Stevan came trudging in at that very moment. Starre was riding along on his back, laughing as she tried to cover his eyes.
"She," Steve said dryly, gesturing to his sister, "claims that I am required to give her unlimited piggyback rides on her birthday. Please explain to her that that is not how it works unless she doesn't talk for the entire day on MY birthday."
Nina suppressed her laughter. "Just tolerate her, Stevan," she said, winking. "We'll see about that no talking thing. I just might like that!"
Starre immediately jumped off of her brother, narrowing her eyes. "Nina Matthews," she growled, "you're evil!"
"So what if I am?" Nina grinned, ruffling her kids' hair. Suddenly, a timer went off.
Starre whirled around, wide-eyed. "Does that mean...?"
"Five more minutes!" Nina said sarcastically. "No, Starre, you're thirteen!"
Starre leapt into the air with joy, landing on her brother's foot. "Hurray!" she shrieked. "I am a teenager! Oh, man, this rocks."
"Don't get too excited," Nina said. "You'll explode. You don't even have your presents yet!"
Starre held out her hands. Nina smiled, and whisked an envelope out of her pocket. Starre blinked, and accepted the package. She began to rip at the seal.
"I bet it's a gift card!" she exclaimed, tearing away. "I bet it's a gift certificate! I bet it's money! I bet it's --"
She had finally removed the contents of the envelope, and she was standing stock still, staring at them. They were small, rectangular slips of paper, but they meant more to her than any shirt or computer game.
"Oh, you are kidding," Starre breathed. "Two-way tickets to...Saxvistan, Eurasia."
Stevan and Nina watched as the excitement built inside of Starre. Her face was flushed, and her hands were trembling. Finally, she let out an ear-splitting cry.
"I'm going to SAXVISTAN!" she cried, jumping up and down. "Oh, thank you SO much, mom!"
"Stevie helped a little," Nina said quickly, flustered from Starre calling her mom.
"I gave up two months of allowance!" Steve said proudly, punching Starre in the arm.
"Hey!" she laughed, hitting Steve's legs with her tail. He winced, and Starre stuck her purplish tongue out at him. "You don't mess with us teenage girls!"
"And...WHEN do we leave?" Nina asked, not-so-tactfully drawing attention back to the gift.
Starre looked down at the tickets again, and gasped. "We leave...tomorrow!"
"That's right," Nina said. "So, I suggest you get yourself packed, eh?"
"Right!" Starre squealed, scurrying up to her room. She still couldn't quite believe it. She was going home.
**--**--**
"Flight 341 is now boarding," the announcer lady said in a professional, but kindly voice. "I repeat, Flight 341 is now boarding. Please place your luggage on the conveyor belt and report to the takeoff area."
Starre and Nina rose, giving Steve big hugs. He had decided to remain behind, since his two months of allowance had only helped pay for two tickets. This was Starre's trip, anyway.
"Bye, ladies!" Steve called. "I'll take good care of the house, now!"
Stevan reluctantly waved goodbye to his mother and sister, and left to wait for the bus.
Starre and Nina rushed toward the takeoff area, dragging their luggage along behind them. Soon, they reached the conveyor belt. Starre carefully loaded their bags onto the rubber belt, and the two rushed off to the plane.
After several minutes of waiting, Starre boarded the plane. She found her seat - right in front of Nina's. She sat down, and relaxed. She knew she had a long trip ahead of her.
As soon as everyone had boarded, the copilot came out to address the passengers. Starre listened as attentively as she could while the man droned on about safety procedures that no one would ever use if they were lucky, and then returned to the cockpit. The signal for takeoff sounded throughout the chamber Starre was seated in.
Slowly, the plane began to move forward. Starre gripped her armrests as the plane accelerated, finally lifting slightly off the ground. It hovered for a moment, finally taking off into the air. Starre watched in amazement as the things below her got smaller and smaller. In all of her flights, she'd never been this high!
"Welcome aboard Flight 341. We have achieved liftoff," the announcer explained to the passengers. "We will now begin our journey directly to Saxvistan, Russia. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight."
Starre did exactly as she was told. When she finally thought to look at the people sitting next to her, she saw that she was sitting to the left of a young, handsome man.
"Ah...." Starre said casually, attempting to strike up conversation. "Hello, there."
"Hello?" the man asked, sounding uninterested.
"Ahm...where are you headed?" Starre asked weakly, immediately realizing that that was an incredibly stupid question.
"Saxvistan," the man said dryly. "You?"
Starre turned away, embarrassed, while the man mumbled on about the stupid youth you find these days. She noticed that she was sitting next to an older man as well. He seemed relaxed, gazing out the window to the streets below.
"Wonderful day for a flight, eh, young lady?" The man turned to smile a nearly toothless smile at her.
"Yes," she said, wondering if she would ever find a decent conversationalist on this flight. "You're headed to Saxvistan, I'll bet."
"No," the man said, shrugging. "I'll stop there for a few days, and then I'm headed to Saudi Arabia. I'm going around the world."
"Wow," Starre said, impressed. "It must be kind of scary, going to all those unfamiliar place."
"Oh," the man said, waving his hand dismissively, "it's nothing. It's not the first time I've done this, you know. It's my seventh. I inherited a fortune from my father and grandfather."
"That's so cool!" Starre exclaimed, leaning forward. "What's the coolest place you've been?"
"Well," the old man smiled, switching into story-telling mode. "Once, I went deep into the heart of Africa. I visited the jungles, and you'd never guess what I saw...."
**--**--**
It was night. The old man was asleep, exhausted from telling a myriad of stories to a very inquisitive girl. Starre was gazing out the window, watching clouds and birds fly by. The moon was bright, causing everything to have a mystical sheen to it.
The copilot of the plane had told Starre that she would be arriving at Saxvistan that next day. She knew she needed to get to sleep, but she couldn't stop thinking to clear her tired mind.
What would Saxvistan be like? She figured Kin would be abundant there, since that was their home country. Perhaps she would meet some of her relatives. Lord knew where she would find them, but she would look.
A flicker of sun pierced the sky, making the powdery clouds around Starre's plane glisten with orange light. A flock of startled birds burst out of a tree below, and soared past Starre's window. Their beaks hung open as they gasped for breath, flying vigorously toward some unknown destination.
Starre could hear the Dawn Chorus beginning below her, as more birds woke to sing their hearts out. A large owl hooted impudently, strutting back into its hollow tree to sleep until the next night.
It finally occurred to a somewhat drowsy Starre that she could see all these things because the plane had begun its decent long ago. She could already smell the fishy-ness of Saxvistan, a land immersed in the fishing industry. It smelled nice - a smell she could remember from her 6-year-old years. This was a smell she associated with home.
Finally, the plane reached a long, wide runway. It bumped a bit, and began to roll quickly down the pavement. It slowly came to a stop, and the copilot announced that the flight had landed. Passengers would 'exit the craft shortly.'
"Starre-child," an elderly voice said from somewhere behind her. Starre turned to see the old man. He was awake, and he looked a bit nervous.
"You might want to put on a sweater," he said quickly as the doors to the plane began to open. "To cover those beautiful wings of yours."
"Why?" Starre asked, confused. "Is it cold in Saxvistan?"
"Yes, that too," the man said, nodding his head sideways. "But, ah, people in this area of the world don't take too kindly to the Kin."
Starre must have looked startled, because the old man smiled. "I know these things." He gestured down to his feet, and Starre could see a maroon tail-tip poking out the leg of his khakis. She grinned.
"Can do," she said, pulling the sweater she'd brought along with her over her head. "I hope you have fun here."
The old man (or Kin) smiled, almost sadly. "You, too, Starre-child. I'm sure you will learn something new here." Both of them rose to exit the plane, and Nina took Starre's hand.
"Tuck your tail in," Nina said briskly, gesturing to the long, green, snakelike appendage hanging out of Starre's jeans. Starre did so quickly, wondering what all the fuss was about. She was going to the Kin's home. Why did she have to hide who she was?
The stewardess helped Starre down the steps of the plane as she stepped back onto home soil at last. Nina and Starre looked at a map, and set off to hail a cab to their hotel.