Bob Steele was 21 and a junior at State College. During a two-hour break between classes he decided to head downtown. He began to browse through the some of the little shops that lined the small suburban New England town's mainsteet. The small college town was rich in history, and he always found his occasional excursions refreshing and enlightening. He entered one shop called 'Antiquities and Curiosities' and thought this would be a great place to hunt down a birthday gift for his best friend Ethan who was a history major. The store seemed very ordinary placed in this small town. As he browsed he saw lots of old furniture, rocking chairs, bureaus, huge oak bed frames and crap like that. Then he turned a corner and saw a whole other room filled with smaller knick-nacks. Wind chimes, plates and dishes, old dusty oil paintings. On one shelf he noticed a large array of light fixtures and lamps. It was here that he saw something that sort of caught his eye. It was an old antique oil lantern that looked of a Middle Eastern origin. Bob didn't realize that they ever actually made such a thing, but it looked very authentic. It could have come out of some old Middle Eastern movie. Maybe it was just an old movie prop anyway after all. Bob picked the lamp up and he guessed it probably weighed about 2 or 3 pounds pretty heavy for it's size. He noticed strange Arab writing of some kind that surrounded the lid. He opened the lid and saw a dark cavity that he assumed was used to hold the oil. No wick remained, and the inside cavity just smelt musty, not at all like oil, as he expected it would. Bob found himself transfixed by the lamp and decided he had to have it. There was just something about this lamp that he felt drawn to. It was almost magnetic. If the novelty wore off, it would still make a great gift for his history minded friend Ethan, but right now Bob wanted this lamp for himself. He brought the lamp to the checkout register and fully expected to pay a ridiculous price for the old relic, but was pleasantly surprised when the large frumpy middle aged woman looked at the lamp as if it were just an old piece of tag sale junk, as she said "That'll be five dollahs Hun." in her thick down east accent. "D'junta bag Hun?" she said as she pulled one out from under the counter. Bob just shook his head yes, as the woman packed up his his purchase.
Outside on the street, Bob got into his 72 VW Beetle, and sat the bag containing his new purchase on the passengers seat. He stared at it for several minutes before he realized how much the lamp really transfixed him. He sat in his car and opened the bag. As he held the lamp in his lap he again began to stare at it. He let out a small chuckle to himself as he thought about all the stories of Genies who granted wishes living within lamps such as these. Of course he was never foolish enough to believe such tall tales, but at the same time he was strangely curious as the infatuation with his new lamp grew into almost obsession like proportions. Before he realized what he was doing, he used the front of his shirt to gently rub the top of the lamp.
Bob stared in shock as a musty fog began to escape the top of the lamp and fill the small space within the car. Through the fog, Bob began to notice a figure attached to the top of the lamp. Bob was, to put it mildly, awestruck.
"Greetings Mortal, I am Beldazarr, The Djinn of Mind and Body!
"MM-mind and Body?" Bob stuttered.
"That is correct. I hold the great power to grant one wish to the one who cleanses my lamp, to change or transform any aspect of a subject or multiple subjects Mind or Body, in either the past, present, or future. I do not grant more than one wish at a time, but only a single wish for each cleansing of the lamp. I do not grant wishes for physical objects of monetary value, but instead, any transformation of the Mind or Body of a subject or multiple subjects put into action at any moment in time. Be warned, however, that any one who rubs the lamp may receive a wish, so guard the lamp carefully, and you may have many more wishes to come. Guard the lamp carelessly, and the wish belongs to the current cleanser. Be also aware that the lamp holds a strange facenation to some people, as I'm sure you have come to realize by now. So guard the lamp carefully my friend and current master."
Bob continued to be taken a back by all of this to say the least; He still hadn't quite come to grasp what he had stumbled upon, yet he was both very nervous and wildly excited at the same time. If this actually worked the possibilities were endless. He realized he was sitting in his small car, parked on a busy downtown street and surrounded by a dense fog not to mention the floating djinn, and he suddenly became very self-conscious.
Beldazarr quickly perceived his feelings and said, "Not to worry, my master, I am only visible to you. To the unempowered, both I and my cloak are unseen."
Bob's mind was put a bit more at ease with this. Now at least he knew he wouldn't attract any unwanted attention while he decided what he could ever want to wish for. This had all come rather suddenly to him and he didn't want to make any hasty wishes, so he thought for another moment before deciding on a wish. Bob had always hated his name. It was just too plain. Bob. Not Robert, just Bob. He had always longed for a more unique name something a little catchier than just Bob. Bob decided for a safe first wish that he would change his name.
"OK, Bob said, when I was born, I wish my parents had decided to name me... Drake"
"It is done." Beldazarr said, and the cloak of fog receded back into the lamp talking the djinn with it.
Drake sat in the car for another moment after Beldazarr had disappeared, still not quite believing what had transpired over the last few minutes. He quickly pulled out his wallet and looked at his license. It read Drake Steele. He flipped to his College ID. It read Drake Steele. His blood donor card, his library card, all his credit cards, they all read Drake Steele. "Holy shit! This is unbelievable!"
It was now really beginning to hit him that this was indeed for real and his life was now filled with limitless possibilities. A huge rush caused by his newfound power, was filling him with excitement. He could not wait to experiment some more and to try out his new toy.
Drake made one quick cell phone call to his friend Ethan.
"Dra' dude what's up?" Ethan said, calling him by his new name as if he had had it all his life.
"Well, I just wanted to make sure you were still up for dinner tonight." Drake said
"Hell yeah, Ethan said, meet you at the front of Carlisle Hall at about seven?"
"See you then." Drake said and hung up the cell.
Drake decided to skip the rest of his afternoon classes drove the VW back to the privacy of his dorm. He planned to make good use of his new lamp before he met with Ethan later that evening.