Three sailors had been shipwrecked and had been stranded on a deserted island for over two years.
They had been lucky to survive and had made the best of the natural resources they had found on the island, but now it was becoming obvious that there was no possible hope of rescue and this was a depressing prospect for all three of them.
Doomed to a lonely, monotonous existence, they sat on the beach and stared out to sea.
Suddenly, there was a glint in the water.
All three of them thought it must be the light playing tricks on them, but yes, there was definitely something shining in the ocean and bouncing on the waves.
They wondered if there was anything in the bottle, wondering if maybe it was a message, as the bottle looked as if it was certainly corked.
Quickly, Angus the Scotsman snatched the bottle up off the shore and pulled out the cork.
There was a huge puff of smoke and out curled a genie.
“Thank you, thank you master. You have released me from an evil curse. I have been trapped in that bottle for one hundred years and to reward you I shall grant each of you a wish. What will they be?”
“Well”, said Angus, “I’d like ten million pounds, a country estate in Scotland and a beautiful wife”‘
“It shall be done”, said the genie.
Moments later, Angus disappeared to be re-located in Scotland.
“As for me”, said Quentin, the Englishman, “I’d also like ten million pounds, but my estate would be in lovely Hampshire so I could be there with my darling Dorothy”.
“It shall be done”, said the genie again and moments later, Quentin disappeared, to re-appear in Hampshire.
“And what about you?” the genie said to Murphy. “What is your wish?”
“Well”‘ said the Irishman, “I don’t want money or land. I’m lonely and need company. I wish my two friends were back here!”
Image used under a Collective Commons License from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipperton_Island#/media/File:Clippertonisland.jpgac
