Twenty-Four Little Hours! Poem by Denis Martindale

The man was walking along the beach early one morning and noticed a bottle had landed and was now held tight by a few rocks around it. When he opened the bottle, a genie appeared and offered him a single wish, but it must end soon and exactly one day later.

The man wanted superpowers like Superman. Then he suddenly stood there dressed in Superman's costume. So he thanked the genie and flew up, up and away. Unfortunately, the superpowers flooded the man's brain with overwhelming sensations. He fell to Earth because of the sudden shocks. When he landed, he rolled off the front of a car. The lady inside was trapped. The man pulled the side door off and helped her out.

'Superman? ' she asked. The man replied with a simple yes and pointed to the S symbol on his chest. He was about to fly off when she asked how he intended to compensate her for the damage to her car!

'Give me a minute! ' he said, and sure enough, he returned carrying a brand new car! The same model, the same colour, all paid for, all in her name, based on his research about her. He gave her a thousand dollars to get the old car moved and disposed of. Then he flew away.

He returned home and stayed there for the rest of the day and the following morning. He was in a state of shock because he had spent all his savings compensating that lady. He was broke. Flat broke. Then he remembered the saying, 'Be careful what you wish for! '


Denis Martindale, for the 6th of April 2025.