[open] Toys and Shooting Stars

They already have:

• cameras
  
• cars
  
• escalators
  
• lamps (1 2 3)
  
• motorcycles (1905 Harley-Davidson)
  
• slot machines
  
• telephones
  
• trains
  
• vacuum cleaners

1905 Winchester gun.

Valentine J. Raleigh (age 35) was a business magnate in Edwardian London. He had a loving wife, Nicole (age 32), who could trace back her ancestry into the noble class, and was the mother of Valentine's sweet little princess, the eight-year-old Adeline. He had continued building up the family fortune of the last generation or two. The Raleigh family, probably under the lead of Nicole, had also managed to take its place as one of the model families of rich-class London, the people that no one could find any significant imperfection of. As Valentine was always busy making money, Nicole organized these tea and biscuit parties for the young British women of her own social level. Adeline in her turn was sent to the best schools in her environment, and if that wasn't enough yet, she got extra tutoring at home as well. 'Milady' Nicole, who usually spent her time in stylish parties, talking with her friends, reading and having beauty specialists work on her, was seriously considering to start designing clothes. So, even though she did not have a job, she was away from home often enough and put the care for the little princess in the hands of one nanny after another, changing rapidly because Adeline always had her remarks on them ready.

Every once in a while, Nicole would have a day off to spend with her daughter herself - on days like that, the two of them, accompanied by a servant, went to the city to buy candy and/or clothes, to sit in the park and feed the ducks, or to visit some great-aunt, one of Valentine's aunts that had the type of prestige an old knowledgeable lady would have. Apart from the latter, Adeline loved days like that. And the day before the events of this RP happen, was a day like that as well. Because a party was coming up that Adeline was invited to as well, they went out to buy her a new hat, new clothes, new shoes, all of that. To treat Adeline after a boring/exhausting morning, they would also go to the candy store and buy her a bag of marshmallows, one of stick candies, as well as some chocolates. After that, they went to the park to meet up with Nicole's friend and her seven-year-old daughter Dolores for a picnic together, as they had agreed upon beforehand. Adeline (after the picnic) went playing with Dolores and shared her bag with marshmallows with the little girl, as their mothers were sitting on a bench and talking while they were feeding the ducks. They went home by about 3PM, as Nicole still had to get ready for the performance and classy dinner she and her husband were invited to that night.

Valentine and Nicole left for the performance in the early evening, leaving Adeline at home with the servants and here nanny. The girl viewed it as an extension of a fun day: first playing in the park, then staying up late to be able to play with her dolls. After dinner, she took the bags of candy to her room and locked herself in, because she didn't want the nanny - who had wanted to force her to eat her entire plate - to get in and whine at her. She only let a servant in via the other door for a short bit, so that she could get her tea delivered. After all, without tea and biscuits, her dolls and plushy animals would have no real tea party. Adeline let the nanny in once to light the oil lamps for her when it was getting darker, but she was locked out again when she started complaining, with the mention: "If you don't shut up, I will have my parents fire you." At some point later, when she was just getting tired, she saw something outside the window - a shooting star. She ran towards the window, and did what any child would do: a wish. 'I wish all my stuff would come to life.' After a few minutes, when Adeline was considering to go sleep, she noticed changes in her toys, dolls and plushies, as well as in the candy.

Finally, Adeline got to meet the stuff that she had face to face: the rabbit plushie she had gotten on her birthday, that she had called 'Peter', after Peter Rabbit; the dolls Mary-Ann, Cecilia and Blaire with whom she always drank tea; and the striped hair of the stick candies looked so funny, too! She was completely enthusiastic, noticing they all had a different personality and way of acting and talking. Some would have almost no language ability at all, seeing these toys only had passive knowledge of whatever was said around them - more recent toys, and the candy was probably most recent - would only have the memory of a few days. The rabbit then was one of the most sophisticated, being around Adeline since her birth, as well as some of the dolls, who were even older as they had been Nicole's too. However, with so much candy and new dolls that barely had any maturity built up, how can an 8 year old manage them all? She couldn't. And so, she noticed too late that the baby doll Sophie had bumped into a candle, not noticing it had fallen. An antique tapestry was not something that took long to catch fire, nor was the wooden floor or furniture, or the heavy curtains. Adeline started screaming when she saw, but in her stress failed to find the key, making her unable to run into the arms of the nanny that was bouncing on the door from the other side.

At the side of the city, a glow lighted up the sky... it was the manor of the Raleighs, and the entire neighborhood - or at least the ones that are home - was waking up in a panic. Many didn't even notice that a window at the back of the manor had broken, and a figure had jumped out - clothes somewhat burnt black, but still alive - and was hidden in the bushes, maybe somewhat dumbfounded from falling and everything that was going on? Valentine and Nicole Raleigh were currently unaware of what was happening with their manor; they were just eating and laughing with the jokes of their friends. However, it probably would not take long before a messenger would slap them in the face with the horror. At another end of the city then, in a certain park, something was lying in the grass... for who had thought to pick up the dirty piece of candy that had fallen out of Adeline's bag of marshmallows while she had been playing?