The Djinn

There once was a boy who met a djinn.  The djinn gave him three wishes.

"I wish for an endless supply of wishes," the boy commanded.

"Very well," said the djinn.  "You have an endless supply of wishes, and two remaining after that."

Then the boy wished for a spaceship to take him anywhere he desired.  He indeed traveled far, and along the way he wished for things like air, food, water, companionship and more.  Although the journey to other worlds was fun, eventually he grew tired and wished for an endless amount of energy so he would never have to rest.

He still has an unlimited supply of wishes left, which comforted him; yet, he continued to realize that his companions and friends were not real.  They only came to play with him when he wished it.

He understood it was all an illusion really.

The boy eventually became lonely and dissatisfied.  He missed people and things he could not control.  He missed the fighting, the make-ups, the wondering what may happen next, the joy of discovery;  the feeling of triumph when successful and even the pain of failure.  He missed the genuine feelings from others that were sincere and decided upon by themselves.  After considering all this for quite some time, the boy decided that life was far better left to its own elements.

His second wish was to "undo" his first wish, and return the endless supply of wishes back to the djinn.

The boy, now a man, lived a happy life for a number of years.  However, in the back of his mind he remained suspicious that it may all be an illusion.  That somehow his life, and everything about it, is something that he wished for into being.  He wanted to be absolutely sure that life was as real as it could possibly be.

What an awful thought!  To think that nothing was real and nothing truly existed, even himself as he understood it.  That every bit of his existence was merely a vast and intricate illusion showing that his life had absolutely no value, and he did it all simply to avoid that acknowledgement of nothing.

This troubled him so much that he came to a decision and used his third wish.

"I wish I had never met the djinn!"

In a puff of smoke the djinn vanished.  There remained the man, the same as he ever was.