Our story begins with a boy on the verge of becoming a man. His family was incredibly poor, and on the verge of death. The boys name was Aetius, and he was about to discover something life changing. As he worked on his father’s field, Aetius became very tired and thirsty, so he decided to take a break. On his way to the small hut, owned by his family, he stumbled on a small object he had never seen before. He leaned down to pick it up and he saw a golden ring with a large encrusted with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. The ring, he knew, would save his poor family from starving. He couldn’t believe his sudden stroke of luck. How could he, a poor farm boy, find such a marvelous object? He pocketed it at once and ran the rest of the way to his families’ hut. Inside at a small mound of dirt that served as a table sat his mother, sister, and father. His father asked him why he was not still in the fields. Aetius’ answer was rushed and excited. He told his father that he had found an amazing object, one that could save the family from death. His family looked at him with a vague expression, and his mother told him he needed to stop imagining such things. Aetius then continued to pull out the ring, and watched as the family crowded in close to see it. His sister tried to wear it, his mother ogled at the amazing sight, and his father sat there with an amazed expression on his face. After a moment of dazed wonder Aetius’ father began to think that he had stolen it, but he didn’t care because the family needed the money.

The next day the Aetius was sent to the market to sell the beautiful ring. He was told to take no less then 5,000,000 rupees. This price was a little outlandish mainly because not many people at the time had that much money. Of course, Aetius could’t find anybody to pay this unrealistic sum of money, so he returned home. On the road home he began to imagine the wrath of his father because the poor boy’s father was known to lash out and be incredibly cranky. After seeing his son come home empty handed, Aetius’ father sent him outside for three days.

Living outside was incredibly dangerous where Aetius lived. Even more dangerous than the Australian Outback. The land was crawling with snakes, jackals, and scorpions among other things. On the first day of his punishment, Aetius set up a small camp and gathered some firewood to keep the predators away. Then night came. As the creatures of the night began to crawl, slither, and sneak towards the boy, he became increasingly frightened. He was even more alarmed when his pocket began to vibrate and glow. He looked down expecting some terrible creature to be staring back at him, but all he saw was the ring. Suddenly the ring stopped glowing, then it exploded into thousands of pieces. Smoke was everywhere. Aetius couldn’t see anything. He could only here the voice of an old man calling Aetius towards him.


Aetius cautiously ventured forward into the clearing smoke, and what he saw made him very frightened indeed. Before him sat a man of about 80 years. This confused the poor boy. He wondered how the man got there. “Come here my boy. Don’t be frightened,” said the man. The old man could read Aetius’ mind and could tell the boy was worried. As soon as Aetius got close to the old man, the man began to transform. Now, instead of an old man, he saw before him a young person around 15. Aetius really began to worry now because he had heard the stories of witchcraft and wizardry. The teenager that had once been an old man came forward and asked Aetius why he was worried. Aetius replied, “It’s nothing. It's just that you are a stranger, and I am a teenager alone, in the plains, in the middle of nowhere.” “That certainly is a reason to worry;however, I am not a stranger at all. I am you,” replied the ever changing person.


“What! How can you be?


“It’s complicated, but trust me I am.”


“Okay, but why are you here?”


“You were alone, as you said, so I am here to make that better.”


“How? You certainly can’t possibly make this better,” Aetius said as he gestured with his arms.

“Remember that ring you had in your pocket? Well, I was it. Let me tell you, if that ring could bring you wealth, I can bring something so much greater. Money, power, or anything else you desired!” the stranger claimed. “Well, then I guess your a genie,” stated Aetius. “ Not quite, but I can do what I said,” said the stranger. “ O.K. then, I want to be able to fly. Can you do that oh mighty stranger,” inquired the boy. “ Of course I can,” replied the stranger. The stranger then turned around and started to wave his arms around and chant some foreign language. POOF! Aetius shrank. He looked around questionably, and wondered why everything was so big. Then he noticed his feathers. The stranger had made him able to fly by making him a bird.

Aetius the bird looked around for the stranger so he could get turned back into human, but the stranger was nowhere to be found. Aetius took one final look at the place where he grew up and sadly flew into the sunset knowing he could never return.