text: I rubbed my eyes, but the genie was still there when I opened them again. His bulky, dark blue torso originated from a trail of smoke wafting from a broken lamp on the ground. "Oh, it's you. You poor soul." The genie said as he looked me over. "I suppose it's only fair I offer you the same deal." His massive figure was stooped over, and his eyes were downcast. I was running late to my own engagement party. The rain was pit pattering on the sidewalk as we stared one another down. My mouth was hanging wide open, as I struggled to believe what I was seeing. "Here are the terms." He said finally. "You're twenty-eight now, correct? So you'll be ten years old after the reset, if you choose to accept. You'll keep all your knowledge and memory, and the decision is irreversible." He scrutinized me with his large, pupiless eyes. As if assessing me, trying to guess how I might respond. "It is no understatement that your life's course will irrevocably changed. Think carefully - are you happy with things as they are?" I gulped. I've read about these hypotheticals on internet forums before. "You've got 10 seconds to respond. Do you want to turn the clock back eighteen years?" ****** I woke up in class, and blinked. A flood of memories came rushing back to me. I was sitting in my fourth grade classroom. The walls looked incredibly tall, like I was seeing the world from a much lower angle. I looked down, and saw two tiny, meaty hands attached to a pudgy set of arms. The genie's spell had worked. I pumped my fist and silently mouthed "Yes!". Ideas raced through my mind. This was my chance to fix everything. As soon as class was out, I ran to the library, but found myself wheezing before I even made it halfway. I went through a long pudgy phase as a child that had lasted until college. I had little luck with women, and my self esteem had shrunk as my gut grew. When I finally got to the library, I logged into a computer and searched for little league Football teams. In the years to come, my decades of being a sports fan combined with the youthful years I could now spend conditioning my body placed me at the top of my high school football team with ease. At the same time, I tried to convince my dad to buy Amazon stock. He was impressed with how much I knew about the company as a ten year old, but skeptical. "I've been caught in that trap before - the market's still not fully recovered." He argued. "And besides, what is 'Cloud'?" Money had always been tight around the house when I was growing up, and now that I was armed with knowledge of the future, I was determined to change that. I pre-recorded a few CNBC TV segments and left them playing for my dad to see when he got home, and after a few weeks, I finally convinced him to dip his toes in. The first few shares he bought quickly began to climb in value, whetting his appetite and persuading him to take out a large loan against our house to buy more. I felt briefly sorry for my mom as she chewed him out for taking such a huge risk, but the anger quickly dissipated as their investment quickly doubled, then tripled. By the time I was winning back to back state championships in high school, our family had rapidly climbed the socioeconomic ladder into the top 1%. As an awkward kid riddled with anxiety and ADHD, school had been hard for me. In my past life, I had barely managed to graduate, and the only school that accepted me was a local community college. In this life, I was confident, popular, and my family could easily afford my medication. I graduated with a perfect GPA and a sports scholarship to Harvard. There was nothing I could want for during my second go at being a teenager. I dated multiple girls just for fun, and lost my virginity at age nineteen instead of twenty five. However, when I was alone in bed at night, my dreams were still filled with memories of my fiance. When Facebook came around, I immediately made an account and looked for her, and was disappointed to find that she wasn't on the platform. Every year, I would search again, until her profile finally popped up in my sophomore year of college. Time froze momentarily when I finally saw her face again after nine years. She was as beautiful as I remembered, and I couldn't wait to meet her. Then I had a sickening thought. Nervously, I scrolled down her profile, looking for her Relationship Status. The display read back "No Info". I thought about sending her a message, but stopped myself, and closed the page. She had a life before she met me, and following her this closely on Facebook felt wrong. It reminded me of a story she told me about a guy who stalked her social media accounts on a daily basis, regularly sending creepy messages until she blocked him. The stalker had no profile picture, and constantly asked her to go on a date with him, stating that if she "just gave him a chance, he could make her happy." I shuddered at the thought of becoming like that stalker, and decided to wait until we met in person to talk to her. In my past life, I had an idea for a software business that I thought would change the world. When I graduated from the community college, I was nearly penniless. But instead of looking for a job like my parents recommended, I decided to take out a loan to start a company with a few friends. The idea had some legs, but I had no connections and no experience. After a few years of floundering with little to show for it, we shut the company down. It was that fateful day when I was sitting in a cafe, worrying about how I was going to pay my debts when she walked into my life. In this life, I was a Harvard student from an affluent family. I chose to major in Economics, and quickly introduced myself to every Computer Science student on campus. Before long, I put together a team and secured funding from a group of professors. We launched our product in my Senior year at Harvard, and by the time I graduated, our platform had over million users, and Forbes called me "The Most Promising Young CEO of This Generation". In the years following Harvard, our company grew exponentially, and my stake in the business increased in value to several Billion dollars - with a B. My parents were proud, but I didn't get to see them much, nor did I have much time for relationships. But every now and then, I would still check on her Facebook profile, just to make sure. Each time I looked, her Relationship Status displayed the same thing - "No Info". So when the day came, I gave my security detail the day off, flew into the town I lived in during my past life and waited at the same cafe where my fiance and I had met. I made sure to arrive a few hours early, just in case the timing wasn't perfect. I remembered exactly how our first meeting went - our gazes had met across the room. She was in line, and I was sitting at my table. She smiled at me, momentarily washing away my worries about my debt and my failure of a life. After she got her drink, she sat down and we talked the afternoon away. A few of the best years of my life later, I got down on one knee and put a ring on her finger. The wedding was two weeks away when I encountered that genie on the sidewalk. My daydreaming was interrupted by the door swinging open, and my fiance walking in. She looked exactly the way I remembered on that day, down to the white blouse and the straw hat with a pink ribbon, a smile plastered across her pretty face as she talked to the man she came with. The man she came with? I ducked behind my coffee, and peered over the brim at them. The man was tall and lanky, a thick scraggly beard wrapping around his chin. Their gazes were locked on one another, as if everyone else was just a background character. A million thoughts raced through my mind, and I dreaded the worst. Then he leaned in for a kiss, and to my chagrin, she smiled and returned it. Then the barista called them to pick up their drinks, and I began to pack up my things, hanging my head in defeat. Then she called out my name. "It's you!" She exclaimed, as she scurried towards my table. "You're the CEO of that startup!" I nodded, and tried to play it cool as I sipped my coffee. "Sorry, I'm a bit of a fan of your company's work." She said, extending her hand. "I'm Melanie." I shook it, and refrained from bursting out that of course I knew who she was. That I had thought about and missed her touch for the last fifteen years. That her hand felt so right in mine. "Nice to meet you." I said with a polite smile. I found myself at a loss for words. Fifteen years, and I didn't know what to say to her. I remembered our last conversation well - it was about her engagement gift. She wanted to know what it was, but I refused to say - she would just have to wait until the party. These thoughts triggered a flood of memories. Since I never arrived at that party, she never got to see her gift. "Um, is everything okay?" Her voice snapped me out of my misery. I realized my eyes had become moist, and quickly wiped them dry. "Yeah." I responded, clearing my throat. "So Melanie, what do you do?" It turned out that in this life, she was an Executive Assistant - otherwise know as a Secretary. It just so happened that I found myself unable to handle my own schedule anymore, nor perform any administrative tasks. So I took a perfunctory glance at her Linkedin, and then offered her a job, which she quickly accepted. "By the way, this is my boyfriend. Jacob." She said, gesturing to the tall man behind her. He smiled at me nervously, and shook my hand with a sweaty palm. Being a minor celebrity in this life, it was common for people to be a bit anxious when meeting me. In the years that followed, Melanie worked tirelessly to ensure that I never had to worry about any task or issue below my paygrade. I found myself relying on her more and more, and our friendship began to grow. I did my best to keep it professional and respect her boundaries. One night, as we were working past midnight, she quipped that I had become her "work husband". In a moment of panic, I promoted her to an project manager role, ensuring that we would no longer see each other daily. She was overjoyed, and we celebrated with a round of espresso shots and the last bag of kale chips. I had to push her away. It pained me too much to hear her say my name and the word "husband" in the same sentence. I should be her actual husband, and yet her relationship with her tall, bearded boyfriend had blossomed, and they were set to marry in a few months. "By the way, we're having an engagement party tomorrow." She said, artfully tossing the last kale chip into the air and catching it in her mouth. "It's a small guestlist. Jacob wanted to keep it down low. But you should totally come." I realized then that I was approaching the turning point - tomorrow was the rainy night in my other life that I ran into the genie with the broken lamp. Perhaps it was fate that their engagement party was on the same day that ours had been. After much internal conflict, I drove to the toy store and bought a giant shark plushie - the same gift I'd gotten her in the last life. She was deeply afraid of sharks, and so as a sick joke that was perfectly in line with our relationship, I had bought her the plushie for her to cuddle with, and face her fears every night. Keeping with my practice of amending the mistakes of my past life, I had my limo drive me to her engagement party instead of walking, saving the shark plushie from getting drenched in the rain. She greeted me with a bright smile and a peck on the cheek when I arrived. Then I showed her the gift, and her expression turned to shock. "Did you guys plan this?" She asked, after a few moments of pause. I shook my head, confusion darting across my face. "It's the same gift that Jacob got me." She said. "Like, a carbon copy." It took me a few seconds to register her words. Then I recalled the first words the Genie said to me. "Oh, it's you. You poor soul. I suppose it's only fair I offer you the same deal." The words caught in my throat, unwilling to face the horrifying reality, but I forced them out. "Hey Melanie." I asked. "Do you mind if I ask what he got you for your last birthday?" Her expression changed from distress to joy, like she was recalling a sweet memory. "It was super cute. He created a treasure hunt around the house, with each clue leading me to a gift. Hey are you alright?" I wasn't alright - I felt like keeling over. Running my hand through my hair, I asked "What about the year before that?" She laughed nervously. "What's going on? Trying to get inspired for someone special in your life?" Jacob appeared at the door behind her. He started to speak, but then his eyes skirted from her, to me, to the shark plushie I was holding. His expression formed an "o" shape. I looked at him, and felt a wave of fury washing over me. "Let me guess what it was." I said softly. "A watercolor set?" He looked like a deer in headlights, and she looked like she had just seen an incredible magic trick. "Yeah, that's right." She replied. "But how did you know?" "Maybe you told him at work?" He said quickly, trying to avoid meeting my gaze. "Let's get back inside, honey. It's cold out here, and we've got guests." I grabbed his arm, and squeezed hard. My high school and college years of playing football in this life ensured that he could not break free. "Stop it, you guys. What's going on?" Melanie was looking at me, then him, then back, searching for answers. Neither of us said a thing. I looked at him expectantly. He looked back at me pleadingly. "Why don't you tell her?" I said in a low voice. He shook his head. "Please." He whimpered. "You have everything. You spent these years bettering yourself, but all I have is her. All I ever wanted is her." "That makes two of us." I roared, charging into the house and knocking him into the wall, sending both of us tumbling to the ground. He scrambled to his feet, but I caught his ankle and pulled him down. There was a rush of feet as the guests crowded around us, phones filming away as a well known billionaire tackled a man at his own engagement party. "That stupid fucking genie." He yelled as kicked at my face, landing a few blows. "Of all the people to give the second wish to, it had to be you." I pulled him towards me and held him from behind, preventing him from moving. "Tell her." I hissed as I tightened my grip. "Explain what you did." A pair of arms pulled at me, and I turned to see her face close to mine, soaked in tears. "Please, stop." She said. "Let's talk this out. I don't understand what's wrong." "I should have shattered that lamp... into a thousand pieces." He croaked in short gasps of air. Then I remembered. The lamp. I let go of him, and he fell to the floor, wheezing for air. I turned to Melanie. "It's gonna sound insane." I said. "But you'll understand soon. This guy was your Facebook stalker in a past life." I ran out the door, and found the rain coming down in buckets, utterly drenching my clothes and hair. I ignored it, making a mad sprint down the road towards the street lamp where this all began. Through the wall of rain, I made out a glimmering on the ground. I stooped over and picked it up, and felt its cold metallic sting my skin. Though my hands were frozen from the cold, I began rubbing the lamp vigorously. "Come out. Please." I screamed. A pair of hands shoved me from behind, and I fell face forward. The lamp fell from my hands and clattered to the ground, shattering. I spun around and clocked him in the face, knocking him on his behind. The blood from his nose mixed with the rain streaming down his face. I grabbed his collar, and wound up for another punch. "Greetings, mortals." A deep voice boomed from behind. Slowly turning, I came face to face with the genie that I had met eighteen years ago. His deep blue skin shimmered under the street lamp's light, and seemed unaffected by the downpour. He towered over both of us, like a god speaking to his creations. "I see things have not gone according to plan." He said, looking at us with pity in his eyes. "For either of you." "Please, genie." I said. "Grant me one more wish. Undo all of this, and reset things to the way they were before." I dropped Jacob, and crawled towards the mythical creature. The genie furrowed his brow. "So you would give up all of your wealth, and return to destitution? Relinquish the memories of a happy and stable childhood, exchanging them for your old life of failure?" He asked, and I nodded vigorously. I no longer cared. Eighteen years of prosperity was not worth losing the two years of bliss I had with her. He seemed to think it over, but shook his head. "I cannot grant another wish to the same mortal." He said. "I'm sorry." His expression seemed downcast, but then he saw something behind me, and his eyes lit up. I turned to see Melanie standing there, her tears mixing with the rain drenching her face. "What on earth?" She whispered, seemingly in a daze. "These men have fought two lifetimes to be by your side." The genie explained, gesturing towards me. "He was meant to marry you in a past life." Then he pointed at Jacob, who was lying unconscious on the ground. "While that one pined for you from afar. When he found me, he asked to have his life reset by eighteen years. He used that time to carry out a meticulous plan to win your heart." Melanie's face was inscrutable as she took all of this in. "Then you gave him the same wish, right?" She said finally, looking towards me. The genie nodded. "Jacob mimicked everything I did." I said. "Down to the same birthday gifts. The man you've been dating was a copy of me." I slowly walked toward her, and took her shivering hand in mine. "Unfortunately, human." The genie interrupted. "Her feelings in this life are not for you." Her expression betrayed the truth. She looked at her feet, avoiding my gaze. My heart felt like it was dropping into the soles of my shoes, and disappearing into the ground below. "I love Jacob." She said, her voice cracking. "At least, I think I do. I don't know what to believe anymore. This is all insanity." She buried her face in her hands, and sank to the ground. "Fortunately for you, woman." The genie said. "My wishes come in threes." He placed an enormous blue hand on her shoulder. "Tell me what you wish for." Melanie wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked at me. I smiled weakly at her. I had accepted my fate. Whatever she decided, would be the life I had to live. My vision began to grow dark. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words were inaudible. I leaned in, trying to hear her, but felt the strength being sapped from my body. Then, darkness. *** I was late. I checked my phone again, and saw my Uber was still ten minutes away. A slight drizzle began to pit patter on my skin, and I looked down worringly at the shark plushie I was holding. My phone buzzed with the alert of a text message. It was from Melanie.