to stand up again. The djinn truly kept its word. Thrilled, the man asked the djinn for food next; the djinn provided him with delicious food. When the djinn asked the man what his third and final wish would be, the man said, “I wish to go home.”

“And I will not prevent you from doing so,” the djinn replied.

The man was confused. “You won’t take me home?”

“You only said you wish to go home, not that you wish to be there.”

The man’s hands began to tremble. Just for his choice of words… But before he could say anything further, the djinn disappeared back into its jar, and the jar sealed itself shut. The man cursed under his breath. He looked over at the mountainside next to him; the sun was sinking behind it. It would be a long night ahead.

A few weeks later, it was a couple who suffered the same fate as that man. They, too, found themselves injured and next to the mysterious bronze jar. The wife only had minor bruises, but her husband had a broken arm. When the djin appeared before them and explained that he would grant them three wishes, she first wished for hers and her husband’s wounds to be healed.

The djinn questioned whether that wouldn’t be two wishes, but she argued that it was one wish since she asked for one specific thing, just for two people. The djinn complied and healed them both. Next, the woman asked for food for the both of them. The djinn provided them both with a meal. When it came to the final wish, however, the woman asked for something the djinn did not expect.

“I want you to help me with all my court cases from now on,” the woman said.

In all the centuries that it had existed, this was the first human to have best tested its potential. It was truly an intriguing experience. The djinn agreed to help the woman and returned to its jar. The couple found their way back home, and the woman quickly came to be the best in her field.