The Genie

            Being young can feel like standing in the center of a maze. A genie appears and drops a treasure chest beside you. The genie looks at you and says, “If you successfully navigate the maze, you can keep all the treasure you can carry. But you cannot pick up any pieces that fall to the ground.”

            So you reach inside, trying to pick up as much treasure as you can possibly hold. You lock your arms and angle your elbows towards your body. Your hands are filled with heaps of precious jewels and gold coins.

            You take long, slow steps, watching gold coins fall through your arms with each movement. Every roadblock you encounter leaves you frustrated because you must go further back the way you came, and you lose more treasure along the way. As happy as you are about the treasure in hand, it is difficult to avoid looking back at the treasure that has already fallen.

            The journey is stressful. You hear stories of others leaving the maze with vast wealth. You are anxious to get to the exit before you drop even more treasure. After a few more tries, you finally reach the end. You’re holding a dozen gold coins in each hand and a few precious jewels strung around your neck.

            There is a troll standing in front of the gate. “One gold coin to pass,” the troll says.

            Beside the troll is an old man who is kneeling down, empty-handed and crying. He has stumbled along the way and dropped all of his treasure. Frustrated, you ignore the man and start to think about how little treasure you’ve got left. For every piece in hand, you’ve dropped five to the ground. You grab a golden piece, and place it into the troll’s stubbled palm, anticipating the moment you can exit the maze with your reward.

            The gate opens. You clutch all of your coins tightly as you prepare to leave. Before you walk through the gate, you look back at the old man, who is still crying. You think about how you have treasure in hand, and you’re unhappy, but that man would give everything he had just to have a fraction of your wealth.

            You hand the troll one more coin and tell him it’s for the old man. The old man hobbles beside you and thanks you as he exits the maze. The troll smiles and transforms into the genie. “Now I will grant you your wish,” he says as he waves his arms. As you leave the maze, you walk outside and realize that nothing has changed. You’ve got the same number of gold coins, you are wearing the same sweaty clothing, and your feet still hurt. You go home and place the treasure on your dining room table. As you look at the treasure that remains, you realize that you were prepared to come home upset. Instead, you think about how lucky you are to have come home with any treasure at all. For the first time in a while, you smile.

            It turns out that the genie granted your wish after all.

You’re happy.

            All it cost was a single gold coin.

- Tim R. Woods