I found a genie in a bottle of Glenlivet 12 year

by Tayler Kastros

“I found a genie in a bottle of Glenlivet 12 year” placed first in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2023 Fall Fiction Contest.

1. She told me my credit score only pre-qualified me for a wish and a half.
2. “Why are wishes dependent on my credit score?”
3. “What isn’t dependent on your credit score?”
4. I was sweating in the cold.
5. She pulled a cigarette up to her lips, her free hand at its tip.
6. She snapped her fingers and was lit.
7. “How do I make half-a-wish?”
8. The embers of her cigarette lit up the small space between us in the liquor store parking lot.
9. “You ask for something you sort of want.”
10. She was nonchalant, blowing smoke in my face.
11. “You get one-and-a-half wishes. That’s all.”
12. I eyed her and my bottle of scotch at her feet.
13. She was standing firm-footed, staring back at me.
14. With a shiver, she zipped her jacket up to her chin and clapped both hands.
15. “Well, I can’t wait all night.”
16. I stood there, trying to think of something I only partially wanted.
17. “I want a—a dog.”
18. I could be happy with a dog, though I’d never considered owning one.
19. I wasn’t confident I could keep a pet alive for more than a few months.
20. And, it’d likely piss everywhere.
21. She took a drink, then handed the bottle to me.
22. I drank quickly.
23. She flung her cigarette to the ground and stamped it with her boot.
24. “Done.”
25. She pointed to my left with one, confident finger.
26. I turned to see a dog rummaging through a trash bin two alleys over.
27. “You didn’t do that! He was already there.”
28. I shook the bottle in her face, scotch flying.
29. “Prove it!”
30. The dog’s head was still buried in the trash, paying us no mind.
31. “Call him.” She snatched the bottle from my hands.
32. “I don’t know his name.”
33. “It’s whatever you want it to be.” She took a drink.
34. I looked at the dog, thinking hard.
35. “Scotch!” I hollered.
36. The genie giggled.
37. The dog jolted, his head knocking into the side of the bin.
38. He turned to face us, a half-eaten Taco Bell chalupa, wrapper and all, wedged sideways in his mouth.
39. Ears upright and at attention, he watched us.
40. Then, as if he was recognizing old friends, his stance loosened.
41. He trotted toward me, tail wagging.
42. “Well, fuck me.” The dog found a comfortable spot at my feet.
43. I knelt to pet him, the burrito still between his teeth.
44. His hair was matted, and he smelled of mildew and refried beans.
45. He panted heavily and happily, hot breath blowing in my face and drool pooling between us.
46. I stood up and reached for the pack of cigarettes in my shirt pocket.
47. The box was empty.
48. “Fuck. I need another cigarette.”
49. “Here.” The genie tapped my shoulder, a cigarette in her extended hand.
50. I took it carefully, afraid of what might happen if my fingers touched hers.
51. She sniffled just slightly and wiped her red nose with her jacket sleeve.
52. “That doesn’t count as a wish, does it?”
53. Genies could be tricky.
54. “It could, but I won’t count it.”
55. I sighed in relief.
56. I turned back to the dog at my feet, but he was already gone.
57. He was shuffling back toward the alley.
58. “He’s leaving! Scotch, come back!”
59. Unfazed, the dog kept moving, turning the corner and out of sight.
60. The genie shrugged and placed the bottle in my hand.
61. “Next wish.”
62. I took a drink and stared at my feet.
63. I thought about Jessica, who worked three desks down from me.
64. I knew her every detail.
65. I pictured her at her desk, typing unabashedly as her acrylic nails collided with the keys.
66. She always had a spoon ring on her left thumb and crescent moon-shaped earrings in her ears.
67. She preferred two-and-a-half creamers in her coffee.
68. She took a smoke break at 10:15, then another at 1:30.
69. She smoked Marlboro Reds.
70. I did, too.
71. I waited for the day when she’d run out and ask me for one.
72. Me, the man who left his pack of Marlboros on the corner of his desk, hoping she’d notice.
73. We smoke the same cigarettes, please talk to me.
74. I wanted to love her, more than anything.
75. “I want to fall in love.”
76. I sat on the pavement.
77. I let both hands hang between my knees, eyes on the ground.
78. I hoped that the genie couldn’t feel the lonely rolling off of my shoulders like heat from an old radiator.
79. The genie sat, too.
80. She placed her hand on my arm.
81. She squeezed my arm so slightly I wasn’t sure she’d done it at all.
82. Her hands looked like Jessica’s—slender, with freckles, but no rings or polish.
83. Clean, untouched hands.
84. Before I could specify who I wanted to fall in love with, the genie tucked her hand under my chin and mash her lips into mine.
85. Our teeth clashed, mouths moving against each other in a way that was abrupt and unfamiliar.
86. I couldn’t tell if it was my mouth or hers that tasted like scotch.
87. Then, it was over.
88. She looked at me, purple lipstick smeared across her check, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
89. She licked her thumb and began wiping the lipstick from around my lips, her thumb scraping along three-day stubble.
90. “But—I don’t know you.” The words stumbled out.
91. “But, I know you.”
92. I believed her.

Category: Competition, Featured, Short Story