Anna jogged through the park under overcast skies and enjoyed the crisp winter air around her. She bundled up in a fleece jacket and gloves while, keeping her brown hair back in a ponytail. Her cheeks and nose flushed red from the cold, but it took weather worse than this to keep her off the jogging trails.

The school year had ended and she had packed already. Tomorrow, Anna would drive to her parent’s house so she could enjoy six weeks of no school in the wooded hills. That was her plan, until she passed a bench on the trail and saw a strange copper lamp sitting at its side.

Anna thought of it as an Aladdin lamp, but she could fit this one in the palm of her hand. And even though clouds hung over the world today, the lamp cast a light of its own, drawing Anna's vision toward it. She slowed and stopped her jog, curiosity being a natural state for her, and walked to the bench to look at the strange, tiny lamp.

"Oh, why not?" She asked herself and bent down to take the small thing. It would, at least, be a nice dorm decoration. But the lamp rattled and shook before she even touched the metal object. Anna jumped back, suddenly wondering if she had activated a bomb. Then, glittering pink smoke burst from the nozzle. It raced around her and Anna spun to keep it in sight. She watched in disbelief as it formed a miniature pink tornado right on the jogging trail. And then it  formed into a man.

He stood taller than Anna, but of medium build. His thin clothes of a pink vest and pantaloons revealed tan skin. He had lush, dark hair and inviting brown eyes. His slippers curled at the toes. He turned to Anna and smiled in a way that made her heart pick up a little.

"Oh, do you have bad timing," he said.

Anna blinked. "What, why?" Then she thought for a moment, "And, wait, are you an actual Genie?"

He laughed, "I am, but I'm on vacation as of five seconds ago."

"Vacation? Genie's get vacation?"

"We do indeed. One day for every century we spend in the lamp. I have twenty five days saved up."

She did some math in her head, "You've been a Genie for 2500 years?!"

"Indeed I have. I lived in the old Persian Empire."

"Well, ok. That's cool. But, do I get any wishes?"

"Unfortunately not. And, unlike the movies you mortals make, we only grant a single wish. But since you never freed me from my lamp, I cannot grant your desires."

"What if I wait? Can I hold onto your lamp, wait until your vacation is over, then release you for my wish?"

"A clever idea, but no. My lamp, being unoccupied, will go into hiding on its own shortly. Not even I will know where it goes. And when my vacation is through, I will return to it on my own." He brought his hand up to his chin and thought for a moment, "But there is a deal we can make. A deal where you can get more than one wish, in fact."

Anna's ears perked up, "What is it? I'll do it. Because I have a lot to wish for."

The genie held up his hand and forestalled Anna. "Wait until you hear what my offer is. For the duration of my vacation, twenty five days and nights, you will replace me in my lamp. You will serve whomever takes possession of you, and grant to them whatever wish they desire. At the end of twenty-five days and my return, I shall grant to you one wish for each that you granted, plus one."

Anna had to think, and she looked back at the little lamp. She thought about everything she knew and everything he had told her. This might be a trick, but if it was, the genie also showed her a way out of it.

Besides, she wondered, how bad could being a Genie really be?

"I'll do it. Twenty five days in the lamp."

The genie looked surprised, but he recovered quickly and said, "Hold out your hands."

Anna did, and they touched wrist-to-wrist. The Genie wore copper shackles the same color and metal as his lamp. The metal came to life as they touched, moving and melting like liquid, spreading out across Anna's own wrists. She stared at the shackles and saw the deal she had made written across them. She had just enough time to look at the Genie before her body burst into glittery pink smoke and yanked her into the lamp.

And so Anna began her Christmas vacation.