Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:18:44 +0200
From: Harry Anders <harry@harryanders.com>
Subject: Little Harry-22

Chapter 22. Going home, and we all feel homesick.

Slowly I opened my eyes and yawned. For a moment I didn't know where I was,
until the memories of the past few days came back into my mind. The
mountains, the waterfall, and the sheep yesterday. I turned around in my
empty double bed and looked around. Where was everybody? Where were my
boys?  A gust of panic grabbed me and I jumped out of the bed. What had
they done to my boys, and when had they kidnapped them? I hastened to the
window and looked outside, my heart bumping in my chest.

A sigh of relief escaped me. There they were, among a whole bunch of other
children, sitting around the smoldering campfire and enthusiastically
roasting marshmallows on thin stakes. I slumped down on one of the three
couches and started to laugh. Why did I panic? Didn't I really trust my own
gypsy people? I dressed and went outside.

"Hi dad, it's marvelous here! Come on, sit here and join us. Do you want a
marshmallow too?"

Little Harry patted the bench next to him. I sat down on the bench and took
a stake and a marshmallow. Before I could do anything else, two small
whirlwinds stormed at me and climbed onto my lap, competing for the best
place. I took two more stakes, put marshmallows on them and helped the
little boys to keep them just above the fire. Impatiently, we waited until
they were done. We blew on them until they were less hot and munched on
them with beaming faces. I felt like a child myself, and immensely enjoyed
the small festivity.

More grown-ups and children joined the fire and started to eat
marshmallows, until at last the basket was emptied. In the mean time a
couple of women had set up a small table and were buttering small
rolls. They distributed them, until everybody was stuffed and went back to
their caravans to wash their hands and faces. My boys joined me going to
our caravan.

John smiled at me.

"You were sleeping so angelically, softly snoring, with your thumb in your
mouth and a finger in your nose. We decided to let you sleep and left the
caravan carefully, so as not to wake you up."

I tickled his ribs and he squealed, trying to tickle me back. A moment
later I had four grinning boys on my neck, trying to floor me. Of course
they won and triumphantly pinned me to the floor, tickling me wherever they
could, until I begged them for mercy.

"Say 'uncle'."

"Never!"

With all my force, I got up and threw them off my belly, using one of the
couches as a grip. Before I could escape, they pinned me down again.

"Say 'uncle'!"

"I will go home alone, without taking you back with me!"

"Yes, pleeeease! We like it here! Would you really do that?"

Someone knocked on the door, and they let me go, promising to get me later
on. They disappeared into the bushes, together with a whole bunch of other
children.

I went outside, and was soon joined by the interpreter and Michail. In a
distance I heard the sounds of leaving cars. I asked Michail about them.

"Most men and women are working today. Some are specialized in selling
second hand cars, others are repairing tools, most women are mending
clothes and selling them on the market. We always try to be as honest as
possible. But sometimes, when we don't have enough money to buy food or
clothes, we don't have another option but steal, just to stay alive. That's
bad, but when you have no other options left, and you see your own children
starving and begging for food..."

His eyes started to water up, and he dried them with a sleeve of his
garment.

"Sometimes we take our children with us, neatly dressed, to beg. But most
of the time they are chased away or worse. And when they are back in the
camp, they are always miserable. Then we drive far away, to another region,
and take from there anything we can lay our hands on, to sell it here and
buy food for our poor children. But we are always careful not to steal from
our own folks, or from people that are as poor as we are. We only steal
from rich people who don't really miss it, and only when it's really
necessary to survive."

We sat down in silence for a long time. I started to understand how my
people had to struggle for life. And also why they were known everywhere
for stealing and robbing...

The day passed and felt like one big vacation. Now and then one of the boys
showed up for a quick hug before he went back to the playgrounds. In the
afternoon the boys took me with them to their secret and hidden places in
the woods and around several small waterfalls. They showed me the big
parking place, where the men parked their cars and spare caravans. They
took me to a path where they sometimes saw wild pigs and deer, and showed
me lots of wild rabbit holes. They now looked like wild animals themselves,
sun burnt and totally naked.

Again we showered under the waterfall, and again we joined the camp fire,
softly talking to each other and telling stories, translated by our
wonderful interpreter.

At night we all slept like horses, during the day the boys were busy
playing, exploring, hunting, and enjoying themselves immensely, while I
talked with the men and learned quite a lot about their habits and
oddities. Day after day we enjoyed every moment, until the day arrived we
had to go home...

The boys wanted to stay much longer, but we had to pass the border before
the 'visa' in our passports elapsed. The last evening all the people
celebrated our visit by handing us loads of small presents. My two little
friends wept and didn't want to leave my lap, until Michail promised them I
would be back after a while. We thanked our friends for their hospitality,
and the boys and I held a speech, telling them how much we enjoyed our time
with them, and how eager we were to come back next year.

For the last time we slept in our black-and-golden caravan, softly talking
about all the adventures we had and how much we enjoyed our
stay. Eventually we fell asleep, John and Davey together in one bed, Nicky
and little Harry in my arms in the other bed.

In the morning we woke up, all five of us lying in the same bed, totally
entangled into each other, not wanting to leave. At last we left our bed,
and this time we dressed.

"I don't want to wear clothes, dad. They're sticking to my skin, and they
are clammy and stinking. Can't we go naked?"

"I wish we could, but today we are going back to our 'civilization' with
all its restrictions and imposed conventions. They would arrest us
immediately."

Four moping boys dressed into their 'normal' clothes, grumbling and wishing
they could stay with their gypsy friends. We went outside and started to
carry our belongings to our golden van. A few men helped us, and soon
everything was stowed away. We all embraced each other and said farewell,
promising to come back as soon as possible. Little Harry's grandmother
showed up and hugged all the boys one by one, telling them how much she
loved them. I started our van and we drove off, following Michail's truck
with a sad Nicky in the front seat.

I had tears in my eyes and didn't see much of the surroundings, until we
parked next to the small hotel at the foot of the mountains. We entered the
hotel, and were enthusiastically greeted by the owners. We were overloaded
with foods and drinks, and little Harry told them everything about all our
adventures. After a while Michail had to go, and Nicky started to sob.

"When will I see you back again? I love you so much, and I want you to be
my third dad."

They cuddled for a long time, until Nicky felt better. For the last time we
all embraced Michail. He went to his truck and drove off, waving at us
before he disappeared.

Now we were on our own. We thanked the owners of the hotel and drove off,
on our way to our own home in our own country.

The boys were quiet for a long time. I searched the radio and found some
background music, but they didn't sing along with it, as they normally
did. Within an hour we were back into the civilized world and on the main
road to the border. Nicky threw his arms around my neck.

"Pop, when are we going back to our friends? I already miss them... and I
HATE to wear clothes."

"Well, first of all you will have to attend school, to become an educated
boy. And perhaps in the vacations we could visit them again for a few
days."

"Yes, pop, that would be wonderful. I think Michail and I know each other
from one of our past lives. Perhaps in that life we were best friends."

"I've thought about that too. That certainly could be the reason why you
liked each other so much."

He offered me a wet kiss and went back to little Harry to play a silly
game, to divert his thoughts.

Slowly the boys started to talk and make little jokes. But even the weather
didn't help us much, as the sun disappeared behind the clouds and rain
started to pour down. I switched the headlights on to be more visible to
the other traffic, and the wipers did their best to keep the front window
clear. Soon everything felt clammy and chilly.

We decided to drive on until we passed the famous Rumanian border, and then
look for a place to eat. Fortunately everything went well, despite the
heavy rain and now and then a lightning flash. Around noon we reached the
border. Again the customs had to check and double check everything, but
they couldn't find anything irregular so within half an hour we were on our
way again. I parked the van next to a small restaurant and we ordered
pizza, it being the only food that could compete with what we were used to
during the past few days.

Stuffed and feeling a lot better we drove on, until we were too tired and
decided to stop at a nice hotel, where we spent the night.

The next day we drove on and on, determined to cover as many kilometers as
possible. We were all bored and longed to be home. We made a few stops to
stretch our muscles or eat and drink something, and then we drove on again,
nearly oblivious to the beauty of the nature we passed. That night in a
small hotel we decided to visit the 'beehive' for a couple of hours.

That morning we woke up early and drove on again, to the big town. The sun
started to shine again, and the boys started to sing along with the
music. Davey looked at the GPS receiver which showed how many kilometers it
was to our beehive, John sat shotgun and talked about trivialities, Nicky
and little Harry played a few games or looked out of the windows.

"Twenty kilometers from here, dad! Do you know the way now, or do we have
to ask the way again?"

We entered the town, and of course we had to ask the way. A friendly woman
pointed us to the center of the town, where we found the five-story
beehive. I parked our van and again we were in awe at the sight of the
enormous building. Masses of people went in and out, many of them dragging
little children with them.

We entered the building and looked around, trying to determine where
everything was. The boys wanted to visit the school section first, so we
took the escalators to the third floor. They wanted to look for new school
agendas, but unfortunately those were all in a foreign language. Soon we
went on, walking from one section to the other. We marveled at the sight of
brand new computers and LCD television sets, tried wireless headphones,
played with gadgets, looked at the newest fashion in off the rack clothes,
and rushed to the next section.

After a while we decided to take a break and went to the restaurant on the
fifth floor, where we lingered for a while, sipping our coffee and
colas. Little Harry and Nicky both had to visit the toilet, so we all went
there and waited until everybody was ready and had washed their hands. Soon
we went on, visiting floor after floor. At last we were too tired and
decided to go back to our van and to drive on in the direction of home. We
took the escalators down to the exit, tired but feeling happy.

We exited the beehive and waited until our eyes were used to the sunlight.

Suddenly John asked: "Where's Nicky?"

We all looked around and I counted the heads. No Nicky! When had I seen him
for the last time? I hadn't the slightest idea...

"When did you see Nicky for the last time?"

"He was with us on the escalator. There he leaned down to fasten his
shoelace. I thought he would come after us..."

Not too worried, we returned to the beehive and entered the building. We
went to the escalators, expecting to find him there. We saw lots of
children, but no Nicky. Where could he be?

"John, could you tell me exactly where you saw him the last time?"

John pointed upstairs, to the second floor.

"There he fastened his shoelace. I thought he would follow us down the last
escalator."

We had to walk around to the ascending escalator, and went to the second
floor. Again we saw lots of children, but no Nicky. Now I started to be a
bit worried. What if he was lost in this enormous building and couldn't
find the exit? THE exit? This building had FOUR exits. What if he took
another exit and couldn't find our van? Where was he?

Again I cursed myself for not buying portable phones. I thought we wouldn't
need them during our trip to the gypsies. In a hurry we went back to our
van, hoping that Nicky had found an exit and now was waiting for us, but in
vain. Our cheerful blond-haired boy with his greenish eyes was nowhere to
be seen. Little Harry started to sob, and I took him into my arms.

"Do you remember, when you were lost in the zoo? You showed up after a
while! And Nicky will show up too, I'm sure he will."

Little Harry nodded and blew his nose in my handkerchief. We went back to
the escalator where John had seen him for the last time. Again we looked
around, this time walking further away, but again Nicky was nowhere to be
seen. Where could he be? We decided to walk towards the exit, from where we
could see both the building and our van. Ultimately, Nicky was a fairly
intelligent boy, who surely was able to find our van on his own.

Suddenly Davey shouted: "THERE HE IS!"

We all stormed to that small blond-haired boy next to the escalator, who
turned around and looked at us with fear in his brown eyes, ready to
fly. We mumbled "Sorry" and returned to the exit, now deeply
disappointed. Damn, he was the wrong boy!

We went through the exit and waited until our eyes were used to the
sunlight.

Suddenly little Harry shouted: "THERE HE IS!"

We all stormed to our van, where a small and vulnerable blond-haired boy
with greenish eyes sheepishly grinned at us.

"I thought you would never show up!"

The next moment he threw himself at me and buried his face in my chest.

"Sorry, pop, I had to fasten my shoes, and when I looked again you were
gone. I looked around for a while, until I decided to wait by our van,
hoping you would show up here."

We all cheered and high-fived each other before we entered our van. The
boys fastened their seatbelts, and we drove off, in the direction of home.

The boys wanted to use our bungalow tent for the last time. John and Davey
looked at the map and the GPS receiver, and found a big camping site.

"About one hundred and twelve kilometers away, dad. In one hour and twenty
three minutes we are there."

They brewed me a cup of coffee to fend off my tiredness, and started to
make plans for the evening.

"I hope they have a nice swimming pool, or a small lake in the
neighborhood."

"Couldn't we look for a nudist camping site? I'm tired of wearing those
clothes."

"Me too. They're sticking everywhere and they feel clammy."

"When I'm a grown-up, I'm going to buy a house at a naturist beach; or I'm
buying a big private estate with a huge fence, and all the neighbor
children are allowed to use my yard and my swimming pool, to swim naked if
they want to."

"Then you will be accused of pedophilia, and put into jail for the rest of
your life."

"Stupid grown-ups. I'm glad our dad is different!"

"Yeah..."

I grinned, and parked the van in a big parking lot. We went to the office
and booked a site for one night. The boys and I carried the bungalow tent
to our space, where they set our tent up in no time. We went back and
carried all the other stuff to our tent. A moment later they were gone,
looking for a swimming pool. Soon they were back.

"We've found a nice big pool, dad. Are you coming with us?"

We undressed and reluctantly put our swimming trunks on, with sour faces.

"Yuck! Why did they ever invent those awful things..."

We found the swimming pool and cannonballed into the water, eliciting a few
protests. But soon the boys were playing amongst the other children and a
few grown-ups, having lots of fun.

Later on we had dinner in a small restaurant outside the campground. We
wandered through the surroundings and admired the beautiful nature. We even
found a couple of rabbit holes. Little Harry wanted to place traps, but we
convinced him that wasn't a very good idea in this country. He had to wait
until we visited the Rumanian mountains again.

Tired but feeling happy, we returned to our bungalow tent and settled down
for the night. The boys zipped the sleeping bags together and put the air
mattresses next to each other. We undressed, laid down, and entangled into
each other, softly speaking for a while. Soon Nicky started to snore,
followed by little Harry. A moment later we were all deep asleep.

The next morning we had breakfast in the same small restaurant. The boys
neatly folded the bungalow tent, and we carried everything to our van. I
paid the receptionist and we drove off. We were on the last stage of our
way home and, according to Davey and our GPS receiver, we could expect
another six hours of driving.

The boys were a bit tense and started to tease each other until I told them
to sit quietly and fasten their seat belts. That helped, they started to
sing along with the music of the car radio. Of course Nicky and little
Harry both had to visit the toilet. We stopped at a gas station, where I
filled the tank of our van, helped by Davey, while John accompanied little
Harry and Nicky. Soon they were back, but now Davey had to visit the
toilet. OK, we weren't in a hurry...

Davey disappeared around the corner, and we waited patiently until he would
show up again.

Suddenly he stormed around the corner, nearly tripping over his own feet,
and hurried to the van. He opened the door and threw himself inside,
panting.

"That idiot is crazy! He asked me to suck his wiener, and when I refused he
tried to grab my balls! But I kicked him in his stomach, and ran away as
fast as I could."

He started to sob, and John threw his arms around him.

"Come on, he will be gone by now, and you are safe. Nothing will happen to
you. Next time we will go together and take a baseball bat with us, okay?"

Davey nodded and dried his eyes with a sleeve of his shirt. A bit
sheepishly, he looked around.

"He reminded me of what my father always did to me. But I wasn't really
afraid, just awfully angry. I hope I've kicked him a broken stomach!"

We started to laugh, and that broke the tension. John wanted to look for
the man and kick his nuts into his throat, but I dissuaded him. Perhaps
next time, but now we had to go home.

The boys got bored, and looked at the GPS every two minutes. Little Harry
and Nicky put two seats together in the sleeping position, and laid down
next to each other, softly talking. John and Davey started to make enormous
plans for their newest invention, that might have the potential to blow all
the fuses in the neighborhood. I laughed, and kept my eyes on the road.

After a few more hours of driving, we began to recognize the
surroundings. The boys became restless and tried to persuade me to drive
faster.

"I want to be home and get naked, dad. Those clothes are driving me crazy!"

"I don't think school will be pleased with you being naked in the
classrooms all day."

"Ha, ha! Isn't there a school for naturists or nudists? I'll search for it
on the Internet when we are home."

"Could we build a fence around the backyard, pop? There we could be naked
the whole day, without nosy neighbors reporting us to the police."

"In a few days you will be used to wearing clothes again. Within a few
months it will be wintertime, and then it's too cold to be in the nude."

"Okay, I will wear clothes from now on, but only under protest, because I'm
forced to."

Eventually, little Harry jumped up. "There, dad, there's our town! We're
nearly home."

The next moment they all sat glued to the windows. "There, dad, in that
clearing they burnt Harry's caravan down!"

We entered our quarter, rounded the corner, I parked our van in the
driveway, and we were home. For a moment we were quiet, and then the boys
started to cheer. We left the car, and John fished the keys out of my
pocket. He went to the front door and opened it. We went in, and closed the
door behind. Little Harry looked around and frowned.

"It feels strange, dad, like everything is way too small. Everything is
familiar, but at the same time it's like I'm seeing our house for the first
time..."

"Yes, pop, I've that same feeling. It's like I'm in a strange house, and
everything feels a bit too small."

We went to the kitchen and I brewed my first cup of homemade coffee in
three weeks, while John fetched a couple of drinks from the fridge.

"We have to fill the fridge, dad. It's nearly empty."

After a while we went outside and unloaded the van. The boys unfolded the
bungalow tent and wrapped it together. Surprisingly, this time they could
force it into the cover. With proud faces they toted it to the garage, to
be stowed away there until our next adventure. Little Harry took a plastic
sheet from the glove compartment and carefully unfolded it.

"That's the herb I missed. I took it with us from the mountains. Hopefully
it will grow here..."

He went to his herbs garden, to carefully plant there three small cuttings,
putting them under a plastic sheet after sprinkling them with half a cup of
water.

We carried the suitcases upstairs and emptied them. The boys searched their
own belongings from the pile, to take them home. Our used clothes went into
the hamper, to be washed. Most clothes were unused, as we were naked most
of the time, and they went into the bedroom closet. Finally everything was
sorted out and we went downstairs, to the living room. We talked for a
while, reflecting on our wonderful vacation time, until the boys wanted to
go home and see their parents.

We all went together and took Davey home first. Mary was glad to see her
son back, and delighted to detect he was in such a good shape, browned by
the sun all over and in perfect health. She thanked us, and we were invited
to have dinner with her. We refused politely, but promised to accept her
invitation the next time.

Next we brought Nicky home. BJ nearly crushed us, while Jason and Carl
overwhelmed Nicky with questions. Nicky laughed and promised to narrate
everything that evening.

John was a bit silent on the way home, with a frown on his forehead.

"I want to be home now, but at the same time I don't want to leave you..."

"I understand. But you will always be welcome in our house, and you will
always have your own room there."

"I know..."

Trudy was glad to see her boy back, and they embraced each other for a long
time. She got us something to drink, and John started to tell her about all
the adventures. Trudy interrupted him and invited us to have dinner with
her, but little Harry and I looked at each other and we had a conversation
without words. We wanted to be together tonight, just the two of us. We
refused politely, but promised to accept her invitation the next time.  We
went home, little Harry pushing into my side and my arm draped around his
small shoulders. No words needed to be spoken. We were happy with each
other.

Little Harry took the keys out of my pocket and opened the front door. We
went to the living room, where we sat down on our couch. After a moment he
crawled onto my lap.

"I feel strange, dad. I'm glad I'm home, but at the same time I miss my
people and my friends. I even miss Michi and Movi, Michail's sons, who both
were extremely fond of you. I had a wonderful time, and again I want to
thank you for taking me there! I look forward to the next time..."

He started to sob and buried his face into my chest. I got tears in my eyes
too. I missed my people, all the love, my two small friends, the waterfall,
our caravan... I took my handkerchief out of my pocket, and we both blew
our noses. We looked at each other and grinned.

"You are such a crybaby..."

"You too..."

Again we embraced for a long time. I felt RICH, having such a wonderful
young man as my son, and as my little soul mate.

We went to the supermarket, giggling and pushing each other like little
children. Little Harry pushed the cart, while I collected all the things we
needed in the coming weeks. He got a cardboard box from the stockroom,
while I paid with my credit card. Together we loaded everything into the
back of our van, and little Harry took the cart back.

I parked the van in our driveway, and we brought everything to the kitchen;
where we stowed it away into the fridge and the various cupboards. Little
Harry went outside with a cup of water to sprinkle his precious new herb
cuttings, and returned with a couple of herbs in his hands. He carefully
washed them.

"Are we cooking together, dad? I will tell you what you have to do."

The next twenty minutes we were busy cleaning the vegetables, slicing the
herbs, and cooking the potatoes. Slowly a delicious aroma filled the
kitchen and my stomach started to rumble. Little Harry stirred the sauce,
standing on a chair, and gave orders without looking up.

"Now you can put the potatoes onto the platters, dad. Be careful with the
vegetables, don't squash them. I'm nearly ready with the sauce."

Again the food tasted delicious. Again little Harry had proven to be a
talented cook, who could create a tasty meal out of ordinary things. I
complimented him, and he beamed.

"In two weeks I can use the new herbs, and then the food will have the
taste of our mountains."

After the meal, we washed the platters and cleared the table. I brewed a
cup of coffee and little Harry squeezed a couple of oranges. We took our
drinks with us to the living room.

"Tomorrow is my first day in school, dad. Will you help me get ready? I
have to put everything into my schoolbag."

"Are you glad now that you are going to school for the first time in your
life?"

"Sure! I want to be a lawyer to help my people when I'm a grown-up, so I
will have to study a lot."

He spread everything out onto the table and looked at the school list,
checking every single item.

"I have to write my name on my things, dad. Do you have a marker?"

I offered him a blue marker, and he wrote carefully onto everything, in
proud letters: 'Harry AnderS Romany'.

"Now I'm ready to go to school. I will study as much as I can, to be able
to help my people when the time is right."

We set the alarm clock, to be sure we would wake up in time, and showered
together. I put him to bed in our waterbed, and he clamped his arms around
my neck.

"Thanks, dad, for being my dad. I really, really, really love you. You are
the best dad in the whole world."

He closed his eyes and fell asleep, probably dreaming of his first day in
school. I went downstairs to work on my story 'Little Harry', a story that
at some time might change our world. Soon I disappeared into the story,
until I felt too tired to go on.

I went upstairs, undressed, and got into our waterbed. Immediately my
little soul mate shifted towards me and nestled himself in my arms. I LOVE
that boy! My precious son, my little gypsy prince, who someday will fulfill
grandiose deeds in our world. But first he had to attend school tomorrow.

I felt wonderful, loving and loved, caring and cared for, father, friend,
educator, and responsible helper-- all in one. I had found my purpose in
life.

Soon I fell asleep, dreaming of a better world full of love.


          THE END OF BOOK ONE.


Thank you all for proofreading my story, for reading it and enjoying it,
and for all the wonderful emails you sent me!

The story will go on, starting with book two, but first I have to prepare
book one to be ready for publishing, and that's a lot of work!

I will let you know where you can buy a copy of the book. Just be
patient. In the meantime you could reread the completed story on my
homepage:

http://www.harryanders.com
There you will also find all the extra information.

Please send all emails to: harry@harryanders.com
Thanks to Nifty for hosting my stories.
Harry AnderS