Oops, what's that in the mud? An old coke bottle with a cork on it. Message in a bottle? Have a look inside. Pop, cork out and off it goes - bluish smoke rises from the bottle, creates a huge cloud and two seconds later a friendly older gentleman with white hair and a moustache stands in front of me. Am I dreaming? Jeannie's grandad? Then he starts talking: "Hi, I'm Djinn Drake, the spirit of windsurfing. A certain Hoyle Schweitzer locked me in this bottle in 1971 for financial reasons and I've been drifting across the oceans in it ever since. You set me free, master, so I will fulfil three wishes for you."
I was flabbergasted. An original genie in a bottle, three wishes, awesome! Hmm, what should I wish for, you have to be really careful. To make sure it didn't go wrong, I sent Mr Djinn Drake back to his bottle of glass and took it home to think about it. What do I want? Coal? Cars? A house? Two houses, four cars, an aeroplane, more gravel? Nah, that's not going to work, ask a few people what they'd like.
Martin: "Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. That's exactly three!" Oh boy! Peter: "Health, health, health." Sure, he'd just caught jaundice. Harry: "Sliding wind, warm water and a beer afterwards." Well, that shows you what friends you have. My banker: "A share deposit, mortgage bonds, ETFs, you can get them all from us." Nice try. My wife: "Holiday in South Africa, new kitchen, clean terrace." Our mayor: "Re-election, re-election, re-election."
Hmm, somehow there was nothing that really appealed to me and I had to be careful, after all, the three wishes would change our whole lives. So I travelled to the water, sat on a bench for a whole day and did some soul-searching. Then suddenly I knew. That's right, it's the three. Nothing else. Off home, open the bottle. "Honey, where's that old Coke bottle from my desk?" "That rancid, empty thing? I gave it back when I went shopping, there was still a 15 cent bottle deposit on it. Why?"
More from Tommy Brandner:
- Under-80s or over-80s? Diets for windsurfers
- A visit to the tuning workshop for windsurfers
- Motorhome for beginners
- Attention drone!
- Through the shorebreak
- The avalanche of traffic jams is rolling again
- Happy B-Day, King!
- Used is still too expensive
- That was 2023
- To foil or not to foil
- Faster, faster, faster... or: Who is this Lüderitz anyway?
- Windy stories
- The handsome Hansi
- AI hysteria
- News from the Spocht
- Get fit without training
- Madhouse on the beach
- What do fish actually think about windsurfers?
- Loop into the headline
- Great season!
- Afternoon at the (windsurfing) museum - tidying up made easy
