The Genie and His Bill
by Curio Athena
I. The Conversation
Yesterday, someone talked.
I listened.
At first, with disdain —
but later, with curiosity.
He spoke of purpose.
He said — I want to travel.
I thought — who doesn’t?
It sounded like an escapist’s cliché.
But I decided to listen anyway.
He said —
I don’t mean travel to visit.
Travel to meet people.
To see a culture and get absorbed in its history.
To learn to forget,
and learn again — in a different place.
To travel to be part of a community
that I am not a part of now.
I asked — How will you do it?
He said — I don’t know.
And we both sat in silence,
thinking.
II. A Year Later
A year later, the doorbell rings.
A man stands there — weary,
but smiling from ear to ear.
I recognize him. My eyes light up.
“So, did you do it?” I ask.
He says, “Yes. And I wanted to tell you — how.
I spent two months in despair,
working a job —
my body there,
but my mind elsewhere.
I’d check my account
and see — not much.
So how would I travel?
See, hear, feel, and touch?
Then one day, I was fired.
I lost all hope.
My dreams were crushed;
I felt wounded.
‘It will never happen now,’ I thought.”
III. The Lamp
I thought — okay, this will get preachy.
About how he had nothing to lose,
so he went for it
and made his dreams come true.
I was a little bored,
but he continued.
“I was walking in the forest,” he said.
“I saw a lamp.
I laughed — genie in a lamp?
Sure enough, I rubbed the rusty thing,
and to my surprise —
out came me!”
IV. The Genie
I was being played, I thought.
This fool thinks I believe his stories —
brewed in a witch’s pot.
But I am polite,
so I pretend to hear.
Pray continue, I think — the end is near.
He said,
“So the genie was me.”
Genie: “Man, stop this woe-is-me!
You lost your job — so what? Can’t you see?
You have time now. You are free.
You can wake when you want,
you can sleep on the street.”
Man: “Life is not that.
I have to pay my rent.”
Genie: “Is that it?”
Man: “Is that it!?
That is everything.
I have no money,
and I lay awake — thinking.”
V. The Hundred
The genie sighed and said to the man —
“I’m short on funds,
but I can give you a hundred.
Don’t ask for more —
my credit’s in the red.”
I thought — what an obnoxious genie.
Maybe he needs a lamp too,
he man took the hundred and thought,
What can I do?
It won’t pay my rent,
but it can buy me some food.
VI. The Rot
So the man goes to a hotel and buys a snack,
and pays with the hundred he got.
The waiter stares — “Can’t do. This note is rot.”
The man thinks —
That sweet-talking genie
gave me a fake bill.
What the hell.
If I see him again — I’ll send him my bill.
VII. The Bug
So the Man looks at the Waiter
and tells him his story.
The Waiter, wide-eyed,
stops him mid-sentence.
Waiter: “I saw this genie on my way too.”
Back at my apartment,
I think — I can’t take this anymore.
The plot keeps thickening,
and sounds like a lore.
But the Waiter continues, tells the Man —
Waiter: “This genie gives fake bills to all — I don’t know why.
Don’t worry, my man;
this dinner’s on me.
Have a good one —
take care, take it easy.”
But as the Man walks home,
he feels uneasy.
His stomach twists;
he falls to the ground.
He doesn’t know what’s happening — he blacks out.
Curio is impatient.
Curio: “Man, just tell me the short version, please.”
Man: “Okay, okay — turns out the food had a bug.
It made my insides crumble,
and my face went red.
After I recovered,
I was given another bill —
from the hospital this time.
My heart was pounding,
shaking, not still.”
VIII. The Lawsuit
As the man wonders what to do,
another man touches his shoulder.
He says, “I know your story —
what happened to you.
Don’t panic, my man.
Let’s get you a lawyer.
And sue.”
IX. The Settlement
“So the short version is this,” the man says.
“Curio —
I sued that hotel.
They offered me ‘Eat all you can,’
but I asked for money instead.”
X. The Trio
Curio is thinking —
Well, okay, good for him.
This story is enchanting,
and he got what he sought.
The man says,
“The hotel settled with me,
and we travelled for a year.”
Curio — “Wait, stop — we? Who is we?”
“Oh, it’s a trio — the waiter,
the genie, and me.”
XI. The Invitation
“So now,” the man says,
“you must be wondering —
why am I here?
Long story short,
I’ve come to ask you…
Would you come with me?”
Curio says —
“No, thank you.
I won’t.
That waiter —
I know him,
and I detest him… so much.”
XII. The Reveal
Curio speaks —
“That waiter and I were a couple once.
A year ago, he left me…
and now I know why.”
The man said — “What!? You were a couple, you say?
But yesterday “He said — ‘I love you.’ To me — he said he was gay.”
Curio thinks — what!!!! enough now.
Leave. Go away.
XIII. The Moral
Curio slams the door shut,
thinking to herself —
Moral of the story:
Don’t open the damn door
past 9:30.
XIV. The Lamp Returns
With the cat in bed,
Curio lies awake,
thinking — that was unbelievable,
so crazy, so fake.
Next day, on her way to work,
Curio trips and falls.
Her head hits a rock.
She looks again — eyes bright, excited.
This isn’t a rock.
It’s another rusty old lamp.
Could it be?
Could I change my fortunes too —
and have myself a personal genie?
She rubs the lamp —
but that’s another story.
Curio gives in.
(Did you think she wouldn’t?
How could she not?
Her name is Curio, after all.)
It takes a while — but then it goes —
Whoooshhhhhhh!
Genie Athena appears, a cat beside her.
They yawn and stretch, looking a tad annoyed.
ATHENA: You woke us up. Now get on with it. Tell us what you want.
Curio is aghast and mildly confused.
CURIO (to herself): Did she say us?
Should I… ask her cat too?
The Cat intercepts Curio.
CAT: Yes, Lady, you can ask the cat too.
But this better be good.
You woke me up from a five-hundred-year nap.
If it’s not worth my time… get ready to be sued.
CURIO: Well, okay…
Grant me my wishes?
Is it still three, or are there no limits?
ATHENA laughs, and the Cat joins in.
ATHENA: Unlimited wishes? Are you daft, Curio?
You get one wish per person — and that is all.
CURIO (retorting): One wish?! That’s against the rule!
It’s always three wishes — don’t take me for a fool.
ATHENA (smiling): All right, all right — go ahead and ask me what you want.
But you know the rule:
I can’t make anyone fall in love,
or force a change of heart.
CURIO: Yeah, I know.
I’m not a fool.
I don’t need anyone’s love —
I have enough of my own.
So let me begin now:
I want my cat to talk to me,
just like the one you have.
That is the first of the three.
ATHENA smiles, and the Cat nods in approval.
ATHENA: Poof. Granted.
Go on — number two?
CURIO: The second one’s tricky…
but I want to go back in time.
I want to look outside —
and watch how my parents raised me.
ATHENA (softly smiling):
They raised you, and it’s done now.
I can’t change the past, you know.
The Cat leans toward Athena, whispering.
CAT: I think she just wants to observe —
her parents’ flaws and follies.
She wants to do this to forgive them.
ATHENA nods in understanding.
ATHENA: Poof. Granted, Curio.
Observe them — from that tree.
It takes a while, but Curio is back,
looking happy and at peace with herself.
Athena and the Cat are intrigued by Curio —
they’ve never had anyone ask these before.
Looking at Curio,
with bated breath they ask:
ATHENA and CAT (together):
What will No. 3 be?
CURIO: Number three is very easy.
All I want is to find that fraud —
the fake-bill-giving genie!
ATHENA (raising an eyebrow):
Is that all? Are you sure you don’t want more?
CURIO: No.
Get that genie for me.
ATHENA: As you wish.
That fraud genie is brought before Curio.
Fraud Genie, in loud vacation gear,
looks around and asks, bewildered:
What the hell is happening here?
Curio steps forward.
You gave the man a fake bill,
and look where it brought me to.
I can talk to my cat,
and forgive my past.
Would you give me one fake bill but new?
FRAUD GENIE: No can do.
Your genie is Athena — and maybe the cat too.
The Cat turns to Athena.
CAT: Let’s give her one more.
What harm can it do?
A fake bill appears,
gets stuck on her back.
Curio grabs it
and walks toward the hotel
for a little snack.
-Curio Athena
Inside the World of Curio Athena 
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