- Harry AnderS -
Dutch psychotherapist and alternative writer

'Born to be a King 1'
Book 1 - My little Gypsy Prince
- by Harry AnderS -

An inspirational fantasy

http://www.harryanders.com
harry@harryanders.com

     A retired psychotherapist meets a severely burnt little Gypsy boy, and takes him into his house. The boy turns out to be the Heir to the Throne.
This emotional roller coaster hints at past lives, spirit helpers, karma, the Power of Love, and contains several practical psychological concepts.
'Harry AnderS' is a retired Dutch psychotherapist and writer. He lives in The Netherlands; and is specialized in supporting troubled children.
    Please, also read his beautiful children's series of books, called 'Born as a Prince', written from the little Gypsy boy's own point of view!

Chapter 27 ended with:

    "The face doctor did a wonderful job, Dad... I can see that I'm having a very nice nose now, and the swelling will go away within a few weeks. It's a funny pug nose, just as the doctor promised...
    "My lips are straight and normal now, just as I wanted to have them. They are still a bit swollen and puffy, but that will go away...
    "My right ear is free now, and the doctor even mended my eyelids so that they are closing better... All those nasty colors have disappeared, and the wild flesh and scars are gone...
    "I am really happy with my new face. Thank you, Dad, thank you so much! I love you..."

    He started to sob; and I held him close, very careful not to hurt his bruises.
I took my handkerchief, and carefully dried his eyes.
    Now, he started to yawn, and the mirror slipped out of his hands:

    "I am really tired, Dad. I think your baby will have some more sleep..."

He tried to throw his small arms around my neck, but was just too tired...
I kissed his forehead; and he drifted off, showing a happy smile on his puffy face.
I sat down next to him; and watched him for a long time, marveling at the good work the surgeons had done.
He was my beautiful little soul mate, with finally a nicely restored face and a normal skin on his body...

Chapter 28. Recuperation, Nicky's present, nobody recognizes my son.

    The first day, little Harry was too tired to do more than sit on my lap and lie down on his bed.
I had put the picture from John, Davey, and Nicky across from his bed, so that he could look at it.
    He had tears in his eyes when he saw it, and mumbled:

    "They are really loving me, aren't they?"

    "I am absolutely sure about that! They are impatiently waiting for you."

    He was silent for a long time, and now and then he stared at the picture...

    I told him about our visit to the amusement park, and that his friends wanted to go home because it was no fun without him...
Immediately, he sat up, and asked:

    "Did they? I hope not? I would have told them: 'have fun, and next time I want to join you'!"

    "That's exactly what Nicky said! He seems to know you..."

    I told him about the merry-go-round, and he thought I was really an old man, to be dizzy that soon!
I told him about the little electric cars, and that his friends had bumped into me all the time...
He laughed, careful not to strain his new skin, and thought my driver's license didn't prove anything...
He seemed to know how the little cranes were working, and was surprised that Davey succeeded in getting one of the gewgaws...

    "That is very difficult, Dad, as they are adjusting those things to make it nearly impossible to catch anything."

    He was very interested in the colored caravan, but thought it couldn't be a Gypsy one because he didn't recognize its model.
He wanted to help build the wooden fort, the next time we were going to visit that same amusement park.
Now, we had to wait for the load of postcards from our friends to show up...

    I helped him urinate in a plastic bottle, and he thought that was fun.
Then, I had to put him onto a potty, and wipe his behind.
    He cringed a bit, and told me with a worried face:

    "That hurts, Dad! I think they have operated me there as well."

    Anyway, he trusted me absolutely, and knew I would stop immediately the very moment it would hurt him too much.
I took him to the shower and carefully rinsed him; and that did hurt his skin too, but only a little bit.
I dried him carefully, by merely putting the towel around him without rubbing.
Now, his skin started to itch, and I asked the doctor about it.
The doctor offered me a bottle of soothing oil to apply onto the itching spots; and a couple of pills to reduce the sensitivity.

    The second day, the doctor performed a couple of tests, just to be sure.
Little Harry had to pee in a cup, and a nurse drew some blood from a vessel in his arm.
Another, rather pretty looking, nurse snapped a small piece of skin from his thigh, after sedating it with some very cold spray.
From that time on, my impish son called her 'the pretty vampire'...
The nurse just laughed, and told him he was a pretty boy himself; making him blush.
Fortunately, all the tests turned out to be very positive. His skin healed nicely, without any signs of repulsion.

    That evening, little Harry suddenly thought about the surprise box from his friends.
I dragged it from under his bed, and together we opened it.
He wanted to unwrap all the presents immediately, but I convinced him to spread it out over several days...
Now, he wanted to count them, and divide them into twelve piles, one pile for each remaining day.
We counted twenty-nine presents, and he started to calculate...

    "Dad, how do you count half-surprise-presents? Or, is that impossible..."

    "Do you have a sharp knife, of a huge pair of scissors?"

    "You are no fun! How can you divide the remaining five ones? I am stuck after twelve days and twenty-four presents..."

    I let him think for another moment, and he came up with a solution all by himself:

    "The first five days, I will unwrap three presents a day; and then, for the remaining days, two presents a day."

    I nearly ruffled his hair, but could restrain myself just in time and softly stroked it.
He WAS a very clever boy!
I told him so, and I also told that Nicky had packed him one very special present...
    Immediately, he started to rummage in the box until he found it:

    'for my freind harry from nicky'

    He unwrapped it, and stared in awe at a small teddy bear, carrying a belt with 'I LOVE YOU' around its waist.
He called the stuffed animal 'Teddicky'; and, from that very moment, they were inseparable.
He even tried to take it into the shower...
Fortunately, I saw it in time and rescued the poor beast before it drowned!

    The next day, the nurses brought us a television set and a couple of children's books.
From now on, we were grateful for all the small presents our friends had gathered.
Getting three presents a day didn't work out; and, within an hour, my little imp had unpacked them all...
He started to color books, build small plastic robots, resolve difficult Chinese puzzles, play little silly games, and --with a little help from me-- send self made postcards to everybody he knew.

    More tests turned out to be far better than everybody expected, and his body healed nicely.
Within a week, his eyes were only slightly puffy, and his lips and nose were looking practically normal.
   The doctor was astonished; and decided to let him go home, a week earlier than he had planned:

    "Never before have I seen a small boy heal that fast after such a major surgery! I can't explain what's happening... It is a medical miracle!"

    I thought I heard Jack somewhere in my head, chuckling...
I thanked him in my mind, and thought I heard his answer:

    "We have helped him, just as I promised... Now, be happy, and take your newborn son home."

    The next morning, we went home.
The pretty vampire nurse smeared little Harry's new skin with a softening balm, to protect it during our trip.
He got a big bottle of pills to relieve the itching; and she told him to take one every time he needed them, but no more than six pills a day.
We carried little Harry's trunk, my traveling bag, and the box with massively used presents, to our waiting van.
Then, we went back inside to say farewell to everybody.
Little Harry and Teddicky enthusiastically embraced all the face doctors and nurses.

    I set up the front seat with two pillows, so that little Harry could look outside without craning his neck.
With a proud face, he mounted his throne, and buckled himself and the inseparable Teddicky up.
I started our van; and we drove off, waved out by the entire clinical staff.

    After an hour, little Harry started to feel stiff and wanted to move around.
We stopped at a small roadside restaurant, and strolled around the parking lot until his strained muscles relaxed.
Then, we entered the restaurant and sat down at a table to have a drink.
    Nobody seemed to pay us any attention; and little Harry looked a bit disappointed:

    "They don't even look at me, Dad. Nobody seems to like my new face..."

    "Well, that only proves you're having a NORMAL face now, just like any other boy your age."

    "I know, Dad, but I think I'm too used to all the nurses looking at me and complimenting my new appearance..."

    I smiled, ruffled his hair, and was proud of my newborn son with his normal face.
He smiled back, and soon forgot his sadness.

    We nibbled a cookie, drank our coffee and lemonade, went back to our van, and drove off.
An hour later, we entered our driveway and were at home.
    Little Harry looked around expectantly, but didn't see anybody:

    "Where are John and Nicky and Davey? Don't they know I'm home today?"

    "You are a week early, remember? Nobody is expecting us today. And, besides, all your friends are at school..."

    "Oh yeah, you are right. Vacation is over, and I forgot to phone them in time..."

    He looked a bit disappointed, took Teddicky, and slid down from his throne.
I offered him the keys, and he opened our front door and went in.
He went straight to the living room, and started to phone his friends.
Nobody answered...
He sauntered to the couch and sat down next to me; moping silently, and keeping a small distance...

    "I think you are too tired. Do you want to lie down for a while?"

    He nodded, and started to sob.
I took him into my arms, careful not to irritate his bruises, and carried him upstairs to our bedroom.
I laid him down onto our waterbed, and draped a blanket around his body.
He looked a bit pale, closed his eyes, and sighed a couple of times.
    Suddenly, he opened them again, and looked around:

    "Where is Teddicky?"

    I hurried down to get the precious stuffed little teddy bear.
I returned, and carefully put Teddicky next to my already sleeping son.
He draped his arms around the beast without waking up, and smiled.
I grinned; and tiptoed downstairs, leaving the door open to be able to hear him.

    I brewed a cup of coffee; and went to my computer to have a look at my e-mails.
After removing all the spam, I opened my word processor and started to work on my book 'Born to be a King'.
Soon, I disappeared into my story and forgot everything else...

    Three hours later, a sleepy looking and yawning little boy showed up and leaned into me:

    "What are you doing?"

    "I'm telling my readers about YOU. I'm describing how we met, and how you started to live here."

    "Boring..."

    "I've put part of the story onto a forum, and all my readers are telling me it's beautiful!"

    "Teddicky wants to write his own beautiful story, about a little Gypsy Bear..."

    "Yes, I know. I've promised to help you write your own series of books, called 'Born as a Prince'."

    "Teddicky wants to write 'Born to be a Teddy'..."

    Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and little Harry stormed to the front door.
I heard him open it, and John's voice sounded a bit surprised:

    "Hello? Is Harry Anders in? Don't bother; and I know the way..."

    He passed little Harry, and went straight to the living room:

    "Hello, Dad! I didn't expect you to be home so soon. Do you have any news about Harry? When will he be home?"

    A very surprised looking little boy appeared in the doorway, with his mouth agape...
He looked from John to me, and back to John...
He tried to say something, but stopped...
    John turned around, looked at little Harry, and hesitantly extended his hand:

    "Hello, it's nice to meet you. I am John, and who are you?"

    Little Harry looked perplexed; and, for the first time in years, he had to search for words:

    "Wha... what... why... you don't know who I am? You really don't recognize me?"

    "Huh? I should know you? You... But... No, that's impossible... Really? YOU are HARRY?"

    "Yes, of course I'm Harry, silly! Who else did you expect to be here?"

    "But... Then you are a week early, and your face looks totally different! I can hear it's Harry's voice, but I don't recognize you... Are you really Harry?"

    Both boys fell into each other's arms, and started to cry heartbreakingly.
They needed a couple of minutes to recover, and slumped down onto our couch.
After using a couple of tissues, they enthusiastically started to tell each other about all their adventures...

    The doorbell rang again, and John told little Harry:

    "Go open the door, but don't say a word! Let's look who will be able to recognize you..."

    Little Harry grinned, and went to the front door with little fun lights in his eyes.
We heard him open the door, and then everything was silent...
A couple of feet shuffled, and little Harry appeared in the doorway, hesitantly followed by Davey.
    Davey looked around unsure, and went to me:

    "Hello, Dad. I saw our van, parked in the driveway... When will Harry be home? I miss him..."

    He turned around, and looked at little Harry without a sign of recognition:

    "I don't think I've seen you before? Who are you?"

    Little Harry couldn't keep a straight face any more, and started to laugh:

    "You REALLY don't recognize me, after all the things we have done together?"

    Davey stared at the strange boy, and slowly shook his head...
Suddenly, his face lit up, and he stuttered:

    "Then, you must be HARRY... I can't believe my own eyes... Are you REALLY Harry, with a totally different face?"

    "Of course, silly. Who else would be here to open the door and let you in?"

    "Wow! Your new face is beautiful! Now, you are looking normal, finally..."

    They hugged each other, and started to dance around the room.
The doorbell rang again, and little Harry told his friends:

    "Don't say a word! I think that's Nicky..."

    He went to the front door, and we heard him open it.
For a moment, everything was silent...
    Then, a loud Indian howl reverberated through the hallway:

    "HARRY! You are HOME! I've missed you so badly! Your new face is perfect! What did you think when you got my special present?"

    Nicky and little Harry appeared in the doorway, having their arms around each other's shoulders.
Both of them were proudly carrying the precious little teddy bear with 'I LOVE YOU' on its belt...
    Nicky jumped up to me, and offered me a wet kiss:

    "Harry's new face is beautiful, Pop! I nearly didn't recognize him, until I saw my special present in his hand..."
    "Come on, Harry; let's play a game on the computer. I missed you!"

    They went to the computer, and tried to wriggle into the same chair...
Little Harry shot up like a spear, and yelped:

    "Ouch, that hurts! Sorry, Nick, but my body is still bruised from the surgery..."

    "Ohhh... Is it very painful? Can I do something to help you? Perhaps some ice?"

    "No, thanks; and the pain is already gone. But, it WAS painful! I think I'll wait for another week before trying again..."

    They went back to our couch; and little Harry climbed onto my lap, still rubbing his right hip.
Nicky looked a bit guilty, until little Harry started to tell about the clinic and his surgery.
He described all the tests he had to undergo, and how he had to pee in a small cup while a nurse was looking.
He vividly told how the nurse put him asleep; and then he met Jack, his Dad and Mom, his Ancestors, and a couple of other spirits.
He had no idea about time; and, when he woke up, he wasn't sure whether the surgery had already been done or not...
He told how puffed and bruised his new face had been at first, with a colored nose and swollen lips.
The face doctor removed a plastic tube from his nicely restored penis; and a nasty vampire nurse snatched a piece of skin from his thigh, just like that!
He tried to divide twenty-nine presents into twelve days; and then he discovered Nicky's special present that wanted to be called Teddicky!
Finally, he told us how happy he was to be home again, reunited with all his friends.

    John and Davey went to the kitchen to prepare a couple of sandwiches, spiced with little Harry's herbs.
Our little cookie tasted them, smiled, and nodded approvingly:

    "You've learned quite a lot, since I showed you how to do them. How are my herbs?"

    "You didn't look at your herbs yet? They are nearly overgrowing your garden! Nicky went to them a couple of times a day, and always told them everything about your operations and when you would be home again..."

    All of us went outside, and looked at the abundantly flourishing herbs garden.
Little Harry squatted down, and carefully removed a couple of dead twigs.
    He got up with a pained face, and groaned:

    "Ouch! My hip is painful, and now I'm feeling dizzy. I think I want to lie down, because I'm still very tired..."

    I took my tired son into my arms, and carried him upstairs to our waterbed.
I laid him down, covered him with a blanket, and he looked at me with thankful eyes:

    "Sorry, Dad; for being such a nuisance. Will you excuse everybody, and tell them to come back tomorrow? I think I'm not healed enough..."

    "You are NOT a nuisance to me, and I will LOVE to pamper my beautiful baby for another couple of days! Now close your eyes, and have some more sleep..."

    "When will I go to school? I want to be in the same class as Nicky."

    "I want to keep you home for the remainder of the week, to heal some more first. Next week, you will accompany Nicky to school. Is that okay?"

    He nodded, closed his eyes, and fell asleep with a smile on his tired face and Teddicky in his arms.
I tiptoed downstairs, leaving the door open.

    I told the boys to be very quiet, so as not to wake him up.
They had some small talk, and soon decided to go home to do their homework.
They hugged and kissed me, and promised to be back the next day after school.

    An hour later, a yawning small boy climbed onto my lap, absently caressing Teddicky:

    "What are we going to eat? I'm too tired to cook dinner today..."

    "What do you think about ordering pizzas?"

    "Yeah..."

    He went to the phone, and professionally ordered one big pizza with everything on it except for those salty anchovy fishes.
Twenty minutes later, we worked together to devour it, and burped loudly to thank the pizza man.

    "That's what my own people are always doing, Dad. After we've eaten an animal, we're always burping loudly to thank its spirit."

    "I think that is a good habit; but, in our country, don't try to burp when you're having company..."

    He grinned, and went to his surprise box to play with a couple of small games.
I went to the computer; to work on my new book and, now and then, have a cuddle from my son.

    We decided to go to bed early, because both of us were tired.
I undressed him and put him under the shower; marveling at the sight of his beautiful and very soft new skin.
I put him to bed; and he hugged Teddicky, shut his eyes, and fell asleep within seconds.
I entered our bed from the other side, and immediately he wormed into my arms, without waking up.

    Again, I looked at his new face, which was so soft and clean.
The face doctors had done a marvelous job to my marvelous boy!
I switched the lights off, closed my eyes, and felt wonderful.

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Thank you for reading the next chapter of this story 'Born to be a King 1 - My little Gypsy Prince.
This is the FIRST book of the adult series. Many more books will follow, just be patient...
Enjoy the reading, and help us make our world a better place. We need you!

Please, have a look at my children's series, about the same little Gypsy boy growing up in a secluded place in the Rumanian mountains; this time seen from his own point of view.
The children's story is on Nifty in 'young-friends', and it's callled: 'Born as a Prince'...

Just click this link to go to Nifty, or go to my homepage to read the latest versions.

I would LOVE to receive your comments or appreciations...
Please, send me an email now and then, to let me know the story has some impact on you.

I wish you lots of Love in your Life, and Profound Peace in your Heart.
Harry AnderS, Dutch psychotherapist and alternative writer.

harry@harryanders.com
http://www.harryanders.com