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Long ago in merry England, Julian shared a nice stone house on a mountaintop with his parents and two younger sisters. On cool summer mornings, they would breakfast under the arbor outside their kitchen door, and look out over the city at the foot of the mountain and at the mists rising from the green rolling hills. Julian loved the smell of the dew mingled with his toast and jam.

Julian and his two sisters went to school in the town's one-room schoolhouse. There were only 15 children in their town so fitting them all into one room was no task at all. The children ranged in age from 7 to 15. Julian was13 years old, so he was one of the older kids in the class. His sisters were 9 and 11. Also in the school was a pretty young girl who went by the name of Gwen. In Julian's eyes, Gwen was the most beautiful creature ever to inhabit the earth. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile so bright it lit up every room she walked into. As luck would have Gwen was 13 as well. Julian was obsessed with young Gwen.

Julian's attraction didn't go unnoticed by his two sisters. They saw how hopelessly love struck Julian was with Gwen. They didn't let this rare opportunity to tease their older brother slip by them. They constantly hassled Julian about his passion for Gwen. They battered Julian with taunts of "Julian loves Gwen, Julian loves Gwen", and the ever popular "Julian and Gwen sitting in a tree " Julian was annoyed by his two sisters, but they were the least of his worries. You see in their school was another little boy named Jax. Jax was large beastly boy. The biggest and scariest of all the boys in town. Jax was only 13 years old but he could pass for 18 at the local pub. Jax had also had an attraction to the lovely Gwen. He saw her and he wanted her. That was about the extent of his attraction to her.

Julian wasn't scared of Jax though because Julian had something special that nobody knew about. A few years ago when Julian went to the market for his mother he saw an old man with his leg trapped under a log. He lifted the log and freed the man. The man was very grateful and he gave Julian a blue velvet pouch. He told Julian that the pouch contained tricks that he could use to defeat any enemies he may encounter in his future. Julian thanked the man and finished his task for his mother. Julian still has the pouch to this day. Jax seemed to be just the enemy that the old man was talking about.

One day Julian decided to ask Gwen if she wanted to accompany him on a walk through the hills. Gwen said sure and set off through the majestic hills of the land. About 10 minutes into their walk though they were interrupted by Jax. He had been following them and eventually jumped out in front of them.

"You heard me, I'm not afraid of you. Everyone else in school may be, but I'm not!" boasted Julian.

"All right that's it you're in for the pounding of you life now squirt!" shouted Jax.

Just then Jax ran toward Julian with his fist clenched. Julian then pulled out his pouch, reached in, and grabbed a hand full of what seemed to be some sparking dust. He then threw it at Jax and shouted with authority,

Then in the blink of an eye, the once feared Jax poofed into a ball of smoke leaving behind a harmless golden retriever.

Julian and Gwen then took the dog into town and donated him to the pound. Poor Jax lived in captivity for a few years until he was finally adopted by a nice family and he lived the remainder of his years as a loyal sheepdog. Julian didn't have to worry about Jax anymore and he could concentrate on trying to win over Gwen. Julian used the remainder of his magic dust to give his sisters strep throat. While they were temporarily shut up Julian was able to seek after Gwen in peace. They continued to take walks on the hills and then picnics and eventually lay out at night and look up at the stars. After a long time of trying to win her over, Gwen and Julian were finally married. They got married at age 18 and bought their own house in the town they had lived in their entire life.

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the students in my class that helped me with this story: Jodi Bauer, Jennifer Cuddeback, Anthony Joseph Fesler, Melissa Susan Hall, Kenneth J Hooley, Aliya Khan, Anna C Klug, Timothy Mauldin, Jennifer M Mortensen, Matt Mueller, Sabrina Pierson, and Lisa Thorpe. I would also like to thank my professor Terry Heller.

Julian's Magic Dust