THE MOMENT
"Be careful, that's kind of dangerous," Barley giggled as Stanford explained his third wish. Even the floating, half-corporeal genie smiled with amusement; though, that was more at Barley's reaction than Stanford's wish. The three figures stood on a mostly deserted beach late in the evening with the sun already dipping below the horizon. Stanford called for Barley as soon as he found a lamp. "You did good making yourself super tough with the first two wishes; but, the universe doesn't really like it when you might hurt people. That wish might kill someone and that's against the rules," she reminded him. "I don't want to say the universe gets 'mad'; but, it has a way of correcting itself really fast, especially when genies are involved."
"But, that's been the goal all along!" Stanford gave his finest dramatic sigh. Barley was considered the top genie wish expert; and, if he hadn't already completed two wishes with her guidance perfectly, he might have doubted her completely. The word 'Savant' came to mind when he was trying to figure her out. She was good at communicating with genies; but, she also came across to him as mighty dim. "You helped me with the first two wishes so I could be eternally young, healthy, and immortal, with superpowers; so I really want to push that to the limit! You can help me word it the right way to make it happen, so pleeeeeease help!" He fell to the sand on his knees in front of the portly blonde woman in overalls.
"I don't know...," she furrowed her brow and seemed to study Stanford extra intently. He was a tan, muscular man with broad shoulders, and he was almost as tall as Barley's 5'10". It was easy to see he spent a lot of time at the beach, and Barley wondered if that was in search of a genie. Magical lamps were a common find in her world, and beaches seemed to be where most people found theirs. "What do you think?" she took her eyes off him and asked the genie.
"Don't ask him! This is between us humans!" Stanford stepped to the side to put himself between Barley and the floating genie, who easily hovered taller behind him.
"Master Barley, I am thousands of years old; and, you are still the wisest in this trio. I will do my best to make true any wish approved by you."
"See! Genie-man knows what's up!" Stanford said.
"Well, I guess it's up to the universe, isn't it?" Barley shrugged, then nodded. "I'll give you some advice. But... I kind of forgot what it was already," she grinned. "Gimme the wish again."
Stanford didn't consider himself a mean-spirited man; and, Barley was obviously younger than his almost 50 years of again. And, he got the impression her mind worked on 'power-saving' mode. He managed to keep his obnoxious laughter to himself as he repeated the request.
"For my last wish, I wish for the detonation of every radioactive isotope on Earth."
"Oh right," Barley nodded. "When?" she asked.
"Now! Instantly!" he replied.
"Then, you might want to mention that; also, where?"
"On Earth! I said that already."
"Are you sure there's only one? And, where on Earth? You're assuming each of those isotip things starts out on Earth; but, that doesn't have to be where the detimnation is. The genie might put them all in one point, or something like that."
"Of course I'm sure!" he glossed over that initial point just to hurry the process along. Despite her suspect vocabulary, she'd raised valid points he hadn't considered. Though, of course, some things weren't worth considering at all. The fact that she even entertained the possibility of other Earths was just one more knock on her intelligence. And, the sooner he cut through the crackpottery, the sooner he could make his wish with the magical genie.
"How's this? For my last wish, I wish for the detonation of every radioactive isotope right now across the entire Earth where I'm standing."
"That'll work...," Barley nodded. "But, I think it could be a little better," she added.
"Nah, it's fine; you said it would work," if it wasn't already the third wish, he might have exercised more patience. But, he'd already gotten all he needed from Barley. He turned and faced the Genie.
"For my last wish...," he began speaking, and finished making the wish; but, he slowed down his speech to listen to a secret message from the genie as he spoke. It wasn't easy to keep track of speaking his own request and hearing the genie's; but, he was thinking clearer and faster as a result of the first two wishes.
"Master Stanford, I feel guilty for ignoring Master Barley's advice; but, you are my current Master. Please allow me to move us to a new location as you complete your wish; so that I can avoid the guilt from her gaze as I comply; simply nod twice if you agree."
"...across the entire Earth...," Nod, Nod. A black flash happened and Stanford instantly became aware of a new location and a quietness behind him where Barley wasn't breathing. "... where I'm standing!" he finished strongly, and he got his wish as blinding eruptions began happening all around him.
"Granted," the genie said, and disappeared; but, Stanford didn't care to notice.
"Where'd he go?" Barley asked as the genie returned to his lamp on the beach where she was.
"I asked him if he wanted to finish the wish away from you and he said yes, before he finished the wish. So, I put him on an abandoned Earth with plenty more of those radioactive isotopes than the ones here."
"Awww, you two are so nice!" Barley giggled. "He made the wish away from me so I wouldn't get hurt, and you made his wish even better because of it. Wow, today has been a pretty nice day," she mumbled to herself more than to the genie as she waved and moved up the beach. She idly walked forward admiring the sunset and the day she'd had. "It's always a treat to see good things happen to nice people."