First
The girl carried the tin can home and up to her room. She managed to avoid meeting her parents, but she could hear her mother talking in the living room.
"So", she said, sitting down on her bed. "Does it have to be some kind of special piece of cloth, or will anything do?"
"Just a piece of cloth will do."
The girl looked around her not very tidy room. The most convenient piece of clothing was one she didn't have to get up to fetch, so she pulled something pink out of the laundry hamper beside the bed.
"In the stories", she said while rubbing the fabric over the dented and dirty can; "they actually polish the lamp. It's kinda hard with your can, you know."
She heard the jinn mumble something. "Excuse me?", she said pointedly. There was an unmistakable sigh. "Just rub my can will you!"
The girl gave the can a few good rubs with what turned out to be a Hello Kitty sock. The can twitched a couple of times - and then there was a man standing next to her. A moment later, as an afterthought, a puff of acrid smoke from the can enveloped her and made her sneeze several times. The smell lingering in the air was the one you get in a tent that has been folded while wet, and then left for a month in a damp place.
"That was the single most unimpressive thing I have ever experienced!" she said once the sneezing abated. "I had expected something more..."
"Well excuse me", said the jinn; "for not having the special effects to impress you with. The wishing part of the business tends to interest people more than mere appearances."
"I'm not 'people'." The girl took a good hard look at the jinn. He was dressed in a bright blue t-shirt which sported the words: "People like you are the reason people like me need medication", and, most peculiarly, a pair of bermuda shorts with a palm tree and flower pattern.
"You sure you're a jinn?" she said.
The jinn waved his arms around in an exasperated gesture. "Look", he said. "I just came out of a bloody can! Do people often do that in these parts?! Of course I'm a jinn."
His flailing arms kept dissolving and rearranging themselves in a most disconcerting way. The girl closed her eyes briefly, and felt carsick. Which, when you think about it, didn't make much sense. But then again: having an annoyed genie coming out because you rubbed his can with a piece of laundry didn't make much sense either, so she let it slip.
"You are wearing shorts", she pointed out. "But you don't seem to be having any legs to speak of."
The jinn stopped flailing and looked down. He had a scruffy look to him, with slightly greasy hair in a very genie-like ponytail, and a beard that needed combing and washing, and probably fumigating too.
"Legs are a drag", he said. "I don't need them to walk on, after all, and I keep forgetting that I have them, so I rarely remember to arrange them properly. Drifting around with crossed legs makes me look like I need a toilet. Which I don't, since I'm a jinn."
The girl nodded. "You could wear a kilt. Kilts are very fashionable, and it would look less silly."
"Well, that would... Look, this is not about fashion, damnit! You have some wishes to spend, so I can get back to getting some peace and quiet."
The girl shrugged. "Sure. I want lots of money. Lots and lots. Like... one million."
"Well... that's a bit hard to do", said the jinn apologetically. "See, money is the most interesting as banknotes, and they are numbered so I can't get you those. They'd have to come from somewhere, or you'd be arrested for counterfeiting in no time. Well, your parents would. I can get you coins, but not too many 'cause they're damned heavy."
The girl stared at the jinn. The jinn looked slightly embarrassed. "I don't make the rules", he said.
"Are you telling me I can't have money!? Everybody wishes for wealth in the stories. Why can't I have it?"
"Oh, you can. But in older days money weren't numbered and accounted for as they are now."
"So... Jewels? Diamonds and stuff?"
"You'd need to sell them to get rich, and nobody would buy from a little girl, no offense. You could tell your parents about me, but the chances are they wouldn't believe you."
"Well hell!"
The jinn looked pained. "How about a castle? I could put one down here, on this... actually on top of this house. It'd have to be pretty tall, though, to..."
"Argh! No, no castles. My mom hates stairs anyway." She bit her lip. "What about... a new car for my parents?"
The jinn lit up. "Oh, I can totally do that. No problem at all. Where do you want it?"
The girl took the jinn with her downstairs to the garage. He disappeared back into the can so she could carry that with her to avoid too many probing and uncomforable questions from her mother, should they bump into her. They didn't, though, and the girl closed the door to the garage behind her and sat the can down on the floor.
"There", she said. "You can come out now."
"I don't have to come out, you know. I can do my thing just fine from in here. Just assessing how big the car can be. Now stand back a bit, against the wall."
After a short silence he added: "You have to actually say the "I wish" thing, you know." The girl sighed, and complied.
Seconds later there was a "whooomfzzP" sound, and the next thing she knew she was looking at a car. A... kind of car.
"What... on earth is that?" she asked, distaste dripping from her every word.
The can rustled and the jinn flowed out and materialised on the floor. "What's the problem?"
The girl pointed to the car with a trembling finger without saying a word. The jinn looked at the car. "What??"
The girl walked around the car. It didn't take very long because the car wasn't that big. It looked a bit like something a child would draw, with angles and corners and square windows. On the front of the car the girl read: "Trabant".
"Trabant?" she said. "What in the bleedin--"
"Yow, hey, chill! I come from a nice family of very civilised jinns. I don't need to listen to--"
"You were supposed to get me a posh car!" the girl snapped, and if the jinn had been solid she'd have shaken him by the lapels he would have had if he hadn't been wearing a t-shirt. "This car is not posh. It's small and ugly and rusty!"
A strangled sound made her turn her head.
"AND IT HAS A MAN SITTING INSIDE IT!!"
Inside the car, clutching the steering wheel as if his life depended on it sat a small, grey haired man. He stared at the girl and the jinn for a few seconds, and then he slowly turned his head and stared straight ahead again.
"Well I may have been a bit hasty--", the jinn began, but he girl interrupted him.
"You put that car back immediately!" she hissed. "And that is not a wish! You are completely useless! I cannot believe this!"
With a hurt look the jinn waved a hand. The car and its petrified driver disappeared, leaving a smell of exhaust gas in the air. The girl glared at him and grabbed the can. "Get in!"
Third...