Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 10:34:53 +0200 From: Harry Anders Subject: Little Harry-18 Chapter 18. Preparations to visit little Harry's people. I woke up, looking into two bright and deep blue eyes. Fascinating eyes that radiated a lot of intelligence, a lot of power, and a lot of pure love all in one. I nearly drowned in them. Little Harry had positioned himself on top of me, and stared into my eyes with a big grin on his face. "I thought you would never wake up!" "Why would you think such a stupid thing?" "I'm TEASING you, silly!" "Oh... now wait a moment!" I tickled his ribs, carefully not to bruise them, and he squealed with joy, trying to tickle me back. Of course I let him win, and he straddled my chest, pinning my arms to the bed. "I've got your body, your heart, and your soul!" "You can be sure of that!" "You're crazy. But I'm hungry, and I have been ill, so today you have to bring me breakfast in bed. Come on, on the double!" I grinned and ruffled his hair, feeling RICH with my little soul mate. After another cuddle I left the bed and went downstairs. How did my little soul mate do that, with his herbs? I went to the backyard, trying to remember which herbs he used in his tasty scrambled eggs. I returned with a couple of herbs that smelled good, carefully washed them, and sliced them into small pieces as I had seen little Harry do. I added pepper, salt, and a few drops of hot sauce. I mixed everything with a little bit of milk and the eggs. After heating a buttered saucepan, I threw the mixture into the pan and stirred everything with a spatula. I tasted the product of my cooking... Hmm, not too bad. Something was missing, the flavor that caressed your nostrils when little Harry made it, but I didn't know what it was. I put everything onto a tray and went back to my boy, who looked at me from under the blankets with a witty smile on his face. "Smells good dad! How does it taste?" He took a piece of toast, scooped some scrambled eggs on it, and tasted... "You used too much oregano, and I miss a pinch of garlic powder. But it's not too bad, for the old man you are..." Yeah, well... next time I will GET him for that! We showered, dressed, and went downstairs. I cleared the tray in the kitchen, while little Harry climbed onto the sideboard and put all things away. "I want to look at my new gravestone dad. Could we go there today? And this time I want my brother John to go with us. And my friend Nicky. And our friend Davey of course." "Are you sure you want all of them to go with us to the graveyard?" "Don't you trust me dad?" little Harry asked, displaying a devious smile on his face. "Now you are teasing me! You know better than that. But it's okay with me, our van is big enough." He started to put his shoes on, when the doorbell rang. He rushed to the front door and returned with Nicky, bumping shoulders. "We are going to the graveyard where my parents are buried, to have a look at my... err... oops, at THEIR new gravestone. Are you going with us?" "Of course I'm going with you! I'm allowed to be here for the whole day. How's your illness? Yesterday you were really sick!" "That Christian dude chased an angry spirit away that annoyed me. Now I feel much better!" "HARRY! In this house we never speak about a 'dude'. Here we are respectful about others!" "Sorry dad. I learnt that from my new friends a few weeks ago." Little Harry and Nicky went outside to look for the rest of our flock, while I took my wallet and my keys. I closed the front door and opened the van. Soon the boys appeared, John still combing his hair and looking sleepy, and they arranged the seats so they all could look outside. Little Harry took his pillow to sit on, and offered the second pillow to Nicky. "Thank you, that's a good idea! Now I can look outside without craning my neck." We drove off, and I searched the radio for nice background music. Our song didn't pop up this time. Within twenty minutes we neared the church. "There it is! We have to park our van here, and walk to the graveyard at the end of that narrow street." I parked our van in an empty spot. The boys looked around, obviously impressed by the quietness of the surroundings. Little Harry took my left hand and Nicky took my right hand. John and Davey put their arms around each other's shoulders and followed us, softly speaking about something technical they had planned for the afternoon. We walked through the meadows to the weeping willows that surrounded the graveyard. Little Harry and Nicky worked together and pushed the gate that slowly opened with a squeaking sound. Respectfully and in silence we entered the graveyard. All bravery left little Harry and he clamped my hand, trembling. "What if they didn't put my stone on their grave?" I sent him my love and pushed him forward. "Let's go find out." Slowly we walked to the big oak trees at the end of the yard. Little Harry jumped up. "Look dad, they DID put the new stone on their grave!" The boys started to run, followed by me at a lower speed. In awe we looked at what could be described as the nicest looking gravestone in the whole graveyard. A beautiful brownish marble stone was set upright at the end of the grave. Thousands of little marble crystals sparkled in the sunlight. Both names of little Harry's parents were chiseled and coated with gold. Little Harry leaned into me and started to sob. "It's so beautiful..." Little Harry and I sat down with our backs against our old oak tree, while the other boys sat down against other trees close by. Silently we enjoyed the absolute quietness and the peaceful harmony of the surroundings. After a while the sacristan of the church approached us, smiling. "Good afternoon sirs, it's a beautiful day today, isn't it? As you can see, your new stone has arrived. But where's your son, that poor boy with his burnt face? He was so happy when he eventually discovered the grave of his parents..." Little Harry smiled at him. "That's ME. Don't you recognize me?" The sacristan looked at him with disbelief in his eyes. "But... then a miracle has happened! I recognize your voice, but you have a totally different face..." "The doctors put a new skin on my face and on my body. They modeled a new nose and mended my lips. Even my best friends didn't recognize me at first." "Well, the doctors did a wonderful job! Now you look like every other boy of your age. I congratulate you with your beautiful new face!" The sacristan retreated respectfully and went back to the church. Little Harry looked around with a frown on his forehead. "I want to put a couple of herbs from my garden around their grave dad. I think that's a good place for lavender, and there in the corner I will put a couple of roses..." He started to add a whole bunch of vegetation and bushes, and I warned him not to overdo. At home he could first draw a sketch of what he had in mind. Then we would see. We sat down for another while, until at last the boys became restless. We stood in a circle around the grave, holding hands, and I thanked little Harry's parents for rearing such a marvelous child. Little Harry blushed, but didn't say a word. Each of us greeted little Harry's parents in our own way, and in silence we left the grave. We went to the church, to thank the sacristan. He was very pleased, and surprised us with coffee for me and hot chocolate milk for the boys, except for John who asked for hot milk without the chocolate. The sacristan took us with him to the church, where we admired the old sculptures. Each of us looked down onto the others from the pulpit, and pretended to be the pastor for a moment. Little Harry even spread his arms and blessed the congregation, sermonizing about love and trust. We could feel he really meant it! The sacristan took us downstairs to the cellars and the catacombs, but the boys didn't like the musty smell and hurried upstairs to get some fresh air. We thanked the nice sacristan and promised to visit him again next time. Little Harry even hugged him and again thanked him for all his help. With a satisfied feeling we went to our van. We unanimously decided to repeat the day at the playground, but now while little Harry accompanied us. Again the boys built a fort out of wooden boards, they rammed each other in small electric cars, they fished for small knickknacks, and they enjoyed every moment. Exhausted but satisfied we went home, on the way eating lots of delicious fattening junk food and drinking carbonated colored sugar water. Little Harry looked very tired now, but his eyes beamed. "Thank you dad, this was the most wonderful day I ever had! I am so glad I have you and my friends!" He put his seat into the sleeping position, closed his eyes, and immediately fell asleep. John got a blanket from the back and carefully draped it over his little brother. Nicky put his seat next to little Harry and watched over him. "Look out pop, don't use your brakes too hard..." I parked our van in the driveway and took little Harry in my arms. John fished the keys out of my pocket and opened the front door. I went straight to my bedroom where I laid my tired boy down onto the bed. He never woke up, but curled into a ball and slept on with a contented smile on his face. Nicky crept onto the bed next to his friend. "I am tired too. May I stay with Harry for a while?" I nodded and he draped his arms around his friend. Immediately little Harry uncurled and within a moment they were totally entangled, both softly purring. I enjoyed the beautiful sight for a while, until both boys were deep asleep. Slowly I went downstairs, where in the living room John and Davey were hatching new electric inventions on a piece of paper. "Is Harry asleep dad? He looked very tired. And I bet Nicky is accompanying him, as he looked tired too. May we use the garage until we have to go home?" They went to the garage, and I decided to work on my book 'Little Harry' for a while. Soon I disappeared into the story, until the boys had to go home. "G'night dad, this time the fuses survived our experiments. Tomorrow we will be back, but first we both have to do some chores at home." They kissed me and we cuddled for a moment. "Give Harry and Nicky a hug from me." "And from me too." They went home, arms around each other's shoulders, and I went back to my story. At ten o'clock the phone rang. "BJ here. Is my youngest son with you? He's sleeping? OK, I'll see him back tomorrow. Take care of yourself!" I decided to call it a day, and went upstairs to have a nice hot shower. Suddenly a very sleepy face peeked at me. "What's the time pop? I have to go home..." "Your father has already phoned me, and tonight you are sleeping here. That is, if it's ok with you." "Of course. May I shower with you? I'll try to wake Harry up." A moment later two sleepy boys joined me under the shower. They were too tired, so I washed them and dried them. Together we went to my bedroom and crawled under the blankets, where little Harry claimed his usual place on my stomach and Nicky crawled into my right side. Soon we were deep asleep. The next morning I received an email, from our Rumanian friends. They asked us how Harold's surgery went, and when could we pay them a visit? I wrote them back with all the details about everything their little prince went through during the last several weeks, assisted by my little soul mate who helped me remember even the slightest details. "I want to write them something myself, dad, but I don't know how to write it in my own language..." "You could write it in our language, and ask their interpreter to translate it to them?" "Oh yeah... may I use the keyboard now dad? After I'm done you can help me to correct the errors." He sat down in front of the computer and his small fingers tried to find their way on the keyboard, searching for the right keys, concentrating hard. I went to the kitchen and returned with a cup of coffee and two glassed of orange juice. Eagerly he swallowed his drink, without even looking up. I left him alone and went to the porch, followed by Nicky, carrying his drink. "When are you going to the gypsies, pop? Are you driving the van, or are you going to fly? May I go with you? I never was in a foreign country before." "We will see. First we will send them the email and wait for their answer." After a long time little Harry appeared in the doorway. "I've finished my email dad. Will you have a look at it and send it to my people?" We went indoors and looked at his long email, with all the details about our visit to the graveyard and our conversations with Jack and his spirit friends. Three or four times my little soul mate stated how much he loved me, and how grateful he was to have his beautiful new face. 'I luve Dad very mutsj, and I also luve my best frend Nicky. I tink you wil luve him to and I tink he is ho our Wize Woman spook about Micky. I want Nicky to go wit us, and I want you to axept him as wan of our pieple to. It is wonderful tat we are al relatted to eatsj odder!" I kissed his forehead and decided to send the email as it was, with all errors, hoping the translator wouldn't have too much difficulty with it. I lifted my boy from the chair and sat him down on one knee, while I added a few things to the email. Little Harry clicked the 'send' key with a proud face; and the email was on it's way to Rumania. Nicky looked at little Harry. "Who's that 'Micky' you wrote about? Do I know him?" "That's you, when you were dad's eldest son and the heir to the throne. But that's a long time ago." "Huh?" I beckoned them over to the couch, and we told Nicky everything about little Harold's people visiting us, and what we remembered of our past lives. Nicky listened, open-mouthed. "So once, a long time ago, you were a gypsy leader and I was your son. And after that I was a gypsy leader myself? WOW! Now I want to go with you for sure!" He looked at little Harry with a smug face. "From now on you have to call me 'King Nicky the Dragon', as you are only a prince." "In your dreams!" little prince Harold answered, and they started a mock-fight; until I separated them. "If you want to be a king, or a prince, you also have to behave royally! Both of you." They laughed and started to tickle me, until all three of us were wrestling. I let them win, and they pinned my arms to the couch, grinning. "Now you have to give us your body, your heart, and your soul!" "You already have all three of them!" "You're crazy." They left me and started a new racing game on the computer, wriggling into the same chair. The doorbell rang, and John and Davey entered the living room. "Morning! Do you have something to eat, dad?" Nicky jumped up. "We got an email from Harry's gypsy people in Rumania, and I am King Nicky the Dragon!" "In your dreams!" little Harry laughed and poked Nicky in the ribs. "You are only a little snotty nose, just like me." We started to laugh, and I told little Harry how to let the emails show up. With a proud face he started the email browser and clicked on 'sent items'. "Well..." John commented after reading little Harry's email, "It's time for you to go to school and learn how to spell our language..." "DAD... You promised to help me with my errors. What will they think of me now..." "I think your people will love your email even more when they see it's really YOU who wrote it." "Oh..." Suddenly his face lit up. "There's a little blinking thing over here... does that mean there's a new email?" "Probably it's just somebody trying to sell us something we don't need at all... but click on 'received items' to look at it." "YES! They've sent us an answer! YIPPEE..." The email was a short one: "We invite all of you to join our next celebration, seven days from now. Details will follow." The room was dead silent... Then all boys started to cheer and dance around the room. "We're going to Rumania, we're going to Rumania!" I tried to get their attention, but they were too enthusiastic and didn't hear me. After a while they slowed down, and I could ask them two important questions. "Do you have a passport; and do your parents agree?" They hurried away to ask their parents, leaving little Harry and me looking at the email on the computer screen. I phoned my lawyer for instructions. He told me to ask for a written consent from all parents, verified, sealed, and stamped by a public notary, to always have with me. He also warned me not to use a mobile phone in that country, as it would certainly cost me lots of money. If necessary he would speed things up for us, to get all passports as soon as possible. Money was no problem? Of course not. The boys returned, panting. John had brought his passport with him, Nicky had one at home, but Davey didn't have one yet. Again I phoned my lawyer, who promised to get two passports as soon as possible, one for little Harry, and one for Davey. They would be available in the afternoon. He would also manage all assurances, including a green card for our van. In procession we went to all parents, to get their written consent and to discuss our plans. They had to ask school for a prolonged vacation, because we would travel with our golden van and would be away at least three weeks. All costs and insurances would be paid by me. I would try to let all the boys phone home every night, if possible. We went downtown and bought inflatable mattresses, sleeping bags, camping pillows, and lots of other things we thought we needed. A photographer took pictures of little Harry and Davey to be used in their passports, and we went to the town hall, where we got their passports within twenty minutes. We went to a notary, who sealed and stamped all consents. We bought a couple of maps to sketch the way to Rumania; and I bought a small GPS receiver, to know exactly where we were all the time. I paid everything with my inexhaustible credit card. We went to a Chinese restaurant, where the waiter guided us to a table for six in a cozy corner. Again little Harry was very curious about all spices, especially the 'green snot'. He asked the waiter, and after a while the chief cook appeared at our table, a nice Chinese man who didn't speak our language too well. He was very polite and explained to our nosy boy that the 'green snot' consisted of four herbs, mingled together with olive oil and a bit of salt. Little Harry thanked him exuberantly, proudly beaming. "Now I know how to make it, dad! I already have three of the herbs, and now I know what the missing herb is. That's the taste of home I missed..." Again the Chinese food tasted delicious, and soon we were all stuffed to the brim. We went home in a joyful mood, singing along with the music of the car radio. After a while John got a bright idea. "Dad, if we are careful, maybe we could try out the sleeping positions of all the seats?" I nodded, and the boys started to reposition all five chairs. They lined them up and thus created a nice bed, big enough to accommodate four boys. "When we are home, we will turn the front seats around and join them to the bed. Then it should be big enough for all five of us." They started to unpack the inflatable mattresses, and detected we forgot an air pump. They nearly panicked, afraid they had to blow all mattresses themselves. John painfully punched my arm. "DAD! We forgot a PUMP!" I turned the van around and we went back to the store, where we bought two electric motor pumps to attach to the cigarette lighter contact. I showed John the bruise where he punched me, but he just laughed. "Ah, poor little baby... shall I give it a kissykissy?" I tried to catch him, but he was too fast for my old body. Well, I will get him later on... Back home, the boys decided to spend the night in my bedroom, sleeping in their new sleeping bags on their new inflatable mattresses, to try them out. They went home to warn their parents, and were back within two minutes, carrying their pajamas with them to make things more real. We spent the rest of the evening planning things, looking at the various maps, trying out the GPS receiver, looking on the Internet at pictures of the Rumanian mountains, and making lists of things we should take with us. We decided to buy a couple of big suitcases, to attach onto the roof of our van. All the things we didn't need immediately could be put away in them. Even the naughty boys... The boys were far too wound up to go to bed, so we decided to go for a walk in the neighborhood. This time little Harry led the way. He guided us through the backyards, along all kinds of scary dark lanes, crossed a field of prickly bushes, hissed at barking dogs who promptly went silent, and all of the sudden we were back in our own backyard. Wow. He certainly knew the way! I complimented him and he smiled. "I've used those sneaky ways for two years now... Fortunately that's in the past!" Now we were tired and went upstairs, showered, put our pajamas on, and inflated the mattresses with the help of one of the air pumps and a small power supply. We lined the mattresses up and crawled into our sleeping bags, zipping them closed. "Night everybody!" "Good night!" After a while my old bones started to protest, as I was used to sleeping in a warmed waterbed. The mattress wobbled, the sleeping bag smelled of rubber and was too small, the pillow was too flat... Within an hour I sneaked into my waterbed, crept under the blankets and sighed contentedly. I closed my eyes and was asleep within two seconds. An hour later I woke up, feeling a cold body touching my back. The body threw his arms around my shoulders, sighed, and fell asleep. Ten minutes later a second cold body crept into my waterbed, felt the first body, walked around, and crawled into my arms with a deep sigh. Nicky and little Harry had found their places! I grinned and loved my boys. In the morning I woke up and found four boys in my bed, entangled into each other and me, all softly snoring. So much for trying out the new sleeping bags! I freed myself and looked at a floor littered with opened sleeping bags and pajamas. Nicky yawned and squinted at me. "Morning pop!" One by one the boys woke up and looked around with sleepy eyes. "Where are your pajamas?" They looked guilty, and Nicky leaned against me. "They started to cling and felt damp. I think I'm no longer used to them..." The other boys nodded, and they all went downstairs to try to cross their beams in the ceramic god. "Look out, you have to clean everything up yourself!" "Yes dad..." and off they went, wiggling their butts at me. When they returned, Davey had a bright idea. "Could we try to zip all sleeping bags together?" They immediately went at work, and fabricated one long blanket that could be folded together. "That's the solution! Now we can all sleep in the same bed in our van! You had a very good idea Davey!" Davey beamed and rolled himself into the long blanket, helped by the other boys. Soon he detected he was stuck and couldn't free himself. "Hey! You have to help me. I can't get out of here." The other boys laughed and went to the shower, leaving Davey in a panic, until I freed him. "I will GET them!" "Take it easy, next time you will be teasing one of the others. It's all part of the game." "I know dad, but for a moment I panicked." After breakfast we went downtown again, to buy a couple of suitcases and a lot of other things we thought of yesterday evening. When we returned, the boys carefully washed our golden van. They cleaned the windows, vacuumed the inside, and painstakingly removed all things we didn't need during our journey. When they were done, the van looked new in the bright sun. We went indoor and filled our new suitcases with all the things we needed in the near future, as clean clothes and towels. We attached the suitcases onto the roof, under a big plastic sheet, with a couple of ropes. The other things were stacked away into the back of the van. After carefully checking and double checking everything, we were ready to go! In procession we went to all parents, who of course had to tell the boys all sorts of advise which they immediately forgot. We all hugged each other, and now we were really ready to go. We entered our golden van, I started the engine, and we drove off, towards that mysterious place that's called 'Rumania'. Harry AnderS, alternative writer. Thank you for reading my stories, and thanks to Nifty for hosting them. I would like you to proofread my new chapters and comment on them. The latest version of the edited and new chapters is available on: http://www.harryanders.com (both in microsoft-word and in html) Please send your remarks to harry@harryanders.com Please help me improve the story. I could use more editors and proofreaders...