The past four days have been a blur. Looking back it is as if the events did not really happen to me, like I was watching some strange movie. I have lost touch with time and reality. No, for the first time I am actually in touch with reality. For the first time in a long time, I realize what I must do. To fully understand, let me go back to the beginning.

      Several weeks ago I received a strange letter from my uncle. He was on an archaeological expedition in southwest Asia, where he had been for the better part of five years. During this time my immediate family and I lost touch, so I was happily surprised when I saw the letter. Inside the envelope was a carelessly written note. The only readable part said “I found it. I finally found it.” The rest was a jumbled mess of foreign letters and symbols. At the time I did not understand what the message meant, but now I know all too well its meaning. A few days later, news came that my uncle disappeared. The workers decided to celebrate their discovery by traveling into town and having a long weekend. When they returned Monday the excavation site was destroyed and his room was in shambles. Initially, the workers thought this was the work of the local extremists because the archaeologists had the government permits, but were digging on the people’s holy land.

      Four days ago, the memorial service and reading of the will were held in my hometown. My uncle was not a rich man; he devoted his life to the past, never planning for the future. After the memorial service most people decided to leave. I remember that a noticeable drop occurred when the food ran out. By the time of the will reading there were few people left. As the executor read off the items on the will along with their new owners, I lost focus until my name was called. I received his house and all of its possessions. No one, except for me, thought it was strange that my uncle, who constantly traveled, had the time or money to afford a house. After everything had been put in order, I received the keys to the house. Noticing that the address was just outside town, I decided that since it was still daylight, I would head over and check it out.

      I have lived in this town my entire life, and I have never seen or heard anyone mention this place before. A secluded dirt road lead to the house, which sat in an enclave of trees. With my uncle having been away for quite some time, I expected the house to be in shambles, but to my surprise the house was immaculate. When I entered the house I saw that it was fully equipped. Everything in it was completely new. After exploring the many rooms for quite some time, I found one of notable interest. The study was in a large room; on the walls there were a plethora of books, some so old it looked that with a slight breeze the information within could be lost forever. In the middle of the room stood a large desk completely covered with notes. Upon examination all the notes appeared to be from my uncle. I also noticed that things were covered with only a thin layer of dust. It was as if someone had been there recently. Behind the desk was a trap door to what appeared to lead to the wine cellar. I thought I should check around some more when I suddenly noticed a small black gem. It was about the size of a half dollar. There was something about this gem. It called to me, compelling me to possess it. It soon became dark, so I decided to return the next morning to renew my investigation. I picked the gem up and placed it into my pocket and decided to head home.

      That night I could not go to sleep. I would wake up every few minutes then drift back to sleep. The dreams I did have were strange. At first my dreams started out good, but then suddenly they would turn to nightmares. That lasted all night. Finally, unable to go back to sleep, I decided to head back to the house. I arrived just as the sun was rising. The best place to start looking seemed to be back in the study. As I walked in the first thing I noticed was a book sitting in the middle of the desk on top of all the notes. I was positive that the book had not been there the day before. As I approached I saw that the book was opened to its middle pages. All it said was “svegliarsi ascoltare la concessione.” I quizzically said these words out loud. All of a sudden a dense fog started seeping from the pocket that housed the gem. As I pulled the gem out, it became obvious that the gem had produced the fog. As I watched on with a mixture of wonderment and fear, the gem started to pulse as if it were a beating heart while it became hotter and hotter. Then suddenly it stopped. I watched the gem in amazement, when a deep booming voice said, “You have said the words to release me, now I can grant you three wishes.”

Turning around I saw a most unusual creature. It stood at least seven foot tall and appeared to weigh close to 500 pounds. Although he was gigantic his movements were smooth, as if the laws of gravity did not apply to him. He did not seem to walk as much as he glided. Wherever he went puffs of smoke followed. The first thing I thought to ask was if he were some type of genie. He replied, “You may call me that if you want. I will grant you three wishes, but there are many rules you must follow. You only have three wishes, you cannot ask for more, you cannot ask for me to raise the dead, and you cannot ask to make someone fall in love with you. Also, each wish has to be made within twenty-four hours of the previous wish. These are but a few of the rules, to list the rest would be too cumbersome.” Still in shock, I had to decide what my first wish would be.

      After spending a few moments thinking about all the things I could have I decided on my first wish. I cannot raise the dead, but he did not say I could not talk to the dead. Partly because I wanted to know if it would work and partly because I was curious about what happened to my uncle, my first wish was to talk to my uncle. The genie nodded as suddenly a familiar voice could be heard in the air. “Help me! Do not make any wishes”…then silence. I wondered what had happened as the genie said, “You did not say how long you wanted to talk to your uncle.” I knew from that point on something was terribly wrong. I decided that before my next wish I should do some research to find out what I had gotten myself into.

      For the next twenty-three hours I searched through every single book in the study that I could find, but had trouble finding anything useful. It did not help that I could not understand much of the information within the books. Because of this I thought that for my next wish I would wish for the truth. To know what was really going on, who the genie was, and what happened to my uncle. I will never forget the strange smile on the genie’s face as he granted this wish. What came next was a barrage of knowledge; everything I wanted to know and many things I did not. Suddenly, I knew exactly what had happened to my uncle along with numerous others, and, for the most part, knew what would happen to me if I did not change something.

      This genie did not tell me the complete truth; in fact a more accurate description of him would be demon. He left out some useful information when explaining the rules, such as the wishes I had made were not free. Each wish cost me one third of my soul, and after I made my third wish the demon would claim my soul and kill me. Although I already knew, I could not help but ask out loud how Good could allow this to happen. I was not listening, but could follow along when the demon explained, “Eons ago the two sides you call Good and Evil made a pact. Each side wants your soul and each go about getting it in different ways. By setting me free you have agreed to take part in this game. Have I not given you everything you have asked for? You people blame me for not knowing what you are getting yourself into. No matter, you have less than twenty-four hours to make a wish.”

      I have been thinking about what I could wish for a long time now, but have not yet figured out what to do. So now my predicament is known. There are only minutes before I must make my final wish. There has to be something that will prevent this from happening. I have just one chance to set this right. I understand what I must do now. For my final wish, I wish that I could go back and relive the past four days retaining all the knowledge that I have now. The demon laughed as he said, “You think you have won, after I grant this wish your soul will be mine. Eventually someone will release me again and when they do I will claim what is owed.”

      With a flash I suddenly wake up, it is the day of my uncle’s memorial service. For the rest of the day I mimicked what I did days earlier until I received the key to my uncle’s house. I rushed to the study and quickly found the gem and the book. I found a chest and placed these items into it and then locked the chest. Thinking the wine cellar would be a good place to store the chest, I opened the trap door and proceeded down. What I saw was no wine cellar, but instead a gigantic museum. It held many more books than the study had. It also had strange looking items, ranging from small charms to heavy weaponry, in display cases. I decided to place the chest in the farthest corner, underneath a loose stone tile. No one is going to open this chest for a long time. I wonder what else I can find down here.

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