Jimmy Laughlin was a just regular kind of guy. There was nothing really remarkable about him. At 6 foot tall and 165 lbs with sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes he was good looking, but nothing spectacular. He wasn’t rich by any means – he worked hard to make a living.

Jimmy was a “picker”, a person that goes from one swap meet, yard sale, or rummage sale to another, buying things that he thought he could fix up, clean up, and resell for a profit. He was mechanically-inclined and pretty good with a wrench so he made a fair living at his job, but that was about it.

Jimmy was down in Alabama attending a small swap meet in a small, nondescript town. Things had been a little slow for the past month or so and he was looking for a few things that might bring in some much needed cash money. So he had loaded up his beat-up old 1976 Chevy flatbed truck and driven down from his shop in Chattanooga, Tennessee to see what he could find.

Jimmy was a little concerned about his truck – it had definitely seen better days. Rusty, rattlely, and with way too many miles on it, he was worried every time he took a trip like this that it may leave him stranded someplace far from home.

He did make it to the swap meet without too much trouble. He was tired, but at least nothing broke on the truck. He arrived the day before the activities were to begin so he could get a good night’s sleep and hit things fresh and early on the first day of the swap meet.

With a much-needed night’s sleep, a hot shower, and a good breakfast, Jimmy was ready to wheel and deal the next morning. He drove to where the swap meet was being held in an old drive-in movie parking lot. He had to park his truck further away from the rows of booths and stands than he would have liked – it would be hard to pick up anything he would buy today, especially if it was a large object.

He began at one end of the meet, walking through the aisles of booths and stands and checking out what everyone was bringing to get rid of. A lot of it was just junk and Jimmy picked through the different seller’s wares, getting more and more disappointed as they day wore on.

He did manage to find a couple chairs he wanted to restore and a chest of drawers at one booth, three or four lamps he could clean up, and an old soda vending machine that might bring in a buck or two if he could find the right buyer.

But none of this would make the trip worthwhile. They would pay for the gas and hotel room but it wouldn’t leave much left after that. Figuring in the cost and time to restore these things, he would be lucky if he broke even.

He was just about through every one of the booths and stands and had seen almost everyone’s offerings. He was about to pick up his meager purchases and head back to Chattanooga disappointed in the whole trip, when he came to this small vendor tent in a tucked away corner of the swap meet.

I haven’t checked this one out. he thought to himself, not really expecting a whole lot either. He was met by a frail little old woman who looked like she had seen the better part of 80 years at least.

“Hello,” he said as cheerfully as a hot, tired, and discouraged picker could.

“Hello, young fella. How can I help you?” she said in a shaky old woman voice.

“I’m just looking around to see what I can find.”

“Well, let me know if you have any questions, allrighty?”

“I will, thanks,” he said, and went about looking at the various knick-knacks and items she had for sale.

At first he didn’t find much, as he expected. Just a lot of useless bric-a-brac that would never bring in any real money. But then just as he was about to give her an obligatory goodbye and leave, he spotted an old brass oil lamp sitting on the back edge of the table. Picking it up he examined it. This might just be worth a little something... he thought.

“Excuse me – how much are you asking for this old lamp?”

“Oh how did that get in there? No, I’m sorry, that isn’t for sale. It should never have come out here.” she said, reaching for the lamp.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to sell it? I would give you a good price.”

“No, I’m sorry, you wouldn’t like that anyway, It doesn’t work anymore.”

“Well, I’m in the business of fixing things. I may be able to get it to work.”

The old lady looked up and down the row. Seeing no-one nearby, she curled a finger indicating she wanted him to come closer. Jimmy came up next to her and that’s when she told him something that would change his life very soon.

“Sonny, this isn’t an ordinary oil lamp – there is something very special about this lamp. If I sell it to you, you may not like what happens. So if you still want to buy it, you will have to deal with anything that comes of it,” she said in a low voice.

She looked at him and he could have sworn that her eyes turned red and glowed as she warned him. It took him by surprise, but he was desperate. He had spent good money to come down here and needed to show some kind of profit.

So Jimmy took the lamp and gave the strange old woman the money. He took the lamp and went to his truck, pulling back around to the loading area to pick up his other purchases. Once he was loaded and everything was tied down securely, he left the swap meet, the strange lamp sitting in the seat next to him.

Jimmy decided that he just wanted to get back home, so he went back to the hotel to pay for the hotel room and pick up his overnight bag. He left right after that, stopping only to eat dinner at a small roadside diner on the way. He got home about 10:00 pm that night and after quickly unloading the truck he went in and collapsed on the couch, falling asleep right where he was.

The next morning he woke up stiff and sore from sleeping on the old lumpy couch, but at least he was home. He went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee and wake up more. He spotted the old oil lamp sitting on the counter where he had left it the night before as he came in the house. He picked up the lamp and looked at it again, this time in the bright lights of his kitchen.

“Well it’s a little tarnished and dirty but it doesn’t look like it’s broken or dented. I can clean it up and sell it as a conversation piece at least, if I can’t get it to work,” he said out loud to himself. The lamp was indeed made of brass, but it had some strange markings on it, some of which were covered with grime and years of dust and dirt. He picked up a dishrag and wet one end. He took the lamp in one hand and began rubbing it with the wet dishrag trying to get some of the loose dirt and grime off of it.

After some vigorous rubbing, he was able to get it a little cleaner and he set it down on the counter again about to go get some of his chemical cleaners to work on it some more. But as he sat the lamp down, something very strange began to happen.

Sitting on the counter, the lamp began to glow with a soft light. The light got brighter and then the lamp shook on its own and then thick pink smoke came billowing out of the spout. Jimmy stood there slack-jawed as he watched more and more of the smoke came out starting to fill his small kitchen with it.

Just about the time it was beginning to get hard to see and Jimmy had enough wits about him to run out of the house, another surprise floored him. From the thick pink haze stepped three gorgeous women!

Jimmy jumped behind the kitchen counter and hid there for a moment, quite unsure if he was still asleep and dreaming or totally lost his mind! He hid back there shaking his head and trying to make sense of what was happening when he heard giggling behind the counter.

Well at least it’s not just my eyes lying to me! he thought to himself. Slowly, cautiously, he reached up curling his fingers over the top of the counter and raised his head to peek over the top.

Jimmy was dumbfounded as he saw three female figures standing in front of him, looking down at him with big smiles on their faces. They all looked exactly alike, except one had blonde hair, one had black hair, and one was a redhead. Their hair hung down past their shapely asses in silken waves. They were dressed in similar outfits. Not your everyday kind of clothing either.

They all wore harem pants with billowy sheer fabric on the legs and a small tight panty top. Elastic around their ankles made it a bit easier to walk. Their tops were all tiny little bikini type tops with thin spaghetti straps and the low-cut cups came together into a small gold ring in the center between their very ample breasts.

Each girl’s outfit was exactly the same except for the color. The blonde wore blue, the brunette wore hot pink, and the redhead wore green. Each girl also sported a gem in her bellybutton matching the color of her outfit. Their shoes, high-heeled CFM sandals, also matched their outfit colors.

Jimmy’s eyes traveled up and down each of the luscious babes as he stood there with his mouth open. The girls looked at each other and giggled then back at Jimmy. they whispered to each other for a moment before the blonde stepped forward a bit.

She said something to him, but in some strange language that Jimmy didn’t know. He just looked at the girl and shook his head indicating as best he could that he didn’t understand her. The blond turned back to the others and they whispered a bit more. Then the brunette tried talking to him.

“We have come to grant you three wishes, Master. What is your first wish?” she asked.

Jimmy blinked and looked, “M ... Me?” he stammered.

The three girls giggled again and the brunette one said “Yes, Master. You were the one who rubbed our lamp and called us forth. We have been imprisoned in that old lamp for many centuries and you released us. We are now bound to grant you three wishes as our thanks for setting us free.”

“I ... I don’t understand,” Jimmy said, getting a bit woozy from all this. The blonde and the redhead each took one of his arms and they walked into the living room and say him on the couch. Then all three of them knelt on the floor in front of him as the brunette explained further.

“Master, we are three sisters who many thousands of years ago were turned into genies because our mother slept with another man in our village. My father, who was a very jealous man, put a curse on her that the children she had by this other man would become genies.

“Me and my sisters were born of this illegitimate coupling and became genies upon reaching our 20th birthdays. We are all still 20 years old to us, but to you we are many thousands of years old.”

Jimmy listened to the girl’s story, still not believing what he was hearing. Surely this must be some kind of mental breakdown! He had been putting in long hours lately. And what was that weird food he had eaten at the swap meet the other day? That must be it!

“This can’t be happening. I have to be dreaming or hallucinating or something,” he said.

The brunette came closer and put her hands on his face pulling his face to hers. She kissed him long and deep and passionately as she ran her fingers through his collar-length blonde hair. After a few glorious moments kissing the beautiful girl, she pulled away and knelt back down.

“Did that feel like a dream or hallucination to you, Master?” she asked with a smile.

“No it certainly did not,” he had to admit. The brunette was an excellent kisser and as beautiful as she and her sisters were, he could feel a stirring in his crotch as he looked at the three lovely women kneeling in front of him.

“So what are your names girls? My name is Jimmy. Jimmy Laughlin.”

“Our birth names would be too hard for you to pronounce. They are ancient Arabian names. Perhaps you could give us more modern names – something easier to pronounce and more in fitting with these times?”

“Okay, let’s see...” Jimmy looked at the blonde “You look like a Sarah.”

“Sarah. I like that,” she said, “I shall be Sarah then.”

Then he turned to the brunette he had been talking to the most. “You, I see as a Diane.”

“Diane sounds fine to me,” she said.

Finally he turned to the redhead. She hadn’t said anything since they appeared and Jimmy wasn’t sure about her. “How does the name Tess sound to you?” he said cautiously.

“Tess ... yes Tess is a good name. Thank you Master Jimmy,” she said with a smile.

“You girls can just call me Jimmy,” he said smiling.

“Very well, Jimmy,” Tess corrected herself.

“Now that we have new names, have you thought about your first wish?” Diane asked him.

“Well,” Jimmy said, “I could really use a new truck. That old Chevy out there is just about seen it’s last days, I’m afraid.”

“What is ‘truck’ and ‘Chevy’?” Diane asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry ... you aren’t familiar with those terms. “Come with me,” he said, helping her and her sisters to their feet. He took them out onto the front porch and showed them what a truck is. “This old thing here is a truck. It’s what I use for work and to get around. It’s my transportation – at least when it runs!”