It was a genie after all. But what kind of genie makes confusing promises and keeps none of them? In fact, rather than the wishes he had promised to Mr. Elijah Weatherspoon out of gratitude for his release from his long term captivity inside... inside a clock? But he turns Elijah's staid and predictable life upside down. And Elijah still feels cheated out of his just reward. It's against the laws of geniehood, surely. (An excerpt from the book)
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"You never answered my question. How long was I trapped in my prison?" he asked. "Aye. I did answer. I said I din't ken how long ye're in there. That's an answer," Elijah answered, with irritation in his voice. "Ah, I suppose that was an answer," the other one sighed. "I will not tell you exactly, but it was for many years. Do you know how old that clock is?" Elijah did not know. "More than your lifetime. Years more. I was imprisoned in its first year." That struck Elijah's curiosity, and he wondered how the being he was speaking with came to be imprisoned inside. "What fell fortune caused ye t' be locked inside? If I may ask." And he did ask. "I am not free to tell you," the other one answered. "But I am now grateful to be free. I owe you a gratitude for my release." For a space of some seconds, he looked straight at Elijah while saying nothing. Then a strange grin began, and it grew on his round face. Then he spoke. "I know. You believe that I owe you three wishes in return for your setting me free. Well? Is that not the law of the genie? Pray tell, your three wishes, Sir." Elijah briefly opened his mouth to speak, but no thoughts came to him to speak. Surely the old fables and stories were not true. Genies were the product of the story tellers, and nothing more. The thing he held on his lap was a clock. It was not a magic lamp. It was not even a lamp. Surely it was not magic. It was merely a clock. A clock in the shape of a castle. And it was not made of precious materials. Rather it was simply brass. And common brass at that.