After days lost in the desert, a modern-day cowboy was certain his time had come. He crawled through the blistering sand, parched and defeated, when a strange object caught his eye. Digging it out, he discovered a worn briefcase. To his astonishment, when he opened it, a genie appeared. But this was no magical being from a fairy tale; she wore the badge of the Australian Taxation Office, a dull grey dress, and had a calculator at the ready. She informed the weary man that, as per protocol, he had three wishes.
Deeply suspicious, the cowboy declared he wouldn’t trust a genie who was also a tax auditor. The genie replied bluntly that, given his dire circumstances, he had nothing left to lose. Seeing the logic in her statement, the man reluctantly made his first wish: to be transported to a lush oasis with abundant food and water. In an instant, he found himself in a paradise, surrounded by refreshing drinks and sumptuous food. The genie prompted him for his second desire, and he wished for immense, unimaginable wealth.
Immediately, he was surrounded by chests overflowing with gold coins and glittering gems. With one wish remaining, the genie warned him to choose wisely. The cowboy thought long and hard about what he truly wanted. Finally, he stated his third wish: that wherever he went, beautiful women would always want and need him. In a flash, his wish was granted. He was transformed into a common tampon. The story ends with a wry observation about offers from the government, reminding us that if something seems too good to be true, it often is, and the fine print can be unexpectedly literal.
