(This is a few paragraphs from Chapter 1 of the Book – ‘A BOTTLE, A GENIE, AND ME’ by Will Dursens)

And I do mean this item had my heart racing to look at it, to hold it, to ask questions about it – my heart had already told my inner self that this was coming home with us no matter the price.

What was the item? Silly as it sounds now, it appeared to be a bottle such as one would find in those wise old fairy tale stories of ‘Genies’. Plus, it was so similar to that ‘genie’ bottle made so famous in the mid-1960’s from that famously silly television comedy ‘I Dream of Jeannie’.

Yes, I could say it was similar, but seemed to have much more flare and glitter to it, with brighter jewels and gaudier colors, complete with a what seemed to be a solid gold or gold-plated cap for the top that was shaped like a puff of smoke rising from the ashes.

I picked it up, brought it up close to my face to get a real personal look at the colors, the jewels, the condition it was in. I pulled the cap off the top and tried my best to peer down deep into the belly of the bottle, only to find what appeared to be just a black hole of darkness, though I am not sure what I expected to find as my mind was laughing at me and yelling, ‘You fool, what did you think you would find inside that bottle? An Ancient Arabic tent type set up like in the fictional tv show you watched as a kid! You really have lost it.’

My heart made sure my inner self ignored the laughing from my mind as it gently persuaded me to step over and ask the vendor in charge of the booth about the bottle itself.

“Excuse me ma’am, but I am interested in this bottle and was wondering what you could tell me about it?” I asked.

“Well, the place I got it from claimed it was a genie bottle and that it may be up to a thousand years old, or at least that is what they claimed,” the Vendor, a mid to late aged gal with beautiful middle of the back-length gray and black hair, plus a body that says no doubt she works to stay in that kind of shape, casually responded.

As much as I wanted to laugh, I could not because my heart was saying other things like, awesome we found ourselves a Genie, can she grant wishes.

“Okay, maybe that explains why I see no markings like ‘Made in China or Mexico’ on it, and little bits of it seems much more worn that others, especially around the outside of the belly part of the bottle toward the bottom,” I noted in reply. “So, if I can be told, what may you be asking for it and why are you selling it?”

“Almost a funny story with that bottle,” replied the Lady, now carrying a smile that seemed to glow with embarrassment. “I came across that bottle some 45 years ago while on a trip through Egypt, from a gift shop where the fellow told a big tale of how the bottle was truly a ‘genie’ bottle and that the ‘genie’ was allowed to only come out of the bottle every five years and when they did – we were told that the ‘genie’ would grant three of the bottle owners wishes and then pop back into the bottle for another 5 years.”

I just shook my head and looked at the vendor lady, while trying not to laugh, saying “and I suppose you believed that tall tale of nonsense?”

{The Book is Available at Amazon – just search for Will Dursens or https://www.amazon.com/Bottle-Genie-Me-Story-Dursens-ebook/dp/B07PLY7R68/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IL4YN73R4CYX&keywords=will+dursens&qid=1655104188&sprefix=will+dursens%2Caps%2C656&sr=8-1}