- Harry AnderS -
Dutch psychotherapist and alternative writer

The wonderful adventures of a little Gypsy boy

Born as a Prince 2
Book 2: Our Lucky Mascot
- 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...

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

Book 2 chapter 4 ended with:

    "Well, I've thought about this for a long time, after my Dad told me the decision would be mine...
    "I am looking quite different from all of you, because I've inherited my Mom's blonde hair and blue eyes. Of course, all those gadjo's will look at me first, and maybe they don't like blonde Gypsies with blue eyes and will chase us away...
    "I also don't know how to 'beg' properly, because I've never done it before. I think I wanted to visit the gadjo world because I'm curious, and I do know that curiosity killed the cat...
    "If I'm accompanying you tomorrow, you will have to protect me, as I'm the smallest runt in our group and can't defend myself from the spitting or kicking...
    "The only advantages I will have are my blue puppy dog eyes and my vulnerability as a small boy..."
    "Now, I am asking you, do you REALLY want me to join you tomorrow?"

    All my friends were staring at me open-mouthed and with shocked faces...
Obviously, they were very impressed by my improvised speech!
    Suddenly, one of the bigger boys started to laugh, and playfully ruffled my hair:

    "Wow, little man, you are using big words! 'Inherited, accompanying, advantages, vulnerability'... I'm almost breaking my tongue over those words myself! Are you really only five years old?
    "However, I have to agree: you ARE a small and vulnerable little runt, and it's quite possible we will have to protect you from all those too keen gadjo's...
    "Now, I'm having a suggestion for you... as long as you are only our little chief cookie, we will defend YOU with OUR lives; and, once you are a grown-up and our King, you will defend US with YOUR life!
    "What do you think about that... do we have a deal?"

    I had never seen it that way, and veered up, now smiling from ear to ear...
As long as I was a small boy, they would protect ME from those too keen gadjo's; and, once I was their King, I would protect THEM...
I nodded enthusiastically, and we had a deal!

    I rushed to my parents; to tell them how I decided to accompany my friends to that gadjo town tomorrow.

    I woke up, early in the morning, and immediately jumped out of my bed, already feeling bright and shiny.
My parents were still snoring in their double bed, being totally entangled into each other's arms.
I couldn't wait until they opened their eyes and helped me find my neatest clothes!
However, I decided to let them have some more sleep, went to our living room, and stared out of the windows.
 
    I waved at another couple of early birds who were lounging around our campfire and waiting for the things to come...
They were looking strange now, being dressed up in their nicest 'winter' outfits...
Normally, all of us went around naked all the time, unless the cold forced us to wear some clothes.
Only our grown-ups used to be dressed most of the time, or at least while they were outside their caravans.
Our kids only started to dress reluctantly by the time they were reaching puberty and started to look for a wife in another clan...

    I saw Michail, walking towards his own caravan, of course already being dressed in his inseparable fur coat.
Maybe, my Big Friend would be able to help me with dressing?
    I jumped up impatiently, opened our front door, and shouted:

    "Michail... Please, can you help me to dress? Mom and Dad are still sleeping..."

     Michail laughed at my eagerness, and shook his head before he disappeared into his own caravan:

    "Just be patient... We won't dare leaving the camp without taking you with us! I am sure your parents will wake up soon, and I have to look after my own little boys first."

    Feeling a bit disappointed, I closed the door and shuffled back to our living room...

    "Harry, Harry... didn't I teach you to always be patient and wait for your turn?"

    My Dad was using my nickname 'Harry', so I knew he wasn't really angry with me.
I rushed to my parent's bedroom and launched myself onto the double bed, throwing my arms around my Dad's neck and trying to suffocate him.
He grinned, teasingly kissed my nose and chin, and started to tickle my ribs and belly.
    My Mom woke up, groaned, yawned a couple of times, and looked at me with still sleepy eyes:

    "Couldn't you wait for another hour or so? I am sure it's still dark outside."

    "It's not! Misha and Biny and Jonno are already outside, having their neatest clothes on. And Michail is awake, but he didn't want to help me..."

    I jumped off my parent's bed, and tried to drag my Mom towards the door to get my clothes.
She started to laugh, left the bed, tenderly ruffled my hair, and fetched a couple of clothes from a drawer.
I snatched them out of her hands, and dressed in a hurry.
Then, I had to redo all the buttons and turn my T-shirt around...
She laughed again, washed my face, combed my hair, and told me to properly lace my shoes.
Now, I was finally dressed, and hurried outside to join the other kids.
By now, most of them had gathered around our smoldering campfire, fidgeting and wandering around impatiently.

     Suddenly, we heard a well-known sound, coming from outside our circle of caravans, and all of us started to cheer.
Michail's enormous truck appeared from our parking lot, already pulling a huge caravan.
All the kids jumped up and down, crowding around it and being eager to get in.
    Michail climbed out of his truck, grinned, and started to count our heads:

    "I'm counting twenty-two noses, so that's, let's see... It's fifteen older kids into the caravan, and the seven younger ones into the back seat of my truck."

    I cheered again, as I realized I would be riding in Michail's enormous truck, for the first time!
The fifteen older kids bolted into the caravan, accompanied by Jonno's father at a bit slower pace.
Our technical man, Pietro, helped the seven younger ones climb the huge truck and sit in the back seat, crowding together.
He climbed into the front seat, Michail tooted the horn, our parents waved at us, and our combination drove off.
We were on our way to a gadjo town, to beg for foods and, if possible, huge piles of that valuable gadjo money...

    The back seat was packed with seven kids; and, after some time, I started to feel a bit sweaty and uncomfortable.
We were supposed to be the 'smaller ones', but all those other kids were at least half a head taller than I...
I tried to stretch out as far as I could, but didn't succeed in looking outside because all those heads were in my way...
Would they allow me to climb into the front seat of the truck, where was plenty of space left next to Pietro?
    I thought it to be a brilliant idea, politely tapped Pietro's head, and looked at him using my best puppy dog eyes:

    "Please, Pietro, may I sit next to you, as I'm only a small boy, and it's way too crowded over here?"

    Pietro turned around, looked at me, and started to laugh at seeing my anxious face:

    "Of course you may sit here, because you are my own little mechanic engineer! Can you climb that huge console on your own?"

    I didn't know what he meant with 'that huge console', but thought it would be the enormous box in between the front seats, where Michail now and then clutched a big pin with a knob...
I started to climb, but halfway across the box Pietro lifted me up and transported me to his seat effortlessly.
He sat me on his lap, folded his strong arms around me, and held me close with his chin tenderly resting on my head.
I grinned like crazy, and immensely enjoyed the splendid outside view I suddenly had.

    Michail competently steered the enormous truck and caravan combination through our vast woods.
We went through small clearings, past huge trees, along steep ravines, all the time avoiding most dangerous potholes and enormous boulders.
Now, I admired Michail as my own hero, and wanted to be like him once I would be a grown-up and able to drive such an enormous truck myself!

    After half an hour of crossing, we left the forest and entered a huge clearing surrounded by steep walls.
Michail stopped, parked our combination, and I looked in awe at an enormous two-story caravan without any wheels, cleverly built against one of the walls.
All of us left our truck and caravan, to stretch our muscles and, if necessary, take a fast leak in the surrounding bushes.
Then, we gathered and looked at the strange caravan...

    A smiling woman appeared in its double doorway, and waved at Michail, Pietro, and Jonno's Dad.
Now, she looked at me, smiled even more, and enthusiastically beckoned me over:

    "I think you are our young Prince Harold? You certainly are a good-looking lad! Please, follow me, because I have something for you to serve out..."

    I was a bit unsure what to do now, and looked hesitantly at Michail and the other grown-ups...
Michail winked at me, and started to walk towards the strange caravan.
Pietro and Jonno's father joined him; and I decided to follow them.
I joined them towards the huge caravan, albeit a bit more hesitantly, while the other kids stayed outside and looked at me with some jealousy...

    We entered the huge front door, stepped inside, and I looked around feeling totally perplexed...
We entered what had to be the largest living room that had ever been built in a caravan!
In a corner of the room, a gadjo man was busy brewing some nicely smelling coffee.
Many windows offered an open look at the clearing, where the other kids were frolicking around or staring at the huge caravan.
The woman told us to sit down around a large dark and shiny wooden table, while the man in the corner rummaged with some cups and glasses.

    After a moment, the grown-ups each got a cup of coffee, and I got a big glass of yellow lemonade with an ice cube in it.
I sipped my tasty lemonade and let the ice cube melt in silence, still looking around curiously at what surely had to be the largest caravan in the world.
How would they ever be able to transport it, being fitted against a wall and without any wheels attached?
What if they wanted to move it to another place? Wouldn't this caravan be way too heavy to transport?
    My curiosity won over my shyness, and suddenly I blurted:

    "Michail, how come this caravan hasn't got any wheels? How will they ever be able to pull it away?"

    All the grown-ups started to laugh, and I felt a bit ashamed and stared at my feet.
Did I ask them such a stupid question?
After a moment, the nice woman ruffled my hair, and told me she understood I had never been outside our secluded camp and had never seen a brick building...
She told me this huge thing wasn't a 'caravan', but it was called a 'building'; and it was not intended to ever be wheeled away.
This particular building was called a 'hotel', and it accommodated many rooms where people could spend the night before they went on with their voyage.

    I would soon be able to see many smaller buildings, called 'houses', where lots of people were living with their families as we used to live in our caravans.
If they ever wanted to move to another place, they didn't take their houses with them, but sold them for money, and elsewhere bought themselves another house.
I thought it to be a very strange way of living, and wasn't sure I wanted to ever do such a weird thing myself...
I was way too used to our own black-and-golden caravan, where I knew every small corner, hole, and scratch!

    After I had emptied my glass of lemonade, the nice woman handed me a basket filled with shiny red apples.
That was a real treat for us kids, as we weren't used to having apples in our mountains, and I thanked her abundantly.
Pietro helped me carry the heavy basket outside, while Michail and Jonno's father carried a huge tray of filled plastic lemonade cups.
The kids cheered when they saw us coming, and huddled together to receive their cup of lemonade and an apple.
Soon, the tray and the basket were emptied, and all of us felt less hungry while munching on the tasty apples and sipping our lemonade.

    We put the empty cups back onto the tray, and said goodbye to the hotel owners.
The nice woman wished us all the best, and told us to visit her again before we went home.
    Again, she ruffled my hair, now looking at me a bit sadly:

    "It's a real shame you have to accompany the others to beg..."

    I absolutely didn't agree with her, but was sensible enough to keep my mouth shut...

    All the kids reentered our caravan and enormous truck, the smaller ones climbing in with a little help from Pietro.
I climbed onto Pietro's lap in the front seat, Michail tooted the horn, and we drove off, waving at the nice woman until we rounded a corner.
Again, we were on our way to that strange gadjo world...

    Soon, we left our mountains, while I sat glued to the front screen and didn't know where I wanted to look first!
We entered a strange and leveled landscape, marred by what Michail called 'highways', being several endless roads made out of grayish 'concrete'.
I had never seen so many cars racing each other and driving past our truck at such a high speed...
It made me feel a bit dizzy; and, as a precaution, I kept my eyes shut for a while, only looking now and then.
After some time, I got used to the constantly passing by of all those fast cars that seemingly were in a tremendous hurry.
Now and then, we passed a wrecked car, obviously left behind along the road by the unfortunate owners.
I surely hoped Michail's truck wouldn't have any breakdowns...

    Finally, Pietro pointed me to what looked like a huge and ugly caravan camp in a far distance.
Thousands of brick 'houses' and other 'buildings' were set together, seemingly at random and rather disorderly.
None of them were neatly placed around a campfire, as we always did in our own community.
Were those gadjo people really very untidy, or did I miss something?
    Pietro kissed the top of my head, and told me:

    "There's the gadjo town where you are going to beg today."

    Michail slowed our truck down, and adeptly turned the combination into a small secluded clearing along the road.
He shut the engine off; and, all of a sudden, everything was surrealistically silent...
Being impressed by the sudden silence, we left our truck and caravan, and gathered around Michail.
    He looked at us, one by one, showing a sad expression, as if he didn't want to let us go:

    "Your parents did already explain what you have to do? Always be polite, but try to be persistent in telling the people you and your family are hungry and don't have any money to buy food...
    "Try to produce a couple of tears, as sometimes tears seem to help with the begging, by making good-hearted people feel more sympathy...
    "Don't ever enter any houses on your own, and always be very careful not to be trapped or get lost in an unknown part of the town...
    "Now, the more experienced children will choose one of the younger ones to guide and help them, and all the others will pair up as well...
    "Please, return to us as soon as you are in any trouble, or else, at any time before the sun starts to descend. We will wait here for you."

    Michail hugged us, one by one, showing tears in his eyes, while he told us to be brave and very careful.
I didn't fully understand why he was crying, but decided not to ask him.
Maybe, I would soon be able to find it out for myself...

    Misha immediately turned towards me, before one of the other youngsters had any chance to claim him:

    "Do you want us to go together again?"

    "Well... I'm not quite sure... perhaps one of those other boys will be more entertaining?"

    Misha chuckled and started to tickle my ribs mercilessly, until I squealed and begged for mercy.
Of course, we were going together, as usual!
We had never been in any doubt about that.

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Thank you for reading the next chapter of this story 'Born as a Prince 2 - Our Lucky Mascot'.
This is the SECOND 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 , to let me know the story has at least 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