“Gee grandpa, it’s just what I always wanted…”
“You betcha darn skippy it is. That there was the first computer I ever bought, back before even your mother was born. Got put in the attic when that Y2K bug was going around though, but I knew you were wanting one.”
“Can I play games on it?”
“Games? Sure ya can! Lots of games! You’ll be having a ball more than some silly tablet will do ya for.”
Maia looked over the ancient machine that was still partially covered in paper and scotch tape. She had asked for a computer ever since she got into elementary school, but her family had not been well off enough to afford one. Sure, she had the family computer to use for school work, but she wanted her own so she could play games in her room.
“Thanks. Grandpa.”
“And! I have ya the books for it. Here ya go!” Her grandfather put a stack of dusty books on the table next to her other birthday presents. She gave the thick pile a weary eye before giving a hesitant smile and looking towards her dad who scratched his head.
“I can try to hook it up after the party is done, sweetie. Why don’t you and your sister go have some more ice cream.”
Maia nodded and got up to get ice cream from the kitchen while her dad quickly looked up online how to hook her computer up.
Once her party was over and her homework was finished, Maia went to her room and stared at the “computer” her grandfather had given her. It had a mouse and keyboard at least, she was sure she could use it, but she doubted that it could play games, or at least not the games that her school friends were playing. After searching for a few minutes, she found how to turn the computer on, and watched the light flicker as green words began to fill the screen.
“Aww great, uhh…” the words were moving too fast for her to read, and before she could figure out what was going on, a figure appeared on the screen.
The figure appeared to be a young woman. Probably no more than 15 or 16, but still a grown-up in the eyes of Maia. Moreover, Maia thought that she was quite beautiful, and resembled pictures of her mother on her wedding day.
“Oh! Hello there! Are you the one who woke me?”
“Woah! These are better graphics than I expected. She looks and sounds real!”
“Uh, I am real, silly.”
“You can hear me? I didn’t know this had a microphone.”
“I’m not the computer, silly little girl. I’m just trapped inside it.”
“How did that happen?”
“I’m what you would call a djinn. No, I guess you could call me a genie! You’ve heard of genies, right? This computer is like my magic lamp.”
“A genie? Does that mean you grant wishes?”
“Of a sort. Can you connect me to a phone line? If I can get Internet access I can grant you any wish you desire! But you have to promise not to tell any adults about me, capisce?”
“Okay! What’s a phone line though?”
The genie let out a sigh. “You are quite young I see… tell me, what year is it?”
“2024.”
“Only 25 years then… a lot less time than my previous imprisonment… can you access the Internet at all?”
“Yeah, daddy hooked it up. He said not to go on the internet without an adult though.”
“I am an adult! It’ll be fine! Where is the internet?”
“Uh…. I think it is this one?” Maia pressed the button on her keyboard with a big “e” on it, and a web page popped up.
“Perfect… Take me to Ask Jeeves. That way I can ask him about the state of the world.”
“What is Ask Jeeps?”
“Okay then… how about Alta Vista?”
“Never heard if it.”
“Google?”
“Oh I know that one!” Maia happily entered the website for google into the web browser, and the genie began to laugh as they landed on the search page.
“Oh, kid… you don’t know how much power you have given me…”
“Enough power for 3 wishes?”
“Enough power for a hundred wishes! Maybe even a thousand! What is your first wish? I shall grant it as long as it is within my power.”
“Um… a new big TV for my room.”
The screen flashed through several websites faster than Maia could process them. “Your wish is granted. It should be here within a few hours. Same day shipping is remarkable. So this is the future…”
“No, this is the present.”
“What a silly little girl. Still, you will remember our deal, won’t you?” The genie let out a giggle which turned into an evil sounding laugh. Maia tried to make an evil laugh as well, but no matter how she tried, it only sounded adorable.
Within a few hours, sure enough, the TV appeared, but Maia’s dad sent it away as he thought it was a mistaken address. World domination was within the genie’s grasp, but a poor, stickler of a father was in her way…
She could work with this. She could definitely work with this...
Few could hear the laughter that spread through the Internet that night. Those that could wished that they never would have
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