Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 16:20:20 +0200
From: Harry Anders <harry@harryanders.com>
Subject: Little-Harrys-youth-7

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============================

LITTLE HARRY'S YOUTH

The end of chapter 6 said:

We walked into the rising sunlight, towards a highway that led to our
mountains. After a while I was too tired to walk, and from now on I shifted
from shoulder to shoulder. At last a nice truck driver with an empty truck
stopped at our signals, and took us to our crossing, where we abundantly
thanked him for his kindness.

Again we walked and walked, until we reached the hotel in the clearing, now
being dead tired.  The nice hotel owners took care of our blisters and
cramped muscles, while one of the men drove to our camp. Soon he returned,
followed by a couple of our own cars to pick us up.

I honestly can't tell you what happened next, as I fell asleep in the car
and woke up in my own bed, halfway through the next day...

-----------------

Chapter 7. Clever gadjo's, inner power, snow scooters.

I woke up, feeling as stiff as a dead tree. Not the baby-stiffness my Dad
once teased me with, but this time I was really stiff. Everything felt
sore, and all my muscles ached. I hobbled out of bed and wavered to the
toilet where I emptied my bowels and my bladder. I took a hot shower, and
slowly felt a little bit better, while my Mom dried me and tenderly applied
some oil to my sore limbs.

I went outside, where the grown-ups started to cheer when they saw me:

"Hi, little jailbird, where are your beautiful trousers? Don't you miss
them?"

"You are crazy! From now on I will NEVERMORE wear any trousers for the rest
of my life!"

One of the men grinned, reached behind, and handed me the so loathed police
trousers:

"Here they are. I thought you would want to keep them?"

With a sour face I threw them into our campfire. I sat down; and looked at
the blaze for a long time, while the yellowish flames slowly burned away
the memories of those cruel police officers, with or without tears in their
eyes. I thought I felt more grown-up this morning, as if the adventures of
the past day could have aged me by a couple of years. How strange...

Michail handed me a bowl of soup and a couple of rolls, and I devoured a
healthy meal, filling my emptied stomach and enjoying the feeling of slowly
fading hunger. Michi and Movi, Michail's small sons, both crawled onto my
lap, and this time I tolerated them. I felt like sort of a big brother to
them, and thought I could get used to the idea. Maybe they even would be
fun to play with some time...

I fed them small pieces of my roll, and laughed at the funny sight of two
open-mouthed little birdies.

I heard the men talk, and at last got an idea of what had happened:

My Dad had done what he always used to do when there wasn't enough food
left to feed everybody. He had sent the children to a nearby town to beg,
and a couple of grown-ups went to another town far away to lay their hands
on everything that could be valuable or useful. They were always very
careful not to take things from the poor, but only from wealthy people who
wouldn't really miss them.

This time a suspicious gadjo saw them, and followed them in his own car
when they went home. He tailed them from a distance until he was sure where
we had set up our camp, and went to a nearby police station to inform the
officers about his suspicions. Now the police officers knew where our camp
was, and arrested a couple of our men to interrogate them. They didn't plan
to arrest any children, didn't know what to do with me, and hadn't the
slightest idea I was a little Prince and they had captured our King too...

Fortunately the police officers hadn't found our hidden places, and from
now on we had enough goods, foods, and money to survive the next year, all
due to my 'begging' with my blue puppy dog eyes! Again I felt more
grown-up, and I was proud I had been able to assist my people, even when I
hadn't the slightest idea how I had done it...

(In most foreign countries the 'Lei' wasn't worth much, but in Rumania you
could buy lots of valuable things with the amount we had now.)

I told our men my story, and they started to laugh at my childish ideas
about 'feeling up' and 'abusing'. They kindly explained everything to me,
and soon I knew a lot more about the difference between 'being lovingly
cuddled and getting a stiffy' or 'being abused by a selfish predator
without any consideration'. They also explained the importance of respect,
real love, and mutual consent.

Now I understood everything, and suddenly I grinned:

"Next time I want you to pay me when you are touching me there!"

"Then you will have to look for another victim to wheedle..."

I laughed, and tried to join the twins on Michail's big lap. Unfortunately
his lap wasn't big enough for the three of us, so I helped Michail prepare
his boys for their afternoon nap. Ten minutes later all three of us were
soundly asleep, leaving a grinning Michael looking at three little boys,
all of them entangled into each other and softly snoring.


That night I had a nightmare, dreaming of thousands of police officers
waiting in a long row to feel me up and abuse me one by one. The next
morning my Dad told me I had been yelling so loudly that the whole camp
woke up, and they all hurried to our caravan to rescue me...

I couldn't remember anything of the yelling, and just grinned at the idea:

"Maybe they thought YOU were abusing me?"

"I will let you experience what abusing my own son feels like..."

He started to tickle me everywhere, until I panted and begged for mercy. I
loved him with all my heart, and felt absolutely safe and loved. He was the
best Dad in the whole world, and would never harm me.

I felt Michail's powerful energy approaching our caravan, and announced:

"There's Michail, and he wants to talk with you."

Ten seconds later Michail entered our caravan, and told my Dad he wanted to
visit a big gadjo town to buy us some badly needed goods.

I jumped up, and tried to look with my best puppy dog eyes:

"I want to accompany Michail to that gadjo town. Please?"

My Dad looked at my Mom for approval, and ruffled my hair:

"You know you will have to wear your beautiful gadjo trousers to that
town?"

I threw my arms around his neck, and tried to suffocate him. Fortunately I
had burnt those trousers...

My mom helped me put on a nicely coloured T-shirt, blue jeans, socks, and
shoes; and combed my hair. She also forced me to take my badger fur coat
with me, in case it would be too cold. Okay, I could live with that.

Michail looked at me approvingly and grinned:

"Now you look like a little gadjo boy instead of a savage."

"You look like a savage yourself, wearing your inseparable fur coat!"

He opened his coat, and let me see he was wearing a T-shirt and blue jeans
under it:

"I will shuck my coat if it's becoming too warm, but I feel naked without."

"I feel naked all day, and I love it..."

We all started to laugh. Michail and I left our caravan, and I put my small
hand into his enormous coal shovel.

Together we went to our parking lot; a huge man and a puny little runt,
hand in hand, me taking three steps against his single pace.

Michail helped me clamber into his enormous truck, and handed me the keys:

"You know how to start the engine?"

I leaned onto the console, put the key into the keyhole, and turned it
around. I waited until the little red light went out, and turned the key a
bit further. With a growling sound the engine came to life. Michail pushed
the clutch pedal with his left foot, and showed me how to put the gear-case
into reverse. I pushed the big knob on the console to the left and
backwards, and the truck slowly left its parking space. Now I pushed the
knob forward, and the truck accelerated until Michail switched it into
second gear.

"Thank you, my friend. Now you will have to buckle up, to be safe."

I pulled the safety belt around my waist, and Michail helped me click it
into its holder. We were on our way to that big gadjo town!

This was the second time in my life I left our secluded camp voluntarily;
and again I craned my neck to look around everywhere. Michail competently
steered the big truck around huge trees and enormous potholes, until we
reached the big clearing and the two-story hotel. He stopped the truck,
opened his door, and left it.

I opened my door and clambered down on my own, while Michail rounded the
truck to assist me if necessary. It wasn't. I jumped the last step, and
proudly grinned at Michail. He grinned back, and effortlessly lifted me
onto his shoulders. Together we went to the hotel entrance.

Michail had to put me down and duck his head to be able to enter the
hotel. We entered the lobby, where Michail pushed a bell.

Two seconds later the same nice hotel owner put her arms around me in a big
hug:

"It's nice of you to visit us again! And look at those nice clothes!
Welcome aboard, my little prince."

She left me and hugged Michail, and together we went to the same huge room
as before. Michail got a cup of coffee, and I got a big glass of lemonade
with a pastry. The woman and Michail started to have some small talk, while
I looked out of the windows and sipped my lemonade.

Suddenly I saw Michail open his purse and hand the woman some money. For a
moment I was shocked, and thought he paid her for feeling up and
abusing... A moment later I rejected the thought, disgusted with
myself. Michail would NEVER do such a thing!

However, his action HAD made me curious:

"I don't understand. What are you paying that money for?"

"You little wiseacre! During the time we hadn't enough money, every time
one of us went to town, the hotel owners offered us foods and drinks
without any payment. Now we DO have enough money, thanks to you, and today
I'm paying our debts. Is your curiosity satisfied now?"

I coloured a deep red, and felt a bit ashamed for thinking other
things... Fortunately Michail wasn't mad at me.

The woman packed us a few snacks for underway, and after another big hug we
left the hotel and climbed into our truck. I started the engine, switched
the gear, buckled up, and off we went, on our way to that big gadjo town.

Soon we reached the levelled landscape, and entered the highway that led us
to the town. Fast cars passed by in a tremendous hurry, as before, but this
time I didn't get dizzy and kept on looking around everywhere. Behind us I
saw our mountains disappear into the distance, in front of us the road
narrowed until it disappeared into nowhere. Micha had showed me how the
road looked like this due to the 'perspective'.

Now and then we passed a wrecked car that was left along the road, and a
few times I saw a car that seemed to be inhabited. Children clad in filthy
and worn clothes strolled along the highway, obviously looking for
something to eat. They had to be very poor!

After a while I got bored, closed my eyes, and dreamed away with the
monotonous humming of the truck engine...

I woke up with the changing sound of the truck engine, and saw Michail
drive into a big gadjo town full of enormous buildings and blinking
lights. Michail stopped, and patiently waited until one of the lights
turned green. What was that light for, and why did Michail stop?

"Why did you wait for that light to turn green instead of red?"

"This is called a traffic light, and it helps the car drivers to avoid
collisions. It's warning us first, by turning yellow. Then it turns red,
and we have to stop while the other traffic light turns green and lets the
crossing cars pass. After a while their light turns yellow and finally red,
while our light turns green again to let us pass this time."

"That's a clever idea! Maybe those gadjo's aren't so stupid after all..."

Michail grinned, and slowed down at the next yellow light, that soon turned
red. Several cars passed the crossing, until they had to stop at their red
light and our light turned green again, letting us pass. Clever gadjo's!

Michail parked our truck in a big parking lot, and carefully locked the
doors after we left the truck. Didn't he trust those gadjo's? In our camp
nobody ever locked any doors... I shook my head at the thought of carrying
keys with you all the time to lock and unlock every door you used.

The sudden noises of the passing and now and then angrily hooting traffic
overwhelmed me a bit, and I took Michail's hand. Together we walked towards
an enormous building provided with huge windows, displaying all kinds of
beautiful things. I was in awe, and looked at it with bulging eyes. Was
this such a 'store', a building where people could buy things? It had to
be...

I clamped Michail's hand even more, and he tenderly pinched it. Now I felt
a bit more safe, and looked at all the things in the windows that we could
buy here. Lots of people went in and out of a sliding glass door, that
automatically opened when they approached it. Clever gadjo's again!

We went to the glass doors, and they magically opened when we got close to
them. I wanted to try them out a few times more, and Michail patiently
waited until my curiosity subsided. Together we entered the store, and
again I felt overwhelmed by the enormousness of everything.

The other children had told me about 'staircases', and I had made sort of a
picture of them in my mind. Never could I have imagined the real staircase
we saw now, with MOVING stairs... People stepped onto them, and they
carried the people to the next floor without having to climb or even
walk. Very clever gadjo's! I stared at it for a long time, while again
Michail waited for me to overcome my bewilderment.

At last my curiosity won, and I leaned into Michail to ask him my question:

"Do all the gadjo houses carry those moving staircases?"

He put his arms around me, and hugged me for a moment:

"This staircase is called an 'escalator', and it's used solely for very big
buildings with lots of people going in and out."

We went to the 'escalator', and at first I felt a bit nervous. What if that
thing started to behave funny, or stopped suddenly, causing us to fall off
it? I looked at the people using it, and suddenly I saw a little boy
running it up and down with bliss on his face. What a stupid gadjo boy
could do, I could do better! I left Michail's hand, and started to run
after the little boy. Up the escalator at a tremendous speed, and then down
the same escalator nearly remaining in the same place unless we were
running really fast. Now and then we bumped into somebody, but who cares?

It WAS fun, until a security officer approached us and told us to resume
our play outside, as this wasn't a children's playground. That calmed me
down, and I went back to a grinning Michail and took his hand. Together we
entered the second floor.

Michail took a piece of paper out of his pocket, and checked the things we
had to buy: Note-pads, pencils, tissues, diapers, blocs of soap, razors,
and many other necessary things. We started to roam the aisles, gathering
the things we needed and putting them into a plastic basket. Soon the
basket was full, and I went downstairs using the escalator to get us a
second basket, shunning the security officer who looked bored.

When we had filled the second basket to the brim, we both carried a basket
to the 'cash register', where Michail paid for everything counting many
flaps off the huge pile of banknotes. We got two plastic bags, and put
everything into them. Both of us took a plastic bag, and together we went
through the sliding doors and returned to our truck. Michail unlocked the
doors, and we put everything into the backseat, next to my fur coat.

Michail grinned, and wildly ruffled my hair:

"You are a big help today, thank you! Now would you like to eat something?"

Of course I didn't say no...

Michail drove us to another parking lot, where we locked the car doors
again. We crossed the street, looking out for fast driving cars, and
entered a nicely looking 'cafeteria', that smelled good and made my stomach
rumble. We sat down at an empty table.

A waiter approached our table, and pointed to the door:

"Sorry, but gypsies are not allowed here. You are chasing the other
customers away."

Michail rose from his chair, and the waiter went pale by seeing his huge
shape.

"Why do you think I'm a gypsy and not a human being? Is it because of my
dark complexion, or by my wearing a fur coat?"

The waiter started to stutter, and looked to the ground:

"Sorry, sir, but you really have to go. The owner is already calling the
police."

I got scared up when hearing the word 'police'. Please, not again those
trousers and humiliations...

Fortunately Michail took my hand, and went to the door:

"Word will go out, and this place will be doomed from now on."

We went back to our truck, unlocked the doors, and sat down.

I was a bit shivery, and looked at Michail with a pale face:

"Why didn't they allow us to eat in that place? And what is 'doomed'?"

"It's the same shit in all those towns. They seem to think that we are
troublemakers and thieves. I tried to give them a bad feeling by
threatening them to doom their restaurant. Of course in reality I will do
nothing but laugh at them and go on with my life."

"But why, Michail? Why are they throwing pebbles at us, calling us names,
and accusing us of things we didn't do?"

"I don't know, my little friend. I really don't know. I had expected them
to act differently this time, because I had an innocent child with me..."

Michail started the truck and we drove off, feeling disappointed, and
without saying another word.

We left the town, and entered what looked like a camp. Suddenly I sat glued
to the window: GYPSIES! A couple of caravans were put around a small
campfire, and several naked children were playing outside. They huddled
together, and cautiously approached our truck...

We left the truck, and a tall man slapped Michail's back while they hugged
each other:

"Michail! It's good to see you here! That's a long time ago you paid us a
visit..."

Now the children relaxed somewhat, and I laughed at them to try to make
some friends.

One of the boys looked me over from top to toe:

"You are not a gypsy. Are you one of those nasty gadjo's?"

"Of course not! I am a gypsy just like you. Only my mother had blond hair
and blue eyes, and I resemble my mother."

"So you are a half-blood gypsy, or a bastard."

"I'm NOT a bastard! My Mom is of royal herit... something, and my Dad is
our..."

I closed my mouth just in time. I had nearly betrayed my Dad's trust, to
defend myself...

The tall man beckoned me over to the campfire:

"Come on, let's get something to eat. And Jaki: leave him alone. He IS one
of us, and you can trust him."

Jaki grinned sheepishly, and offered me his hand:

"Sorry, and I didn't mean it. Shall we be friends?"

The others huddled around me, and together we went to the campfire, where
we sat down. They had chunks of dried lamb, and roasted them over the
campfire adding a few drops of oil. Of course I asked them for some herbs,
but they didn't have any; and there were no bushes around the camp, just
tall trees. I looked around, and detected those small yellow flowers in a
nearby meadow. I went there, and returned with the tops of the leaves and
another green pod I liked. I squashed the leaves and the pod, and carefully
smeared the lamb chunks with it.

The tall man looked at my ministrations with doubt in his eyes:

"Are you sure you know what you are doing?"

"I'm sure. Just wait; you've never tasted lamb like this."

"I hope so..."

Half an hour later they all licked their fingers and asked for more:

"Who are you? Are you a chief cook or such?"

"Well... yes, I AM a chief cook, and I'm always cooking in our own camp."

"That's impossible. You are such a small runt... Is he pulling our leg,
sir?"

Michail grinned, pulled me onto his lap, and ruffled my hair:

"This small runt IS our chief cook, and he is preparing our meals nearly
every day."

"WOW..."

They looked at me in awe, and suddenly I felt a little bit
timid. Ultimately I WAS only a small runt...

We resumed our voyage, and this time Michail entered a nearly invisible
lane across the meadows. At the end of the lane we entered a farm, hosting
several nasty looking dogs that barked at us and showed their
teeth. Michail hopped out of the truck, and harshly told the dogs to be
silent. To my surprise the dogs obeyed him and spread out. They seemed to
know him.

A farmer approached us, leaving a rickety barn, and smiled at me:

"Welcome, gentlemen. It's good to see you here. What can I do for you?"

"Don't be too polite, Dmitri, else we might start to believe you."

"And who is the little gentleman with the blue eyes? Is he one of your
sons?"

"He's the son of a friend of mine, and helping me today."

"I see, and a friend of Michail is a friend of mine."

He offered me a weatherworn hand, and I shook it.

Michail followed the farmer to the barn, and I started to look around. I
saw an old and dilapidated farmhouse, a rickety barn, and... a caravan.

Of course I was curious, and went to the caravan to have a look at it. It
was a very old one, full of cobwebs and dirty lumber. That certainly wasn't
a caravan anybody wanted to live in! I felt a bit disappointed, turned
around, and froze...

Five pairs of mean eyes looked at me. Five mouths full of nasty teeth were
ready to devour me. Five huge dogs had enclosed me, and growled.

WHAT NOW? This evening the farmer would eat chunks of little Harold, nicely
roasted over the campfire...

I thought this had to be the end of me, and decided to die proudly. I
straightened my back, and looked at the growling dogs. I tried to sound as
harshly as I could, and told the dogs with all the power I could muster:

"SIT DOWN."

To my surprise all five dogs lowered their tails, and sat down!

I couldn't believe my own eyes. Was that ME? Did I really do that? WOW!
Those dogs obeyed me! How was that possible?

I decided to test it out, and told them harshly:

"STAND UP."

All five dogs rose to their feet and licked my hands, enthusiastically
wagging their tails...

Never in my life did I feel so mighty. I could manage five dogs at once
that were bigger than I, and that were able to tear me to pieces without
any problems. Did I HAVE to be so harsh to them?

I decided to try it out, and told them with a soft voice:

"Lie down."

They laid down, still wagging their tails, and expectantly looking up at
me...

Five minutes later we were frolicking around the yard, while I threw sticks
away they had to catch, and tried to ride on their backs. The dogs were
elated, and seemed to really enjoy our games. Now and then one of them
offered me a lick.

The farmer appeared from the barn, and immediately shouted:

"Look out, boy, don't touch the dogs! You can't trust them."

What? Don't touch the dogs? You can't trust them? I whispered to the dogs
'come here', and they all surrounded me. I threw my arms around them, and
cuddled them, and they licked my face and my hands, leaving the farmer
open-mouthed...

"That's impossible! Michail, look at that! That boy has to be a witch! I
can't believe my own eyes..."

After the farmer had finally calmed down a bit, he told me the dogs weren't
used to children, and only obeyed strong men with harsh voices. They were
never friendly to anyone, including himself. Nobody could go near the old
caravan they slept in; and trying to pet them could cost you several
fingers. He kept them to defend his property against burglars and
strangers...

I called one of the dogs, and put my hand into his mouth. The dog chewed a
bit on my hand, to show me his friendship. I jumped onto his back, and he
tolerated everything I did, while the other dogs surrounded me wagging
their tails and trying to lick my hands.

They clearly accepted me as their upper dog, the leader of their small
flock.

Finally Michail thought something that seemed to make sense:

"I think our little Harold has a lot of inner power, and the dogs are
feeling that. I have a lot of power too, and most animals do listen to
me. But I never saw such a small boy use his powers to command five
enormous dogs. He's only five-and-a-half years old..."

The impressed farmer offered me one of the dogs as a present, but I refused
politely. We never had any pets in our camp, not even a raccoon.

I helped Michail and the farmer carrying several bags of corn and wheat
into our truck, all the time surrounded by the dogs who tried to lick
me. At last I told them to go to their caravan, and they did immediately,
leaving the farmer open-mouthed again.

"I wish they would listen as well to me as to this little runt."

The little runt laughed, and threw his small arms around the farmer, who
clearly wasn't used to intimacies and acted rather shyly.

Michail had to promise the farmer to bring me again the next time we needed
corn or wheat.

I cuddled the dogs for the last time, and we entered our truck. I started
the engine, switched the gear, and we drove off while I buckled up.

I dozed off with the monotonous sound of the engine, while Michail
competently drove the truck back to the clearing and the hotel. I woke up
when the truck fell silent, and yawned a few times, while Michail grinned
and called me a sleepy head. Well, he was right...

I clambered out of the truck, and together we entered the hotel to get
something to drink. Again the nice hotel owner nearly crushed me, and told
me how good-looking I was, while I still felt a bit drowsy from sleepiness
and yawned again.

She grinned, and accompanied us to the dining room:

"Do you want a cup of coffee, to wake up?"

"Yes, why not? There is a first time for everything..."

She went to the kitchen, and returned with a cup of black coffee for
Michail, and a cup of coffee with a lot of milk and sugar for me.

I stirred my coffee using a small spoon, until all the sugar
dissolved. Then I drank my first sip of coffee...

Michail bellowed with laughter and nearly fell of his chair at the look of
my sour face. That tasted bitter! How could Michail and my Dad love that
nasty taste so much? I didn't like it at all, and fortunately the hotel
owner brought me a big glass of lemonade to wash away the bitterness. I
decided that I certainly liked to be a big boy, but not THAT big.

Michail emptied his cup of coffee, I emptied my glass of lemonade, we
thanked the nice woman, and went outside.

Michail looked at our mountains in the distance, and ruffled my hair:

"Shall we have a look at our mountains from a different point of view?"

He took me to a small chink in the surrounding rocks, and we climbed a
steep path. Suddenly we arrived at a small platform, allowing us a
beautiful view of the mountains and the setting sun. Michail sat down on a
flat boulder, and I climbed in between his knees. We looked for a long time
at the splendid sight, and I felt very small and vulnerable under the charm
of Mother Nature. I immensely enjoyed the play of light and dark between
the mountains, all the different colours of the vegetation, and the bluish
snow on the mountaintops.

I felt at home here; and totally in harmony with the surrounding nature. I
belonged here. This was my land.

We were both silent for a long time, while Michail steered the truck around
the trees and the potholes to our camp. I could feel our love radiating
between us, like best friends who didn't need any words to understand each
other.

Finally we reached our camp, where all the children immediately crowded
around our truck:

"How was that gadjo town? Did you get into any troubles? Did you enjoy the
drive?"

I left the truck and went to our campfire, where I told them everything
about my impressions of the strange but very clever gadjo world.

Micha knew where the farm was, and had been there before:

"I didn't leave Michail's truck for a long time, until those nasty dogs
finally left us and went to their own caravan."

I didn't tell him the dogs obeyed me like little puppies, because I didn't
want my friend to feel inferior:

"Yeah, they looked really nasty..."

The grown-ups showed up being naked, and we went to our waterfall to wash
each other and play in the stream until we were too cold. As long as we
kept moving, the cold was bearable, but as soon as we left the waterfall we
rushed to our campfire to get warm again. Within a few weeks we couldn't do
that any more, as winter was nearing and the days became shorter and
colder.

I sat on our bench, cuddled up to Micha, and after a while he whispered:

"Do you already know I've got an old snow scooter?"

"Oh yeah? Did Pietro sell his old scooter to you?"

"No, I've saved up the money myself, and today Biny's Dad and I went to
town to buy one. There's that mining company that went bankrupt, and they
sold their snow scooters on the market. I have to clean it up and paint it
first."

"Can we have a look at it?"

"It's too dark now to properly see it, but tomorrow I'll let you see my own
snow scooter!"

"Wow..."

The next morning I couldn't wait to see Micha's second hand snow scooter. I
was up early, pushed my parents to get breakfast ready, and went outside
where I strolled impatiently around Micha's caravan.

Finally he appeared outside, grinning at my restive face:

"Sorry, but I had to do some chores first."

Together we went to our parking space, where Micha had stored his snow
scooter in one of the old caravans. He got it out with a little help from
me; and I looked in awe at the, in my eyes, beautiful thing.

I walked around it, and cautiously mounted its buddy seat:

"Wow, that's a real beauty! Did you already ride her?"

"Of course not, I'll have to wait until there's snow. But I've started her
a few times, and she's making a wonderful sound."

He opened the throttle, pulled the starting cord, and the machine came to
life making a nice and sonorous murmuring sound. He let her cheer a few
times, and shut the engine down proudly.

I really envied him! He had his own snow scooter, and I would have to
wait...

Micha got some cotton wool and a brush, and we started to clean her
up. Soon the scooter showed her worn and weather-beaten paint, but that was
no problem at all. Together we went to Michail, and returned with a couple
of brushes, sandpaper, and a few tins of paint.

We sanded the worn paint carefully, and painted the scooter in blue and
black with gold stripes. Now she was a real beautiful sight!

The other boys surrounded us, and asked Micha from where he got his
beautiful snow scooter.

"You know that mining company that went bankrupt this summer? They were
selling their snow scooters on the market yesterday for a very low price,
and everybody wanted to have one. Fortunately they had plenty of them."

"I'll ask my father to buy me one too!"

"Me too. Come on..."

They rushed away to ask their parents, while Micha and I resumed our
painting and finally put the snow scooter back into the old caravan, to
dry.

The next morning five cars drove to town, and returned carrying happy
looking boys and second hand snow scooters in their trunks. Soon our
parking space was crowded with sanding and painting boys, now and then
proudly starting their engines. I walked from scooter to scooter, trying to
offer a helping hand everywhere, and at the end of the day all the snow
scooters were painted and blinking in the sunlight.

That evening we all washed and scrubbed each other, to get the sticky paint
off our hands and bodies.

============================

Thank you for reading this chapter of 'Little Harry's youth'.

My FIRST book, 'Little Harry', is for sale! It costs only $ 19.95 ...
Please visit my homepage  http://www.harryanders.com
and buy it. It's helping lots of people to cope with their feelings!


I love your emails, please send them to  harry@harryanders.com .

Maybe I will not be able to answer all of them, but be assured I will
certainly read them all!


I wish you lots of Love in your life, and Peace in your heart.
And thank you, Nifty, for hosting my stories.

Harry AnderS, alternative writer.
I'm living in The Netherlands, and my native language is Dutch.
Please have a look at my site: http://www.harryanders.com