For You, Jon

I have four stories that rotate in my head. All with beginnings and middles, but no clear end. Two have more backgroud, because they're older. And they're all different catagories (in no particular order):

• 1 is fantasyish, actually yet another variation of Aladdin's Lamp. A boy, early teens, buys a knickknack (not sure what - lamps have been done to death) in an antique store for his mom (she's divorced from his dad, and while she tries to make sure he has a good relationship with his father, who treats fatherhood as more of a hobby, talking is difficult and they usually end up in an argument). The genie (or is it djin?), was a man in his early thirties, a little arrogant, a lot vain, who was to sell his horses to (important guy [emir, vizeer - I don't know]). He has an affair with important guy's daughter. Long story short, family is murdered, horses taken, and he cursed to be a genie (djin?) looking like a boy, early teens, fair skin, blue eyes. But, I've been thinking, it may have been set up, though the genie doesn't know that, and of course, blames himself. When the boy releases the genie, he's freaked out, overjoyed, is thinking of millions of things he wants, but remembers the story of The Monkeys Paw. So he's not sure he can safely wish for anything, other than for the genie to speak english.

And that's the beginning of that one.