"Then let's get to work. This very evening, I wish for my girlfriend's new boyfriend Thomas to become a cockroach," said Damon, fully aware of how mean and awful he was.
The genie stared at him. He looked calm, but inside he felt sad. Sad and disappointed. But not at all surprised. Quite the contrary. Through the centuries, he had seen what magic and power could do to mortals, let alone a tragic combination of the two. Giddy with power, mortals just became futile and mean. Quick to satisfy petty vengeances and indulge in extreme self-gratification. And all had valid excuses to explain their wishes and actions. Always they were sure to have a non-guilty conscience. The genie refrained from sighing. Maybe he could somehow spare that poor lad such a tragic fate. Somewhat. Damon was unlikely to wish for the transformation to be merely temporary. Perhaps the genie could shift his mind. But his new master should be wary. This sort of attitude was what prompted the genie to misinterpret accidentally on purpose his master's wishes to stop him from uttering selfish wishes. Too often, humans bored and disgusted him. Their pettiness tired him quickly.
"Would it be... temporary, master?" asked the genie.
"Nah, don't think so," said Damon dismissively.
Of course the genie felt sad and simultaneously disappointed.
The transformation was quick. It happened in a puff of smoke. Thomas was happily getting ready and suddenly he was tiny. Everything was out of proportion. Gigantic. And he was trapped in fabric! He got out but it was to another whole set of horrible confusing surprises. This fabric were his clothes, empty and massive. And all the furniture were absolutely gigantic, meters and meters too high! And... And the way he walked... His limbs moved in a lateral way, fast and not at all like crawling on all fours. And he felt like he had more limbs than usual. And if his eyesight was extremely poor, he could feel the air vibrate. The smells hit his nose in massive forceful waves.But the oddest thing in all the long, long list was the information on his surrounding done through a tapping upon his head. Upon his forehead. He squinted and some two hairs moving restlessly and incessantly. Yet he could feel those hairs. As if they had nerves. He looked at himself and yelled a horrified soundless scream. A cockroach scream. He was an insect! A bug! And... as he scurried around, he saw his reflection in the full-length mirror and realised how repulsive he was. For he was a cockroach. A roach! A big horrible roach! The foulest, most disgusting bug around! How could this be possible? It had to be a horrible nightmare!
Then he heard a series of booms the vibrations of which got his antennas twittering madly. His body twitched, anxious at what was causing this probably dangerous thing. He then saw a mammoth set of feet. And Monica's voice booming across the air.
"Thomas? I came over because..."
She frowned at the pile of clothes. Thomas tried to call out to her but he did not possess vocal cords anymore. Monica shrieked at the sight of the repulsive bug and seized a shoe to throw it at the disgusting intruder. She missed by quite a bit, but Thomas scurried away to the nearest shelter out of sheer survival instinct, which turned out to be under the bed, then behind the closet, where it was nice, tight and dark. He could hear mMonica shout out his name, search for him, then leave. Leaving Thomas in a vile disgusting body and powerless to do anything about it. For what could he do?
Meanwhile, the genie was thinking about a way to help that poor mortal. Did he really deserve an long-time punishment for something as inconsequential as being with his master's lady. Perhaps he could make things better.