FADE IN: 

INT. OFFICE – DAY

MARK (30s, executive) sits at his desk in an expensive- and hip-looking office. A battered old lamp sits on the desk. A trash bin sits beside the desk. A blank whiteboard stands nearby.

Opposite him stands THE GENIE -- standard-issue magical djinn from Arabian folklore.

THE GENIE

-- three wishes, for whatever you desire, as your reward for freeing me from this lamp!

MARK

Anything?

THE GENIE

Anything you desire! Riches! Concubines! Palaces!

MARK

Let’s go for a palace.

THE GENIE

Very well. I shall but blink my eyes, and --

MARK

But not just any palace.

THE GENIE

What?

MARK

I like the palaces out there, but this one has to be different.

THE GENIE

Different how?

MARK

Basically, it has to align to my personal vision statement.

The genie sighs.

TITLE: TWO HOURS LATER

INT. OFFICE – DAY

Same as before, except the genie now sits in the chair, and the whiteboard has a number of scribbles on it -- sketches of palaces and notes such as “Like the Taj Mahal, but different.”

MARK

Also, I need it to float in the air, but not in a levitating sort of way.

THE GENIE

But -- how --

MARK

It needs to just float. But with weight.

The genie twitches.

TITLE: 1 HOUR LATER

INT. OFFICE – DAY

As before, except the genie is disheveled and frustrated. Notations cover the whiteboard, mostly in an erratic scrawl with lots of exclamation points.

THE GENIE

What does it even mean to ‘make it more fruity?!’

MARK

Basically, it has to have no right angles, and it has to fit on a one-acre lot.

THE GENIE

Why didn’t you mention any of this at the start?

MARK

Also, it has to turn into a car.

The genie takes a deep breath.

THE GENIE

Okay, forget it.

MARK

But what about the --

The genie dissolves into mist, and the mist starts to flow back into the lamp.

THE GENIE

Forget it! I’ll stay in the lamp!

The last of the mist disappears into the lamp.

Mark tries rubbing it. Nothing happens.

MARK

Hmm.

SAM (20s) enters.

SAM

Hi, I’m here about the web-design job?

MARK

Right, have a seat.

SAM

Pretty standard web storefront, right?

MARK

Yeah, I like the web stores out there, but this one has to be different.

The lamp wobbles back and forth, on its own, until it falls into the trash bin.

MARK

Hmm.

FADE OUT.