Kiki never expected it to happen to her. The French-born Londoner could only dream of it: she could fly. Not only could she fly, but she never grew older. She was only 13 when she brought the newly-discovered falling star to her father. The touch of the intriguing substance was magnificent, but its name captivated her: Starstuff. She stopped aging when she was 14, and then joined the secret society of the Starcatchers, as her parents did, and soon was falling into the realm of curiosity, light, and adventure. But that's not the whole story, not even half of it.
Kiki was born in Paris, France to Marius and Jean Amoure, an English couple who resided in London. They live on the edge of Buckingham Garden, a prosperous area of Victorian-style mansions. She had been an only child, loved by her parents dearly. When she turned 6, her mother passed away due to an unknown illness, devastating her dreadfully. Her father, Marius, was often away on "business", going for often months at a time, leaving young Kiki in a larger-than-life mansion with servants (even though, to a 6 year old, everything is huge). However, he always brought back gifts from faraway places: a lucky toy cat from China, sushi from Japan, a genie lamp from Rundoon, and such. She often day-dreamed about going with her father to these far-away places with her father: touring the world, going on an adventure, but was always brought back to reality by her dreadful nanny, Ms. Victoria.
That, however, never stopped her from being a rambunctious child. She slid down the banisters, jumped on her bed, and climbed on the roof, only to be given a stern chastise by Ms. Victoria. These younger years changed her into a young, independent pre-teen. Before Ms. Victoria and Marius Amoure knew it, 6 turned to 7, 7 turned to 8, 8 turned to 9, 9 turned to 10, 10 turned to 11, and 11 gave way to 12, only to be pushed on the eve of her 13th birthday.
It was the night before her 13th birthday that this young girl would be changed forever. On this day, she went up to the attic, one of her favorite hiding places from the wretched nanny, and discovered a book of fairy tales from Greece given to her mother by her father. On the inside jacket, he wrote an inscription:
Dearest Jean,
For you I bring back a book of Greek fairy tales to show how it can change a life. My favorite is "The Flying Boy" on page 63. May you enjoy this while I am gone. I'll be back soon Lovie for you. From here, we shall go to Paris for the summer, and leave our work and troubles behind. Stay well for our coming loved one. Hugs and Kisses.
Love,
Marius
After reading this, she turned to page 63, and read the tale of a boy who never grew up and could fly. This was, however, a Greek fairy tale, like Hansel and Gretel was a German fairy tale, and will always stay a fairy-tale. Right?
Her father came home late that night from business, and was too tired to see her. Alone in her room, Kiki climbed out of her bed, opened her window, and climbed onto the roof of her 3-story mansion, staring out at the dimly lit city of London: Buckingham to her left, the harbor at right, and Big Ben behind her. She was facing the other mansions, and pointed them out. The Aster's, the Darling's, the Longs…
She grew tired of counting the mansions and looked up. A soft, but cool August breeze flew by from the harbor, and she brought her white, satin nightgown over her freezing legs. She brought her knees up to her chest, caught her balance, and then continued to look up into the heavens. A shooting star! "Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight," she began whispering the old thyme, remembering how she did it with her mother so long ago, "I wish I may, I wish I might, have this one wish I wish tonight. I wish to live that boy's fairy tale, to fly…" Suddenly, the shooting star made a sharp turn and stared heading right at her…