A genie offered me one wish.

I told him, “No, thank you.”

He looked confused.

“Surely there’s something you want.”

“Of course there is. There’s always something we want. That doesn’t mean we ought to have it.”

I don’t ask Santa for anything either.

Besides, I’ve lived long enough to be perfectly comfortable with some unanswered prayers.

Then I noticed the bottle.

“Is that where you live?”

He nodded.

Well, good grief.

All this power, all these wishes, and the poor thing still lives in a bottle.

So I changed my mind.

“I do have one wish.”

He straightened up, ready for business.

“I set you free.”

Sometimes the best thing you can do with a wish is not spend it on yourself.