Idea:

I do not own the idea of Stravaganza, Mary Hoffman does. She also owns the place Romula and the idea of Talia. I also do not own some of the characters, though I did make up a majority of them.

Anna Marley took off her coat and dropped it on the floor of her messy bedroom. Her bed was unmade, clothed of various types were strewn across the carpet, and her desk had piles of messily stacked papers across it.

The only clean and organized part of Anna's room was the coin wall. A large slotted piece of plastic was tacked on the wall. The little pockets were filled with a different type of coin. There were coins from across the world and from different time periods. Each coin had a slip of paper below it which had information on the coin in neat writing. Anna collected these coins and had over 200 different ones.

The coin wall was Anna's most prized possession. She had been collecting the coins since her seventh birthday, when her grandmother, Victoria, had given Anna some coins from the places she traveled to. Anna's Grandmother had been around the world.

In fact, Anna's Grandmother was coming for a visit later that afternoon. She had just gotten back from Rome. Anna was excited for whenever Victoria traveled it meant a new coin for her collection.

"Annie, I've sure got something special for you!" Anna had been lying across her bed with a book when her Grandmother's loud voice echoed through the house. "Grandmother!" Anna joyfully jumped off her bed and ran into Victoria's arms.

"It's wonderful to see you Mom! How was Rome?" Anna's mother, Jane, said quietly as she also hugged her mother. Anna's mother did everything quietly. She talked quietly and moved quietly. She always complained she got headaches whenever Anna was being too loud.

"Victoria, you're back! Did you have a nice trip?" Anna's father, Rupert, said excitedly. He leaned across Anna and hugged Victoria awkwardly with one arm.

"Yes, it was fantastic! Rupert, there are so many ancient buildings around. You would love it." Rupert was a historian; he also found great interest in Anna's old coins. He liked to find information on where the coins came from for her.

Victoria put down her large suitcase on the kitchen floor and took out a small bag from inside. "Shall we head into the living room? I would love to hear some stories," Jane walked without sound into the Marley's cozy living room.

Victoria settled herself in her favorite leather recliner. She put the small bag on her lap and sighed. Anna curled up on the floor by Victoria's feet. The rest of the family sat down in an assortment of chairs and couches.

"Now Annie, love, I promised you a treat didn't I?" Victoria rummaged in her bag. "Ah, here it is." Victoria pulled out a small velvet pouch. "I bought this especially for you."

She handed the pouch to Anna who hastily tried to find a way to open it. She finally found some drawstrings and pulled. Anna pulled out an antique coin. It was dull, chipped, and worn thin around the edges. It other words, it was perfect.

"Thank you! This is perfect! I don't have a coin from Rome, let alone Italy!" The gray coin had a picture of a man with a big nose on it. There was some writing around the coin but it was unreadable. "Who's that?" Anna said, indicating to the man on the coin. "Someone famous I think. I couldn't find out, sorry. Your father probably will though." Victoria said with a wink.

Anna sat up and gave Victoria a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks so much, Grandmother." Anna sat back down and fingered her coin.

"I think it's time for you to go to bed Anna," Jane said softly. It was almost eleven at night and Anna had school the next day. Victoria had been enchanting the family with tales of her travels for the past hours. They all had lost track of time completely.

Anna tried to stifle a yawn, "Okay. Goodnight Grandmother. Thanks again for the coin." Anna pocketed the Italian coin her pajama pants pocket and walked sleepily to her room.

Anna got into bed and took out her coin. 'I'll put in with all the other coins in the morning,' she thought. Anna rubbed the coin in-between her fingers and fell asleep.

Please read and review! I like constructive criticism along with what you like about my writing. Thanks!