Stella-Roseanne Hickleberry is a girl who lives in a small village at the very edge of the kingdom known as The Land Of The Cursed. Everyone in this Kingdom has a curse of some sort, some have toes four times the length of the toes on their other foot and some have eyelashes as long as the hair on their heads; others have teeth so small you would need a magnifying glass to see them. Most of the people in this little village have problems not too obvious and not too serious, those with abnormally long lashes cut them off and those with toes a little too long have their shoes custom made.
Stella's curse on the other hand is unique and unheard of and everyone who knew of her curse felt really sorry for her. Each time a baby is born, an old fairy in a dress made of pomegranate and butternut seeds showed up out of nowhere and told the baby's parents what curse their child would have to live with and how to handle it. Most children inherited their parents' curses, so when the fairy told Stella's parents what her curse was, it came as a tremendous shock to them and all around them. All the fairy said was, "Make sure Stella is always happy, guard her heart for it means her life".
See, Stella was born with a heart that weighed her down.... literally. Everytime she has her heart broken a small fraction of it turns into gold. Soon her entire heart will turn to gold and she will be no more; no I do not mean death, she will turn into the prettiest rose with petals made of actual gold and only someone with a pure heart can pluck this special rose a hundred years from the moment she turns into a rose. When this happens her curse will be broken and she will live a normal life as a human with a regular heart.
Stella's parents Mr and Mrs Hickleberry share the same curse, they each have heels as heavy as metal, this makes walking and daily chores very difficult - as a result they live in extreme poverty. Mr and Mrs Hickleberry know nothing of this strange curse their one and only precious child has but despite this, they love her with all their hearts. When Stella was still little it was easy for her parents to keep her shielded from the cruelty of the world outside, but as she grew older this became a great challenge. Like many children, Stella wanted to play with the other children in her village but her mother knew just how cruel children can be.
After her 12th birthday Stella's parents decided she was old enough to interact with people outside their little home, her mother always told her, "happiness comes from deep inside you, never let anyone have you feel anything but joy. Guard your happy heart my little butterfly". Everyone in the village loved Stella, she was very friendly, polite and one of the prettiest girls in the entire village. She had long dark brown kinky curls with hazel eyes and caramel skin. Some of the girls her age were jealous of her because her curse wasn't in plain sight like everyone else's and said some really mean and hurtful things to her.
Everytime one of the girls was especially cruel to her she felt an uncomfortable itch that slightly tingled deep inside her heart, an itch she just couldn't get her hands on. Much to her delight though, the itch only lasted 24 hours and she would feel like herself again, just slightly less happy. Little did she know, that uncomfortable tingle was her heart slowly turning to gold.
Stella's first major heartbreak happened when her father died when she was only 16 years old. Her parents are all she had in the world and now it's just her and her mother. Stella's mom was devastated, seeing this broke her heart a little more with each passing day.
When her mother died two years later, Stella was left all alone completely heartbroken. As a full year passed and she thought of her parents more and more, her heart grew heavier until one day her entire heart turned to solid gold and she turned into the prettiest rose ever known to mankind. This special rose magically implanted itself in the most beautiful part of the Kingdom high up on the highest mountain - the mountain of dew drops and peaches, right beneath the clouds.
