[Short Stories (Michelle Sagara West) 08] • Gifted

A short story of 5k words.

The last of the Genies has lived for longer than he can remember, hiding from humanity to preserve his life; the third wish is always death to his kind. Drawn to human cities and human dreams because they burn so brightly, he watches, making no friends and interacting so briefly with people they barely remember him when they pass by.

But one night, after millennia of care, he thoughtlessly grants the wish of an old woman...