- Harry AnderS -
Dutch psychotherapist and alternative writer

 

The wonderful adventures of a little Gypsy boy

Born as a Prince 1
Book 1: Heir to the Throne
- by Harry AnderS -

A children's series of stories

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

 

In book 1 'Heir to the Throne'; a little Gypsy boy narrates the story of his first five years in a secluded place in the Rumanian mountains, surrounded by huge woods and dense forests.
He is the Heir to the Throne, and soon he will be our Chief Cook(ie) and a Real Trapper...

Book 2 'Our Lucky Mascot' will follow; where he discovers the gadjo world outside, is imprisoned during a police raid, has his own little snow scooter, and finally travels to foreign countries...

 

Chapter 19 ended with:

    Suddenly, I felt a pang of fear, and shuddered at the thought that crossed my mind...
Would my Dad be very mad at me, for leaving Misha alone and getting lost?
The older and more experienced boys HAD warned us not to get lost in the dense forest...
And my Dad had clearly told me to ALWAYS listen to them...
What if my Dad thought I had proven to be too young to go into our woods?
Supposed, he would decide to let me wait for another year or so...
I nearly started to cry at the terrifying thought!
I was USED to our woods, and didn't want to miss them...

    What if Misha was mad at me for leaving him alone, and would stop being my friend?
I didn't want to miss my special friend Misha either...
Everything had been the fault of that stupid porcupine!
The next time I saw it, I would KILL it and slowly roast it over our campfire!
This time, I started to laugh at my own stupid anger.
I couldn't even CATCH it...
I resumed my play and threw the next pebble into the ravine, nearly hitting the same crow or one of its friends.

    I heard my Dad's voice again, now sounding from quite nearby:

    "Harry, where are you? Can you hear us?"

    "Yes, Dad, you are nearby now. Just keep walking."

 

Chapter 20. Home again; and Misha is going to be my teacher.

    A couple of branches cracked, and two grinning men appeared from the dense forest.
They squinted in the sudden sunlight, and looked around...
    I jumped up and threw myself at them, shouting a loud Indian howl:

    "MICHAIL! And DAD! You've found me! Sorry for being such a nuisance..."

    They almost crushed me, by throwing their strong arms around my shoulders and lifting me high into the air at the same time...
I started to cry again, caused by all my built-up emotions that were suddenly overflowing me...
I was laughing and crying at the same time, while my sobs still tried to let me hiccup.

    We sat down on a few flat boulders, and I crawled onto my Dad's safe lap.
He folded his strong arms around me, and that was the most wonderful experience I had ever had!
I was safe again!

    I put my sore feet trustingly into Michail's lap, to let him have a look at them.
Michail looked at my swollen feet and painful legs, and winced at the terrible sight.
He spitted into his hands; and, very carefully, slowly started to massage them.
That felt really good, while I tried to bear the pain and relax some more...

    My dad had tears in his eyes, while he cradled me and kissed my head:

    "Boy, I have been so worried! I was afraid you could have fallen into a ravine... How did you get lost?"

    "Misha and I were playing a game, to exercise our trapper skills. He walked into the dense forest, and after twenty seconds I tried to follow and catch him. At first, everything went well; but the third time, I thought I heard him rustling away in front of me, and I followed that sound. I tried to catch up with him, but every time he was too fast and hurried away. After a long time, we reached a clearing, and there I saw I had followed a stupid porcupine! I think I was sneaking away too noiselessly, and Misha didn't hear me any more. I'm so sorry..."

    "There's no need to be sorry, as you didn't do anything wrong. You couldn't know Misha had suddenly changed into a porcupine, could you?"

    "Of course not! But I'm afraid Misha will be mad at me, and not want to be my friend any more..."

    "Misha is devastated and crying his heart out. He thinks you fell into a ravine, and he's sure everything is his fault..."

    My Dad rose from our boulder, and carefully lifted me onto his broad shoulders.
Together, we walked home, closely followed by Michail who was still shaking his head about my sore legs.
Within half an hour, I started to recognize our own surroundings...
Twenty minutes later, we entered our camp, and I was HOME.
Again, I got tears in my eyes and started to sob; but, again, I was NOT a crybaby!

    The very moment we entered our camp, everybody started to cheer and dance around.
They were very relieved to have their beloved little Prince and Chief Cookie back alive and healthy!
My Dad sat me down onto our own wooden bench, where I leaned into him and tried to dry my tears of joy.
I was home again!
 
    All my friends crowded around me, and tried to overwhelm me with zillions of questions.
My Mom made her way through the growing crowd, lifted me from my bench, and took me into her arms.
She tried to suffocate me by nearly squashing my ribs, but I didn't object at all...
    Now, I had only one burning question:

    "Where is my friend Misha?"

    Michail went to his caravan, and disappeared inside...
A moment later, a very pale looking boy appeared, hesitating and looking at his feet:

    "I'm so sorry... Everything is my fault, and I shouldn't have left you alone in that dense forest. I was so stupid..."

    "Misha, now shut up and listen to me. Are you listening now? Okay...
    " It was ME who did something stupid, by following a porcupine! I should have known better, but I was too stubborn and didn't give up until it was too late.
    "Now, please, don't try to steal away MY attention, by playing the victim. It is ME who is the poor victim here, and I'm LOVING all the attention the people around me are offering me. Okay?
    "Now, I want you to give me a big hug! That is, if you still want to be my friend..."

    Misha looked shocked, hesitated, and didn’t know what to do...
A few kids started to laugh, and that seemed to wake him up.
He looked into my eyes, to see whether I was trying to make fun of him...
All the others started to join in the laughing, seeing me winking at him.
Now, Misha couldn't keep a straight face any more...

    The sun returned into his eyes, and he got some color on his face...
Suddenly, he lifted me high into the air, as usual, and we hugged and started to tickle each other.
I had my friend back!

    Our Wise Woman turned up, looked at my sore feet with a shocked face, shook her head in disbelief, and went back to her caravan.
Soon, she turned up again, now carrying a couple of jars and a steaming cup holding some kind of greenish tea.
First, she smeared my swollen feet with a stinking brownish paste, to let them heal properly.
Then, she smeared my sore legs with another paste, to help my cramped muscles recuperate from the strain.
I had to swallow her sour tasting tea, got goose bumps all over my body, and burped a few times.

    Again, she shook her head, now looking at me with her piercing eyes:

    "You have strained your muscles way too much. Your brain might be well developed, but your body is only five years old! Don't leave our camp for at least three days, until your legs and feet are healed...
    "Tomorrow, I will bring you another cup of tea to release the strain; and, please, don't do this ever again! I have never been so worried..."

    She got tears in her eyes, sniffled a bit, blew her nose in a tissue, and turned around.
Without looking back, she went to her caravan, carrying her jars and empty cup and still shaking her head.
I wasn't very pleased to be grounded for three days, but knew I had to listen to her for my own well-being!
Fortunately, the pain in my legs and feet immediately started to diminish, apparently due to the stinking paste and the sour tasting tea.

    Of course, everybody wanted to know how I happened to get lost in our woods, despite Misha's well-known trapper skills.
I sat down on our wooden bench, cleared my throat, and started to tell my story...
Vividly, I told my audience how Misha and I had been playing a game of sneaking into each other to improve our trapper skills, how I had followed the rustling sound of a stupid porcupine instead of Misha, and how I had spent the night in a reeking lair full of nasty bugs, accompanied by a couple of snoring rats...

    "Aha, now we understand what has happened to you... Boy, you had us worried! Misha cried his heart out, because he thought you could have fallen into a ravine..."

    I nodded my head, cuddled up to my still trembling friend, and asked him to tell us what had happened to him...
Misha affectively put his arm around my shoulders, and started to tell his story...
He told the audience and me how he didn't hear me any more; and, at first, he thought I was teasing him by hiding in some dense shrub.
He started to sneak around in circles, grinning, and very determined to find me and tickle me to death once he found me...
After a while, he started to feel a bit uneasy, gave up, and told me to stop teasing him and show up because I had won.
I didn't answer his pleads, and now he panicked and shouted my name for a long time, desperately looking everywhere.
At last, he thought I could have fallen into a nearby ravine, and hurried to our camp to ask our people for help...
 
    Our vice leader, my Big Friend Michail, sat down next to us and started to tell us his side of the story.
He told us how everybody immediately followed Misha into the dense forest to try to find and rescue me.
They looked for me everywhere, loudly shouting my name, until the darkness set in and they had to give up their search.
All of them were devastated, and they prayed our Ancestors to be with me and bring me home safely...
Early in the morning, everybody resumed the searching, spreading out and looking into every ravine and hidden crack.
Finally, my Dad heard my voice, answering his desperate calls from a far ravine...

    My Dad had been listening silently, and now he beckoned Misha over:

    "Misha, please, come here, and sit down next to me..."

    Misha looked frightened, swallowed a couple of times, and started to tremble all over.
Obviously, he expected our King to punish him for leaving his little Prince alone in the dense forest...
Immediately, I prepared myself to defend my best friend if necessary!
Everything I had done hadn't been Misha's fault, but solely my own stupidity...
I rose from my bench, took Misha's hand, and almost dragged him towards my Dad.
    My Dad saw my determination, started to laugh, and motioned Misha to sit down on our bench next to me:

    "Misha, I want you to teach my son how to orientate himself in our woods."

    Misha suddenly veered up and looked at my Dad in shock, with bulging eyes.
Clearly, this instruction absolutely wasn't what he had expected!
Slowly, he slumped down again, next to me, now staring at his feet.
    He shook his head in disbelief; and almost started to stutter:

    "But... but I've LOST him! Sorry, but I'm not good enough to teach him anything..."

    "Well, I am convinced that you ARE good enough, and I'm sure I can trust you to teach my son everything he has to know.
    "You are an excellent trapper, and I know that my son will learn quite a lot by looking at your skills and practicing under your supervision.
    "However, I am not ordering you; I'm only asking you a favor..."

    Misha looked flabbergasted; and shook his head some more, as if he didn't believe what he had heard.
Slowly, an unsure smile started to round his lips, while he looked at me questioningly and hesitantly...
    I looked back at him, punched his arm forcefully, and nodded my head vigorously:

    "Yes, Misha, I WANT you to be my teacher. You ARE an excellent trapper. Now, please, say yes to my Dad..."

    Misha nodded, still looking hesitantly, and slowly getting tears in his eyes.
Now, I threw my arms around his neck and tried to suffocate him, feeling delighted!
Yes, finally, Misha would start to teach me how he was able to find his way in the densest of forest without ever getting lost, as he had promised me many times before...
    My Dad started to laugh again, and looked at our cuddle, showing little fun lights in his eyes:

    "Misha, now there's only one other thing I want to ask you. The next time you're turning into a porcupine, please guide my son back to our camp instead of to an unknown ravine..."

    Everybody around us started to laugh, and many people congratulated Misha with his new job as my private teacher.
Slowly, Misha started to beam and smile from ear to ear, looking more and more proud.
    He dried his eyes, turned towards me, and asked a bit hesitantly:

    "Okay, I will teach you everything I know. Shall we start our lessons tomorrow morning?"

    "I would like that, but our Wise Woman told me not to leave our camp for at least three days..."

    "That's good! That way, I will be able to teach you a couple of important things in advance!"

    "Okay, then I will be here on our bench early in the morning, to have my first lesson."

    "Please, don't be here too early, because I think I will need a lot of beauty sleep first after all those heavy emotions..."

    "Well, I'm afraid a BEAUTY sleep will be totally spilled on you..."

    "WHAT?"

    Misha started to tickle me mercilessly; and I shrieked with laughter and desperately tried to tickle him back.
Everything was normal again!

 

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

Have a look at my ADULT stories, about a retired Dutch psychotherapist taking the now eight years old and severely burnt little Gypsy boy into his house and raising him.
The adult story is on Nifty in adult-youth, contains NO sex, and is callled: 'Born to be a King'...
Just click this link to go to Nifty, or go to my homepage to read the latest versions.

All the stories are on my own homepage as well: http://www.harryanders.com
Just click this link to go there and read the latest and rewritten versions (recommended)!

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