The Three Wishes of the Flaming Sky

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The palace hall was silent except for the trembling flames in the oil lamps. Their shadows cast patterns on the gilded walls, resembling eyes. Aladdin stood alone, barefoot on the red carpet, holding a lamp heavier than he had expected. Dust clung to its handle, but when he ran his thumb over the metal, something began to glow. He bent down, placed the lamp on the floor, and rubbed it gently. At first, only a thin thread of smoke rose, slender as a snake. But it grew, stretched, filling the hall with swirling blue until the ceiling trembled. The smoke gathered into a shape, and when it lifted, it was a being of light and skin of flame, as blue as a sky one could never reach. Muscles flexed beneath the luminous surface, and golden chains clinked on his arms. A fire otherworldly blazed in his eyes. "WHO CALLED ME?" thundered the Genie. His voice was a storm racing through ravines. Aladdin took a step back, but his gaze never wavered. "I... I touched the lamp." "YOU ARE SMALL. YOU ARE WEAK. AND YET YOU FORCED ME TO SHOW MYSELF." The Genie spread his arms, smoke flowing around his shoulders like a cloak. "NAMES YOUR WISHES." Aladdin swallowed. His heart raced, but within him was also a voice that said: If you show fear, power will swallow you. So he raised his chin. "They say you can give everything." "EVERYTHING," thundered the Genie. "RICH, POWER, ETERNAL LIFE. BUT EVERY WISH HAS A PRICE. Speak!" Aladdin thought of his homeland, of the village beyond the dunes, where the wells dried up and the grain withered. His first impulse was to demand gold, enough to buy food and water. But he remembered the stories where wealth only bred envy. "I want our well to flow again," he said. The genie's eyes narrowed, as if disappointed. Then he raised his hands, and blue sparks flew. "YOUR FIRST WISH IS GRANTED." In the distance, beyond the walls, there was a rushing sound, as if a river was awakening. "TWO REMAIN." Aladdin's breathing quickened. His courage grew. "I want no child in my village to ever go hungry again." This time the genie growled. "YOU MAKE NO WISHES FOR YOURSELF. YOU CHALLENGE THE ORDER. YET IT IS YOUR RIGHT." He swung his arm, and a golden glow flooded the air. Somewhere, grains began to sprout, bread to grow, as if fields had suddenly decided to be fertile. "ONE MORE WISH." Aladdin hesitated. This was the most dangerous moment. He could have demanded power, to rule over princes. He could have demanded life that knew no end. But he looked at the genie, saw the golden shackles that glittered yet held him captive. "I wish," he said softly, "that you were free." A thud echoed through the hall, as if the walls themselves were startled. The genie stared at him, stunned. Flames blazed around his body, the chains melted, dripping to the ground like wax.