1. The first day of my life as our Heir to the Throne.

"Here comes our little Prince! Please, Michail, could you ask our Wise Woman to assist his birth?"

"Yes, I can see the crown of his tiny head; and I am sure he will have blond hair, just like his Mom!"

"I hope he has her blue eyes as well. That would be VERY special, for our future Gypsy King."

"Look at the little imp! He wrestles with all of his might, as if he tries to enter our world all on his own..."

My onlookers were right. I WAS wrestling with all of my might, trying to leave my tight shelter as soon as possible!

Since this morning, my steadily growing baby body felt way too cramped in my new Mom's belly; and I desperately wanted to have my first breath of fresh air.

Fortunately, labor had set in, and I would be born soon.

During my first months on Earth, I had just floated around, like a little tadpole that wanted to turn into a Prince.

Now, after nine months of steadily growing, my body had slowly metamorphosed from a tiny lump of cells into a little human being.

From now on, the little Prince felt more like a big frog, crammed into a way too small aquarium...

It was time to leave my Mom's womb, be kissed by our Queen (that is my Mom too), and greet my waiting subjects!

Nine months ago, I had left our Timeless Eternal Realm; to go back to Mother Earth and be born as a human baby.

Impatiently, I had waited until my new Dad and Mom made love, and one of his sperms swam to her ovum and kissed it.

Feeling full of anticipation, I had attached myself to the tiny lump of cells; to embody it and bring it to life.

For nine long months, I had waited and waited, as a little fetus in my new Mom's cozy uterus, while steadily growing and dreaming away.

Now, it was time to leave my too tight shelter, to be born as a brand new little Gypsy Prince.

Several years ago, all my Eternal Friends, Spirit Helpers, Beloved Ancestors, and I, had decided to prepare ourselves to descend towards our so terribly confused Planet Earth.

Working together, we would try to turn our degenerated playground into a much safer place to live on; with much more Humanity, Love, Understanding, and Happiness...

Much to my surprise, everybody immediately chose ME, to be reborn on Earth and become the new Gypsy Leader!

Because I had trained myself thoroughly to be an extremely powerful Shaman and Mage, my soul now possessed all the necessary abilities to perform my Important Task on Earth.

Of course, I happily agreed to become the next Gypsy Heir to the Throne in our World; and we put our heads together to establish a workable plan of action.

Several devoted Friends would precede me; to prepare my arrival in advance.

After they were ready, I would be reborn in this small and secluded Gypsy community.

Here, I would grow up as a little Gypsy Prince, travel to a foreign country, meet my former Friends, and redeem some old built-up Karma.

After I had settled all my debts and was totally clean, I would meet my former Dad and Best Friend from several past lives, to live together and help each other with everything.

At last, I would become our next Gypsy King; while all my Cosmic Friends, Beloved Ancestors, Spirit Helpers, and I, would work closely together.

As a powerful Cosmic Team, we would try to turn our so terribly entangled Planet Earth into a much better place to live on; by showing to the world what REAL LOVE and MORE HUMANITY can do!

Unfortunately, my remembrances from our timeless Eternal Realm were already fading away, making me feel a bit unsure.

My steadily growing earthly brain was already taking over, by closing down all the conscious memories of my soul.

Soon, I would be able to remember my real origin only through my so-called 'intuition' or 'inner awareness'...

Yet, my Shaman and Mage skills would still provide me with several useful 'supernatural gifts' and 'psychic abilities'.

And, my Beloved Ancestors and Spirit Friends would always be there for me, whenever and wherever I needed them.

I could reckon on them, and they could reckon on me!

By extending my aura, I sensed that our King, that is my new Dad, tried to help my new Mom; while he nervously waited for our Wise Woman to show up and assist my birth.

I also sensed my new Grandmother around me; and Michail, one of my Former Best Friends and Cosmic Assistants, who was now our Vice Leader and my new Dad's best friend.

They all crowded around our Queen, that is my new Mom; talking about their unborn Prince with love and reverence.

Their voices sounded muted, accompanied by the ever-present 'bump-bump, bump-bump' from my new Mom's heartbeat.

Fortunately, I was able to sense the energy of their words, and understood most of what they were saying.

I felt very happy to have such a useful 'sixth sense', which let me feel the energies around me and translate them...

During the past nine months in my new Mom's belly, time hadn't existed, life was good, and I had nothing to worry about.

My growing little brain had been dreaming on and on; until slowly, nearly imperceptibly, my cozy womb started to feel too tight and too crowded.

My steadily developing little body became too big to float around; and, from then on, every involuntary movement pained my new Mom.

However, she never complained, but always told me she loved me dearly and would endure all her inconveniences in joy!

I sensed the meaning of my new Mom's words, felt her love engulfing me, and knew I would be more than welcome.

Being loved like this, in advance, was a wonderful feeling; although my new parents had no idea who I was, and our Wise Woman only found out I would be a boy.

Therefore, I already started to love my new parents very much in return; while I tried to help my new Mom, by restricting my movements as much as I could.

Now and then, my new Dad had put his hands onto my new Mom's belly, trying to feel my moving and kicking...

At first, my little body had been too small to be able to do much, because my growing muscles had to develop first.

Now, it was a lot easier to feel where my Dad's hands were; and I pushed my feet towards them, to greet him!

I wanted to let my Dad know I knew he tried to contact me, and that I was very happy to have him as my new Dad.

My new Dad reacted elated when he suddenly felt our first contact; and he exclaimed:

"Yesss! I am sure our son recognizes me, and that he kicks my hands on purpose! What a wonderful boy..."

"You are right, Janov. I am sure our son senses you are his new Dad; and he already loves you very much!"

"Thank you, Maria, for giving me such a wonderful child. I love both you and him, with all my heart, forever!"

It felt good, as a little fetus in a cozy womb, to feel loved like this by the people who soon would be my new parents.

Impatiently, I waited, until I would be able to greet them...

Finally, labor had set in; and I sensed how my Dad helped my Mom squat down onto the floor, to give me birth.

In advance, I had worked my body upside down; instinctively knowing this would be the correct way to enter our world.

Now, my Mom's contractions started to push my head into a narrow gap, to where I was sure my way out would be.

Slowly, the widening gap opened; until the crown of my little head showed through, obviously having blond hair.

Earth, here I come!

After several powerful contractions, my head suddenly popped through the steadily widening opening.

However, much to my disappointment, my shoulders seemed to be stuck, because they didn't follow my head!

My body stayed inside my Mom's womb; although I tried to kick around and push myself down with all my might, to free myself.

I surely hoped I wouldn't be stuck in here for the rest of my life... Please, could anybody help me?

Fortunately, our Wise Woman showed up in our caravan, just in time to help my Mom and assist my birth.

Hastily, she greeted everybody, before she squatted down to have a look at my panting and wheezing Mom...

Immediately, she bent over and tried to free my stuck body, by pulling at my head while turning it around.

Her very cold hands wrung at my tiny neck, while she tried to pull my unwilling body through the too narrow gap...

Ouch, that hurt! Couldn't our Wise Woman be more careful with my brand new little body?

Ultimately, it had to serve me for the remainder of my life!

I sent her my thoughts, to tell her what I felt:

'Please, don't pull at my head! You are hurting my neck!'

I was sure she had picked up all my thoughts, but she didn't pay any attention to my complaints.

She only told me to be quiet, while she went on wringing and pulling...

Now, I became angry with her, while I started to fight her hands.

Why didn't she listen to me? It was MY body, and she had no right to do anything I didn't want her to do!

Suddenly, my shoulders popped through the widened gap; and the rest of my body followed automatically.

Without any more help, I just flopped out of my new Mom's warm belly, straight into the very cold hands of the Wise Woman!

Instantly, the air around me felt too chilly, the too bright light dazzled my eyes, and my little body started to shiver...

Angrily, I sent my thoughts to the Wise Woman:

'I don't want your cold hands on me. Push me back into my warm place where I came from, immediately!'

Of course, the Wise Woman did not push me back; but she answered me with her own thoughts:

'Welcome into our Gypsy community, my young Prince; and I hope you will feel at home here. Now, I will place you where I am sure you will like it much better...'

Then, she laid me down in between the arms of my Mom!

My Mom started to cry from happiness, while she put her warm arms around my shivering little body and pulled me very close to her soft an cozy breasts.

That felt wonderful! Immediately, my anger faded away, while I enjoyed the nice sensation very much.

Feeling ashamed, I concentrated on our Wise Woman, to send her my well-meant excuses:

'Sorry, Wise Woman. I didn't really mean it...'

The Wise Woman smiled at me, while she let me know it was okay and that she understood.

Fortunately, she wasn't too disappointed in me, for being cheeky...

She took a pair of scissors, and adeptly cut the umbilical cord that had been connecting me to my Mom's womb.

I got a strange feeling in my organs that, what I later on discovered, were called 'lungs'.

My chest started to feel too tight and upset, while my squirming little body protested and started to heave and gasp for air...

With a deep sigh of relief, I finally inhaled my first breath of earthly air, happily welcoming it into my expanding lungs!

While exhaling, a strangely deep and sonorous sound escaped my throat, making me listen in sudden wonder...

Was my new body making such a marvelous sound?

I tried it again; and, again, my throat produced the same deep and sonorous sound, this time even louder!

Feeling very proud of myself, I tried to tell my onlookers:

'Wow! Do you hear that? My new body is making beautiful sounds, and it is doing it all on its own!'

I did it again, and again, and again...

By using my 'sixth sense', I sensed that the people around me reacted very surprised, at hearing such a low and sonorous sound coming from such a tiny baby...

Then, everybody started to laugh and nudge each other, obviously feeling very pleased to hear such a healthy crying coming from their newborn little Crown Prince!

Our chuckling Wise Woman exclaimed:

"Wow, our little Prince has a real baritone voice! I am sure that, as a grown-up, he will become a bass. He has a LOUD voice as well...

"That could be handy, for our future King; as such a loud and sonorous voice will certainly make him be heard by everybody!"

I sensed that my Grandmother approached me; and her much warmer hands gently lifted me from my Mom's belly.

She took me to our couch in our living room, where she laid me down onto a nicely warmed and fluffy towel.

She washed my body, dried me, powdered me, put a warmed diaper on me, and laid me back into my Mom's warm arms...

Because I felt thankful for her much appreciated help, I tried to send her my love and my thoughts:

'Thank you, Grandma, for cleaning me; although I sense you cannot pick up my thoughts...'

My Mom refolded her warm arms around my body, kissed the top of my blond head, and tenderly cradled me.

Now that my little body was cleaned up, I felt wonderful; while I basked in the pleasant sensations.

Unexpectedly, a nice and soft thing touched my lips; and, instinctively, I opened my mouth and started to suck on it...

Suddenly, the most delicious nourishment I could ever imagine entered my mouth!

Yummy! This liquid food tasted more than excellent, and I was sure I could get used to it!

Enthusiastically, I continued to suck on my Mom's soft thing with all my might, forgetting everything else...

In the background, a door opened, and an enthusiastic voice shouted to the waiting people outside our caravan:

"It's a BOY! We have a new Heir to the Throne!"

Immediately, many loud cheering sounds filled my ears, making me shudder from the unexpected noise.

At the same time, the happy cheering filled me with a lot of self-consciousness and pride!

I felt the energy of the joyful words, and my 'sixth sense' told me what they meant.

My beloved people were cheering and congratulating each other, because of ME!

Outside our caravan, a couple of violins started to play beautiful Gypsy melodies full of joy and happiness...

I got little goose bumps all over my tiny body, while I stopped drinking and listened intently...

Were my people playing these heart-warming tunes, because they were happy with their newborn little Prince?

Then, they already loved me very much!

By extending my aura, I felt more and more enthusiastic people gathering outside our caravan, celebrating my birth and talking to each other with happy voices.

Of course, my 'sixth sense' tried to understand what my people were talking about; but all these different energies were blurring my sensitivity too much...

Yet, I could clearly sense their combined love and happiness, making me feel even more accepted and welcome.

Now and then, somebody knocked on our caravan door, wanting to have a quick look at their newborn little Prince.

My visitors stepped inside, looked at me, smiled at me, congratulated my proud parents and beaming grandmother with such a healthy child, and went outside again.

The door shut immediately, to keep the snowy winter cold out, as it was March the third and still freezing.

Slowly, I started to doze off, lazily sucking on that yummy soft thing that still was in my mouth...

Sleepily, I sensed that my Mom got up, cleaned my soiled bottom, and put another warmed diaper on me.

She put me in between a couple of soft pillows, covered me with a cozy blanket, and tenderly kissed my forehead.

She made me feel safe and cared for; and I enjoyed the happy feeling very much, while I slowly fell asleep.

It felt good, to be a newborn little baby!

A few hours later, I woke up in total darkness, and didn't understand where I could be.

I missed my cozy womb I had been living in for nine months; and I missed the reassuring heartbeat sound of 'bump-bump, bump-bump' that always accompanied me...

Feeling unsure, I tried to find out what had happened. Where was I; and where was my safe shelter?

I felt helpless and lonely, didn't know what to do, and started to cry; again producing my deep and sonorous sound...

Within a second, I heard some unknown noises, and somebody switched on a couple of lights.

A smiling face hovered over me; and I stopped crying while staring at it in wonder.

In vain, I tried to focus my unwilling eyes on that vague and misty thing; that moved nearby and produced reassuring sounds...

Somebody gently lifted me from between my pillows, while supporting my wobbly head with one hand.

Now sensing and recognizing her female energy, I knew this was my new Mom; and I felt safe again.

My smiling Mom took me into her arms and slowly cradled me, while she told me:

"Hi, my little son, are you hungry again? Just a moment; because I want to clean your smelly bottom first."

She removed my soiled diaper, washed and powdered me, and put another warm and clean diaper on me.

Next, she went to her bedroom, took me onto her lap, and... YES! There was that yummy soft thing again!

I started to suck on it with all my might, until my stomach was filled to the brim with that delicious nourishment.

Then, I had to burp and spilled half of it; but who cares...

My Mom just cleaned me up, and let me drink some more.

Feeling happy and cared for, I fell asleep in my Mom's arms, and didn't even notice her putting me to bed.

I woke up again, because a beam of bright sunlight tickled my eyes and made me sneeze...

Within a second, I sensed the presence of another human being, approaching me from our living room!

Obviously, somebody had heard my sneezing, and wanted to have a look at what I was doing...

This time, I sensed a totally different energy, full of power and strength, engulfing me with lots of love and safety.

Instinctively, I knew this had to be 'male' energy; and the person now hovering over me was my new Dad.

I tried to focus my eyes on him; and, much to my delight, I succeeded in getting the vague picture a bit sharper...

This darker face, adorned with an enormous moustache, was producing more sonorous reassuring sounds.

My Mom's eyes had been bright blue; but the joyful eyes that looked at me now were deep brown, nearly black.

The beaming face smiled at me, while two enormous hands gently lifted me out of my pillows.

My Dad took me to our couch, sat me on his lap, and put his arms around my body.

Immediately, I tried to melt into his powerful aura, already feeling absolutely safe and welcome in his strong arms.

His tender love and care totally engulfed my little baby body, while I basked in the pleasant feeling.

A moment later, my Dad sniffed the air, and chuckled:

"Son, I think you have pooped your diaper again! Shall we wake your Mom, or shall I try to clean you?"

Without waiting for my answer, my Dad laid me down onto a towel, removed my soiled diaper, and clumsily started to wash my smelly little bottom...

Of course, because he did it for the first time, my new Dad still had to learn some more about caring for his son...

After he dried me, he tried to powder my bottom; but he did it a bit awkward and spilled a lot of powder into the air, which made both of us sneeze.

Looking ashamed about his obvious clumsiness, my Dad tried to put a clean diaper on me, while I wiggled around in his enormous hands and showed him my joyful face...

Although my new Dad did this for the first time, I already LOVED it when he tried to pamper me!

I still do...

Looking up at his affectionate face, I happily smiled at him, while trying to focus on his eyes and sending him my love.

I was sure he and I were kindred souls; and I felt very happy to have him as my new Dad!

Suddenly, my Dad got tears in his eyes from his welling emotions, while he told me with a choked voice:

"Boy, your bright blue eyes are looking straight into my soul! What an enormous Inner Power do you possess... You already are a real Prince!

"Although you are not even one day old, you already smiled at me... My son, you are an extremely special boy, and I am very proud of you."

I sensed the tender loving care my Dad radiated towards me; and smiled again, while sending him even more love!

Now, my Dad took me into his safe arms; and slowly let himself slump backwards onto our couch, while gently pulling me on top of his outstretched body...

That felt wonderful!

Immediately, I spread out onto his broad chest as far as I could, while I tried to let myself melt away into his powerful and lovable aura.

Accidentally, I put my little nose into his left armpit...

I smelled his strong manly odor for the first time, and knew that I was hooked on this particular scent from now on!

I still am...

Of course, I wanted to put my own arms around my Dad, to let him feel how much I loved him in return...

Only, that was very frustrating, because my tiny arms and legs absolutely refused to do what I wanted them to do.

To my disappointment, they just flapped around, because I couldn't find the proper muscles to control them...

Obviously, my little baby body was still too young, and I had to learn how to use my uncooperative muscles first!

Feeling a bit disappointed, I stopped my efforts...

For a moment, my Dad stared at my disappointed face, not comprehending why I suddenly looked distracted...

Then, our mutual love and togetherness made us smile at each other again, while I slowly dozed off into dreamland.

Within a minute, both my Dad and I were sound asleep, joyously snoring together on our couch!

Since that first day, I was addicted to sleeping on my Dad's broad stomach, or lying curled up in his safe arms.

Now and then, he teasingly called me 'my little octopus', because I always draped all my limbs all over him.

Well, I couldn't help it. I only wanted to have as much bodily contact with him as I could muster!

Besides, thinking about it... doesn't a real octopus have at least eight limbs, instead of only four?

Half an hour later, I woke up; because I sensed another powerful male energy, approaching our caravan and clearly planning to visit my Dad and me...

Obviously, another useful 'special gift' had kicked into action; and it turned out to be absolutely right!

Within ten seconds, Michail, our Beloved Vice King and the very best friend of my new Dad, stepped inside our caravan, ducking his head to pass the doorpost.

Michail was a HUGE man, always clad in his heavy fur coat, today also wearing a pair of leather boots and warm gloves, because of the cold winter weather.

Involuntarily, he started to chuckle; when he saw my still snoring Dad, sleeping on our couch, having his beaming little son spread out all over his chest...

My dad woke up when he heard Michail's chuckling; but he first looked at me, to see if everything was all right with me!

After he saw I was awake, he gently lifted me off his chest, sat upright, and took me onto his lap.

Now, my Dad welcomed our chuckling visitor:

"Hi, Michail! As you can see, I have to baby-sit my son, because Maria is still asleep and recuperating..."

"Yes, I can see; and you two definitely are one of a kind! Just look at your son's bright blue orbs...

"What an enormous amount of power and intelligence does our little Prince radiate!

"Although he is only one day old, it looks like he already understands everything that I am telling you, while he stares straight into my soul with his curious eyes..."

I WAS staring straight at Michail's lovable face; while basking in the happy feeling of recognizing one of my Very Best Friends from several of our past lives!

He still had his beautiful and vibrant aura, stretching out into all directions, engulfing my Dad and me with lots of Love and Respect.

I was sure that my former Friend and I still loved each other very much.

In this life, he again would be my faithful and totally devoted Best Friend and Cosmic Helper.

My Dad smiled back at Michail, while he answered:

"I agree that my son is a special child, and I am very proud of him! He has already smiled at me, after I cleaned him up; and again, before we fell asleep...

"Now, my little Gypsy Prince, let's go outside and meet our waiting subjects; to let them have their first official look at you!"

My Dad lifted me off his lap, rose from our couch, and laid me down in between my pillows.

Then, he looked for some warm clothing, to wrap me in...

He found a nicely colored plaid blanket; and covered my entire body in it, letting only my face show through.

Now, we followed Michail outside, stepping into our cold winter world full of blinding snow.

Helpfully, my Dad turned me around, so that I could look at where we went...

Feeling totally overwhelmed, I looked around with bulging eyes, not knowing what I wanted to see first!

While desperately trying to focus my unwilling eyes, I saw a blurry circle of snowy caravans around a glowing campfire.

Many people were waiting for us, while their children were frolicking around and throwing snowballs at each other...

Everybody started to cheer when they saw my Dad and me; and they happily greeted their beloved Gypsy King and their newborn little Crown Prince.

Two violin players started to play a beautiful melody full of hope and glory...

My Dad stepped into the circle of wooden benches around our glowing campfire; still carrying me in his arms.

Immediately, everybody took a seat; while all the playing children left their snowballs and climbed onto a cozy lap.

Now, my Dad carried me around the circle; to let all our subjects have a closer look at their newborn little Prince...

Many people told my Dad how surprised they were by my over-curious and intense looking bright blue eyes!

They were sure they had never seen such extreme alertness and Inner Power in such a young child...

And, for our future Gypsy King, having white hair and bright blue eyes was an absolute first in our long row of preceding Gypsy Leaders!

If this was a sign from any Supreme Being, our new Prince would certainly become something VERY special.

I sensed the energy of their praising words, understood what they meant, and involuntarily started to blush...

Was I THAT special? Wow...

After everybody had seen and admired their little Crown Prince, my Dad announced with a proud voice:

"Today, we want to present our new Heir to the Throne to our Gypsy Community, to all our Beloved Ancestors, and to our Highest Supreme Being.

"The official name of our Crown Prince will be 'Harold Janovski Romani'; because we name him after his great-grandfather, who always will be our respected 'Gypsy Monarch Harold the Great'. So be it!"

All the men with little children on their laps rose from their benches, while lifting their kids high into the air.

They kissed their kids; and threw them upwards, as high as they could into the sky, to greet and thank all our Beloved Ancestors and our Highest Supreme Being!

They caught their kids adeptly into their arms when they landed, kissed them again, and retook them onto their laps.

The kids enjoyed the fun immensely, shrieked with delight, and immediately asked for more...

Suddenly, my little body got an intense sensation of flying very high into the air, far above all the other kids!

I was ecstatic; felt free as a bird, nearly cried from my overwhelming emotions, and wanted to fly even higher!

This intense sense of freedom strongly reminded me of our timeless Eternal Realm, where my Soul belonged in reality.

During a few seconds, I felt like flying Back Home...

Way too soon, I started to go down; while I still tried to fly even higher, by wildly flailing my unwilling arms and legs.

When I landed, my Dad adeptly caught me in his strong and safe arms.

Immediately, he looked me over from top to toe, to see if everything was all right with me...

Still feeling ecstatic and full of energy, I showed my Dad my happiest beaming face and broadest smile!

Feeling reassured, my Dad smiled back at me.

Now, he lifted me onto his shoulders; holding my body with one hand, while supporting my wobbly head with the other.

Systematically, he started to walk me around our circle; this time to let ME greet my own Beloved People!

One by one, my Dad stopped in front of all my Beloved Subjects, told me their names, and let me contact them...

One by one, all my Beloved Subjects bowed towards me and touched my small feet, thus vowing their eternal loyalty to their newborn Crown Prince and future Gypsy King.

Of course, I wanted to greet my Beloved People back, to thank them politely for their trust and loyalty!

Only, my still very unwilling baby body didn't know how to bow back; and the only things that left my mouth were small air bubbles and a lot of saliva...

After several idle tries to bow back to my own people and speak to them, I started to feel VERY annoyed with myself!

I became angry, because my tiny baby-body was too small to be able to make myself understood.

And, I felt frustrated, because my undeveloped muscles refused to do what I wanted them to do...

My Dad saw me drooling; but he only laughed at my frustrated face and idle tries to talk.

He handed me to Michail, and asked my huge Friend to take me back to our caravan.

Of course, I protested fiercely, because I wanted to join the fun outside for a much longer time!

However, neither my Dad nor Michail seemed to understand what I told them...

Michail just took me into his arms, and carried me back to our own black-and-golden Royal caravan.

My Mom was awake, and enthusiastically greeted us from her bedroom.

She smiled when she saw me drooling, and first removed my colored blanket.

Then, she cleaned my face with a couple of tissues.

Now, she took me into her arms and let me drink from her soft things she called 'breasts'; until I was stuffed to the brim, had to burp, and unintentionally spilled some.

After my Mom cleaned me up, she applied a fresh diaper, and put me in between my pillows to have my next nap.

Within a minute, I was asleep; dreaming of a beautiful future and being able to speak...

2. Moving my arms and legs; real love; and sitting.

During the next couple of months, my extremely fast development turned out to be the most exciting time of my life!

Much to my delight, I was learning so many interesting new things, in such a relatively short amount of time...

The first few days, my baby-body only wanted to sleep, drink from my Mom's soft breasts, and sleep some more...

Then, my developing new brain woke up from its annoying sleepiness; and I started to look around.

From now on, my insatiably curious mind tried to discover and learn about every interesting thing that it came upon, preferable immediately!

Soon, my steadily developing new brain felt overloaded with all the new possibilities, and it almost didn't know what to do first.

For a while, I even disliked sleep, because it prevented me from discovering even more fascinating abilities...

Within a few days, I taught myself how to focus my eyes, so that I could see everything around me more clearly.

At first, I tried to exercise both unwilling eyes at the same time, by alternately looking at several nearby and far-away objects.

Unfortunately, they started to see double and blurry; but they returned to normal after I had some more sleep.

Then, much to my delight, I found out how I could use my eye muscles without straining them too much.

Finally, I was able to focus my eyes on anything I wanted to look at!

From now on, my always-curious eyes immediately focused on everybody who showed up in our caravan.

They also followed and scrutinized every interesting object that moved, was colorful, or made any sounds...

After a while, I even tried to turn my head, to have a better look at all these new and fascinating things around me...

Many surprised visitors, who saw me looking at them, told my parents they felt astonished about my extremely fast development.

They were absolutely sure I was the fastest developing baby in the universe!

Sensing the energy of their praising words, I understood what they meant; and I involuntarily started to blush...

However, at the same time, I felt very proud of myself, and of my early achievements and newly found abilities!

Now that I was able to look around properly, I decided to concentrate on putting my little body to more practical use.

To begin with, I started to find out which muscles were controlling my still very unwilling limbs.

I already knew how I always moved all the parts of my body at the same time, by floundering and jiggling when I became excited...

Only, how could I perform all these movements at will and independently, instead of randomly and at the same time?

After lots of trying, and making many erratic movements, I decided I had to try out something totally different.

Therefore, I started to concentrate on flexing only one single muscle at a time.

At the same moment, I observed which part of my body suddenly moved...

This turned out to be a very interesting experiment!

I was even angry with my Mom; for taking me onto her lap, to let me drink from her soft breasts...

Unfortunately, my Mom had no idea why I suddenly looked distracted; and she reacted rather worried.

She thought I could be ill, looked at my tongue, and felt my forehead to check for a fever...

Then, she felt relieved that I still had a healthy appetite.

After letting me drink, burp, and drink some more; she cleaned my smelly bottom and put a fresh diaper on me.

I smiled broadly at my Mom, to let her know that I felt happy again.

Of course, it had never been my intent to make any of my parents feel worried about my health...

Looking apologetically, I tried to send her my thoughts:

'Sorry, Mom, for worrying you. But, I promise I will make it up to you, once I can explain what I am trying to do...'

My Mom just smiled at me, while she took a tissue and removed my excessive saliva and air bubbles.

Obviously, she hadn't picked up any of my thoughts, as our Wise Woman had done so easily...

She just put me in between my pile of pillows and covered me with a blanket, to have my next nap.

Although I had planned to go on with my experiments as soon as possible, I fell asleep immediately.

Within a few weeks, I taught myself how to concentrate on only one single muscle, without flexing all the other ones.

Finally, I was able to move my limbs at will and one by one, without jiggling my entire body at the same time!

I started to play with my arms; by moving them into every possible direction, while following them with my eyes.

That was a lot of fun, now that I was able to steer them...

Then, I started to kick my legs around; but they were difficult to follow, because I couldn't lift my head to look at them.

Obviously, I first had to gain some more strength in the still undeveloped muscles of my tiny neck...

The next day, I found out how I could use my moving arms to shove my pile of pillows around deliberately!

That was even more fun; and I spent quite some time pushing my pillows to one side or rearranging them.

Now and then, an unruly pillow fell of my bed and disappeared to the floor, making me wonder where it suddenly went...

When the pillow didn't return, I forgot about it, and just started to shove the next one around.

After my arms became too tired from the unaccustomed workout; I tried to shove my pillows around with my legs...

Almost immediately, I discovered that my legs were less flexible than my arms, but they were able to kick my pillows around with MUCH more force!

Feeling enthusiastic, I started to kick at all the remaining pillows, making them fly around and jump up into the air...

This turned out to be VERY much fun, and I started to kick my pillows around with even more force!

In no time, my sleeping den was a total mess, because I had thrown and kicked my pillows everywhere...

As a result, I felt much freer, because I now could look around without lifting my head or craning my neck!

Enthusiastically, I kicked at the remaining pillows, until all of them were out of my sight or disappeared onto the floor.

At last, my worn-out little body felt dead tired; but, at the same time, I was very satisfied with my bodily progress.

Unknowingly, I had given my muscles an intense workout, so that they started to become relatively strong for such a small baby!

As an extra bonus, this early training also yielded me a huge advantage throughout the next years of my bodily development.

Even after many years from now, my trained muscles were still relatively strong for my age!

Feeling dead tired, but absolutely wonderful, I closed my eyes and fell asleep...

"My dear son, what did you do? You have spread your pillows all over the place... Did you have a bad dream?

"Or, did you have some cramp and couldn't get rid of it? Why didn't you call me or cry? I would have helped you..."

Slowly, I woke up from some happy dream.

Immediately, I started to smile, at hearing the familiar voice I recognized!

My beloved Dad hovered over me; but he looked rather worried, while he felt my forehead to check for a fever...

Obviously, he still tried to understand what could be wrong with his little son.

Oh my, what had I done...

Of course, it had never been my intent to make my parents feel worried about me!

I had only been playing with my still unwilling limbs; and discovered many useful possibilities...

Only, I never thought my parents would not understand what I was trying to do, to develop my untrained muscles and discover even more useful potentials...

What should I do now?

How could I tell my worried looking Dad I was okay and had only trained my unwilling muscles?

Would he understand my thoughts, as our Wise Woman had done so easily?

Offering him my broadest smile, I told him in my mind:

'Please, Dad, don't worry about me. I am only extremely curious; and, maybe, a little bit too early for my own good...'

Fortunately, my Dad seemed to feel reassured, because he smiled back at me.

I even thought he could have picked up some of my thoughts, but wasn't sure...

Would he pick up a picture of what I wanted him to do now?

Concentrating on his mind, I sent him a picture of him taking me out of my bed and putting me onto his lap...

A second later, my Dad lifted me out of my bed, and took me to our couch in the living room!

Gently, he took me onto his lap, kissed the top of my head, and folded his safe arms around me.

Yesss! That was exactly what I wanted my Dad to do!

Had he really picked up my thoughts?

Happily, I nestled into his safe arms; heaving a deep sigh of content, feeling very pleased to have him as my new Dad.

While melting into his powerful aura, I tried to wriggle my body backwards, to deepen our bodily contact even more.

It felt wonderful; to sit on my Dad's lap, feel his tender caring love engulfing me, and be cradled in his strong arms.

However, after a couple of peaceful minutes, my too energetic brain started to feel a little bit impatient...

Although I cherished our close togetherness very much, I also wanted to do something more productive!

Tentatively, I restarted playing with my arms and legs, while trying to train my still too immature muscles some more.

At the end of my arms and legs, I had discovered a couple of interesting things! My Mom called them 'hands' and 'feet'; and the small thingies at their ends were 'fingers' and 'toes'.

Now, I wanted to find out what I could do with them...

I clapped both hands together, as my Mom sometimes did; and I felt elated when they produced an audible sound.

Then, I had fun entangling my tiny 'fingers' into each other and pulling at them, to release them with some difficulty.

With an audible 'snap' sound, both hands left each other, while spreading my arms out to the left and to the right...

After a lot of playing with my arms, hands, and fingers, I slowly fell silent, because I started to think...

What would happen, if I entangled my fingers around one of my pillows, to grab it and pull at it?

Would it snap loose; or would I be able to hold onto it and pull it towards me?

Of course, such a new ability could be very useful!

I made a mental note to try this out, first thing after my Dad brought me back to my sleeping den...

Now that I knew what I could do with my arms and my hands, I started to concentrate on my legs, by trying to entangle my tiny 'toes' of both feet into each other.

Disappointingly, my toes turned out to be almost useless, compared to my much stronger and more flexible fingers!

Therefore, I concluded that my hands could be very useful for grabbing and pulling at things; but my feet were merely for 'walking' and kicking my pillows towards the floor.

From now on, I would concentrate mainly on my useful hands; and on all these little fingers that I could use to grab things and pull my pillows towards my body.

Would I also be able to grab my own 'feet'?

Yesterday, my Mom had playfully counted my 'ten' fingers and 'ten' toes; while kissed them one by one, making me squirm and giggle with the funny feeling...

Immediately, I had pushed my hands and feet towards her again, to make her perform the same funny counting a second time!

At the same time, I had repeated the names of all ten figures in my mind, because I wanted to remember them for a next time.

Although my brain couldn't count yet, my bright inside seemed to understand the meaning of using numbers...

Because I wanted to have a closer look at my feet, I brought one foot towards my belly, by bending my leg.

Now, I grabbed my hovering foot with both hands, by folding my 'ten' little fingers around its 'five' wriggling toes.

Slowly, I pulled my foot towards my head, at the same time following its movement with my eyes...

Much to my surprise, while my foot slowly approached my face, it magically seemed to grow bigger and bigger!

This was an extremely strange phenomenon! How could my foot suddenly look much bigger than it had been before?

Feeling very curious; I pulled my foot even closer to my face, until I saw TWO approaching feet...

I released my two feet; and they neatly refolded into one single foot, which became smaller and smaller...

Well... Even for an extremely fast developing little baby, some new things could be a bit too incomprehensible!

Therefore, I just accepted the strange phenomenon, and restarted playing with my foot and its five interesting toes.

Again, I grabbed my foot, and pulled it towards my face...

Unexpectedly, my 'big toe' touched my lips, making me gasp with the surprisingly pleasant feeling!

Remembering how I always loved to suck on my Mom's soft 'breasts', I opened my mouth and pushed my big toe into it...

Immediately, I pushed my toe even further into my mouth, while I started to suck on it with all my might, very much enjoying the wonderful and unexpected sensation.

Although my big toe didn't resemble my Mom's breast; it surely could do as a temporary substitute!

All the time, my Dad had watched my playing, while keeping his arms folded around my squirming little body.

Now and then, he chuckled at my efforts to play with my fingers and toes; but he didn't intervene and just let me do.

That is, until he saw me sucking on my big toe with all my might, getting a blissful smile on my beaming face...

This time, my Dad started to bellow with laughter!

Almost hiccupping from sudden fun, my Dad nearly let me slip out of his arms; but he rescued me at the last moment, and hastily pulled me back onto his lap...

My Dad's unexpected reaction took me by surprise.

I didn't understand what could have happened; and let my big toe flip out of my mouth with a loud plop.

Then, I looked up at my Dad with a shocked face, and started to cry...

Immediately, my Dad apologized for his clumsy behavior, now looking a bit ashamed:

"Sorry, my dear son! I was not laughing at you, and please don't be scared. I just could not help it, because you were such a funny sight..."

At the same moment, I stared at my Dad's moving mouth in sudden wonder, and even stopped crying, while something VERY important dawned on me...

Much to my surprise, I was suddenly able to understand quite a lot of my Dad's words, without sensing their energy! This was a MAJOR discovery!

Until now, my 'sixth sense' had always translated the energy of the spoken words, so that my brain could understand what people meant.

Or, in case my sixth sense couldn't translate their words, I had concentrated on people's minds and just read their thoughts...

Now, my bright brain seemed to remember all the spoken words, and put them together into a meaningful sentence!

I felt on cloud nine, and enthusiastically tried to tell my Dad about my very important discovery.

Alas... Again, the only things that left my mouth were little air bubbles and a lot of saliva.

'Understanding a person' and 'talking to a person' were two totally different abilities...

Obviously, I still had to learn quite a lot more, before I would be able to have a proper conversation with my parents.

Yet, feeling stubborn, I tried to 'talk' again; by opening and closing my mouth, while trying to make audible sounds...

My surprised looking Dad tried to understand what I was doing, while he stared at my opening and closing mouth...

Hesitantly, he asked me:

"My dear son; are you really trying to talk to me? What do you want to tell me, with your wise eyes? Ultimately, you are only four weeks old.

"Yet, it looks like you already understand every single word that I am telling you. What do you think... could I be right; or am I talking nonsense?"

Much to my delight, my bright little brain again understood every single word that my happy looking Dad told me!

Feeling elated, I smiled back at his surprised looking face, while I nodded my wobbly head up and down vigorously!

At the same time, I projected a picture of a very happy little Harold into my Dad's brain, hoping he would pick it up.

Still opening and closing my mouth, I tried to tell him:

'Yes, Dad; you ARE right. I DO understand everything that you are telling me! I feel so happy...'

Unfortunately, again, my little mouth only produced another lot of saliva and small air bubbles...

My Dad's eyes brightened considerably, while he really seemed to pick up some energy of what I tried to tell him!

He cleaned my drooling mouth with another tissue, pulled me into an enormous bear hug, and nearly crushed my ribs.

With a very proud face, he promised me:

"My so precocious and extremely clever son... From now on, I will talk to you as if you can understand everything that I am telling you!

"I only hope I am doing the right thing..."

Much to my delight, my Dad finally decided to talk to me according to the REAL development of my old soul!

Again, I tried to look as enthusiastically as I could muster, to encourage my still doubting Dad even more.

In my mind, I told him he DID the right thing; while I sent him another picture of a very happy looking little Harold...

This time, my Dad seemed to pick up a lot more of my projected energy, because he started to smile even broader.

For a second, he tried to deny his strange thoughts and the unexpected picture that suddenly showed up in his mind...

Then, he looked at me with an enormous amount of love; and with quite a lot more respect in his dark brown eyes!

Hesitantly, he asked me:

"My dear son; are you really talking to me in my mind and sending me your pictures?

"My precious and so extremely wise boy, who are you in reality? With all respect, you could easily be an upcoming Shaman; or our new Wise Man..."

Again, I nodded my head vigorously, while I sent my Dad a funny picture of myself as a 'wise old man'...

Two seconds later, we started to chuckle together, because my Dad sent me a funny picture back of his little son, adorned with an enormous mustache!

Until now, I never knew that my Dad could have some of my 'special abilities' too...

From this day on, my Dad always kept his promise; and he continued to talk to me as if I were a grown-up!

Because I understood everything that he told me, it helped me tremendously in developing my bright brain even faster.

Soon, my Dad and I started to read each other's eyes and facial expressions, and that bonded us even more!

Now and then, we had a silent communication, without using any words, making my Mom a bit jealous...

Of course, my Dad tried to tell my Mom about his promise; but he couldn't convince her.

She didn't believe him, told him I was way too small to understand anything important, and just continued to baby-talk to me...

Although I concentrated on my Mom's mind and tried to send her my thoughts, she just didn't pick them up.

Of course, I wasn't mad at my Mom; but I HATED being treated as a little baby, and responded indignantly!

My Mom just laughed at my indignant face, kissed my wrinkling nose, and told me she loved me anyway...

Again trying to talk to her in my mind, I told her:

"Mom, I forgive you for your ignorance; but, within a few months, you will be very surprised; and that is a promise!"

Women... they will never understand us men.

Soon, all our friends and acquaintances reacted stunned, at seeing my astonishingly fast development.

They started to visit our caravan more often; because all of them wanted to see and cuddle me, their so extremely bright little Prince...

Much to their surprise, I understood everything that they told me; and I always responded correctly to their words!

Or, I entered their minds and read their thoughts, and thus knew exactly what they expected me to do...

I always LOVED being taken out of my pillows, and cuddled on a warm lap or held in two strong and safe arms!

Therefore, I always immediately started to smile broadly at our visitors, and that caused them to smile back at me and 'love' me even more...

Very soon, my bright mind had discovered that smiling caused our visitors to 'love' me more than crying did!

When I cried, mostly to develop my lungs, they seemed to feel a bit uneasy, and soon returned me to my Mom or Dad.

Therefore, every time I wanted my visitors to take me out of my pillows, I offered them my broadest smile!

Maybe, I was acting a little bit 'manipulative'; although, at that time, I didn't even know the word...

Of course, I knew the vast difference between the kind of 'love' that our visitors showed me, and REAL love!

REAL love was what radiated from my parents, Michail, my grandmother, and a couple of others who really adored me.

Their real love made me feel all warm and mushy inside; and, with them, I felt absolutely safe and cared for.

With them, I could cry whenever I felt the urge to expand my lungs or train my deep baritone voice, without any fear of being rejected without any reason!

I always HATED being belittled, or treated as a baby.

Didn't my visitors know that I was an 'old soul', temporarily living in this baby body, waiting until I would be big enough?

They didn't need to use those silly words, because I was able to sense what they thought anyway!

Just wait, until I've learned how to use my deep voice to tell them the truth...

Again, a few visitors wanted to see their little Prince; but they were using the silly baby words that made me so angry.

Within a minute, I felt frustrated, stopped smiling, stared at them, and tried to send them my message...

My visitors didn't understand why I suddenly didn't smile any more, and they reacted surprised:

"Look at the little sweetheart! Why does he look so angry, all of a sudden? Maybe, the darling has pooped his diaper?

"Hey, you little teeny-weeny; now give me a proper smile, as you did before. Come on, goo-goo, ga-ga..."

Thanks to their words, I suddenly knew how I could teach our visitors a lesson... I deliberately pooped my diaper!

Within a few seconds, my visitors sniffed the air, handed me to my Mom, and didn't 'love' me anymore.

See? Our visitors didn't REALLY love me.

My Mom took over, cleaned my smelly bottom, attached another warmed diaper, and kissed my wrinkling nose.

See? My Mom loved me, and with REAL love!

A few weeks later, I found out that I really was an extremely special child; with very strong muscles and a surprisingly deep baritone voice, for such a tiny baby...

A 'gadjo doctor' was visiting our Gypsy community; and my parents had asked him to check my bodily development...

I liked the man immediately, and happily let him check my eyes, probe his fingers into my belly, listen to my lungs, and stare into my throat with a little flash light.

Then, I had to move my arms and legs up and down, try to sit upright, take a few wobbly steps while he held my hands, and I followed his slowly moving finger with both eyes.

At last, the doctor asked me a couple of questions; and I had to answer them by nodding or shaking my head...

After the doctor had examined me very thoroughly, he told my anxiously waiting parents with a surprised face:

"Your son is an extremely mature and very healthy child! Although his body seems to be a bit too small for his age, his muscles are surprisingly strong; and his developing mind is extraordinary bright for such a young baby. He also has very large vocal cords, giving him a surprisingly deep and sonorous sounding baritone voice. I am sure that, within a few years, he will turn into a bass. Mentally, he seems to be very precocious, and I have a gut feeling that he already understands everything that I am telling you, although he is only a few months old... Your son is a VERY special boy!"

My happy looking parents thanked the doctor abundantly.

Now, they were absolutely sure that everything was all right with me; and they didn't need to worry about my low voice, my too strong muscles, and my fast mental development...

I smiled broadly at the gadjo doctor, to let him know I really understood everything that he had told my parents; and I absolutely agreed with him!

Of course, I already knew I had a surprisingly deep voice, because all my visitors always reacted stunned at hearing such a 'grown-up' sound coming from such a tiny baby...

Then, they started to smile, while they told my proud parents I was a very special boy with a really beautiful voice!

The gadjo doctor left us, with the promise to have another look at me the next time he was in our secluded camp...

A few days later, I accidentally found out that I seemed to use two totally different kinds of crying!

The first kind of crying, I seemed to use when I felt bored and wanted to have my parents' attention.

Then, my parents smiled at me, and told each other:

"Listen to our little Harold. He is developing his lungs."

The other kind of crying, I seemed to use when I felt hungry, had soiled my diaper, or really didn't feel too well.

Then, immediately, my parents were there for me; to look after me, clean me, or call for our Wise Woman to heal me!

How did my parents know the difference?

Although I tried out several different ways of crying, I just couldn't find the proper way to catch their attention...

At last, I started to feel frustrated, and cried from anger because I couldn't find a workable way to manipulate them.

My parents only laughed at me, and told each other:

"Listen to our little Harold! He seems to feel frustrated, but that helps him develop his lungs."

Grrrr...

From the first day, I was able to sense all the different energies radiating from the people who visited our caravan.

Soon, I was able to recognize them by their specific auras!

My inside could clearly distinguish my Dad's energy from my Mom's, from my Grandma's, or from Michail's...

Many times, I felt their auras preceding them, even before they planned to pay us a visit.

Then, I sensed their energy field at least ten seconds before they stepped inside!

At first, my parents didn't understand why I became excited, ten seconds before somebody showed up...

However, after a while, they got used to my strange 'abilities', and accepted them.

Often, my Mom went to the door, to open it and let our stunned visitors in, ten seconds before they actually reached our caravan!

Of course, many visitors reacted surprised, and asked:

"How do you know I was on my way to pay you a visit?"

"Little Harold told us, by getting excited. We think he has a clairvoyant ability..."

"That is very special, for such a small child! Do you think he will become our new Wise Man?"

"It will certainly be of great help when he is our new King!"

I always felt ecstatic when the man I liked most of all, besides my own Dad, planned to visit us.

Michail was a HUGE man; always wearing his inseparable fur coat, unless the weather was extremely hot.

His powerful energy always filled our entire caravan and engulfed everybody inside, including me.

Therefore, I LOVED to sit on my Friend's enormous lap, and to be cuddled in his strong arms!

Again, I felt Michail's preceding energy enter our caravan, ten seconds before he knocked on our door...

Of course, I started to fidget in my pillows, trying to hop up and down, while making enthusiastic sounds!

My Mom saw my excitement, smiled knowingly, and opened our front door to let our visitor in:

"Hi, Michail! Didn't you bring your betrothed with you?"

Michail shook his head, and sat down on our couch that moaned under his heavy weight.

He wasn't surprised at all, knowing that my 'special ability' always worked flawlessly. He seemed to be very proud of his so special little friend!

At the other end of our couch, I fidgeted in between my pillows, desperately trying to get Michail's attention...

My Mom smiled at my very eager face, lifted me from my pillows, and put me onto Michail's enormous lap.

Yes, that was what I wanted!

Michail folded his strong arms around my small body, and gently crushed my tiny ribs against his huge chest...

Happily, I let myself melt into his powerful aura, while I very much enjoyed the safe feeling of his arms around me.

I loved my Big Friend with all my heart, and with REAL love!

Michail started to chuckle at seeing my beaming face and sparkling blue eyes; and bent over to kiss my forehead.

His enormous mustache tickled my nose and made me sneeze, but I loved even that!

Now and then, Michail brought Felicia, his girlfriend; and, then, I had to sit on her lap too...

However, SHE didn't radiate the enormous power and love I so cherished from my Big Friend.

Mostly, I offered her a tiny smile, and started to fidget while staring at Michail...

That always helped. Felicia felt a bit disconcerted; and soon put me onto Michail's lap.

My Big Friend didn't disapprove; and I had what I wanted! Maybe, I was really acting a little bit manipulative?

Hmm...

Today, after some more cuddling, Michail laid me back in between my pillows, to be able to drink his coffee.

However, that was not to my liking! I wanted to sit on his lap and have his strong arms around me a lot more!

Feeling frustrated, I started to kick at my pillows, wanting to free my way towards my Big Friend.

A moment later, I had all my pillows out of the way and onto the floor.

Now, I only had to move my body towards my Big Friend, who looked at my ministrations with curious eyes...

After some thinking, I planted my feet against the seat of our couch, and stretched my legs with all my force.

Much to my delight, my little body slowly shifted towards my Big Friend!

Feeling elated, I did it a second time, pushing my feet against our couch with even more force.

Then, I did it a third time, and a fourth time...

Unexpectedly, my head bumped against the back of our couch, while my shoulders shoved upwards a little bit.

Not feeling discouraged at all, I just planted both hands next to my body, while I started to push and kick both my hands and my feet at the same time!

Groaning with the effort, I felt how the upper part of my body slowly slid upwards against the backside of our couch...

Suddenly, much to my own surprise, my little body sat UPRIGHT, proudly leaning against the back of our couch!

Hey! All of a sudden, I was sitting upright and looking around, just like all the others were doing!

And, I had done it all by myself, without any help!

Now, I only had to push my body sideways a little bit more, to sit perfectly vertically.

With a very proud face, I looked around, as if saying:

'Do you see that? I am SITTING, just like you do!'

Of course, I lost my balance and fell down; but, I just kicked my feet around and wrestled upright again.

Every time I sat upright, it was a bit easier; until I could turn my head and look around without losing my balance.

Within five minutes, I had taught myself how to sit upright, without any help from anybody!

My amazed looking Dad stared at me for a very long time, as if he couldn't believe his own eyes...

Michail had a broad smile on his face, and he seemed to be very proud of his extremely early little friend...

Then, my stunned looking Mom exclaimed:

"LOOK AT THAT! Our Harold sits upright, and he has done it all on his own! But, he is only two months old...

"Janov, you are right! Harold REALLY is a very special child! Now, it's time to bring him to our Wise Woman, to let her read his past lives and his possible future.

"Just a moment; and I will be right back..."

Hurriedly, my Mom left our caravan, to tell my Grandma and our Wise Woman about my extraordinary achievement.

After my Mom returned, followed by many other surprised people, I was our day's hero!

Everybody stormed into our caravan and wanted to have a quick look at their proudly sitting tiny Prince!

Again, all our stunned visitors assured my parents that I was the fastest developing baby in the universe!

Now, they wanted to know what our Wise Woman had to say about my past lives and my possible future...

For the first time, somebody ruffled my unruly blond hair.

Although it felt a bit strange, l LOVED the funny feeling.

Yes, I still do!

3. Past lives; Daddy, Mommy, Harry luvjou deawly.

The next morning, my parents dressed me into a small black-and-golden garment that once belonged to my Dad.

Wearing such a garment for the first time felt very strange; as, up to now, I wasn't used to wearing any clothes other than my usual diaper...

Of course, I started to protest fiercely, by groaning and kicking around, while plucking angrily at the itchy sleeves.

I wanted my parents to remove the thing immediately!

This time, my Mom refused to listen to my complaints.

She only told me to be quiet and get used to wearing our official Royal garments.

Today, we HAD to wear our Royal colors; because my parents were our King and Queen, and I was their little Crown Prince and only Heir to the Throne!

Chuckling at my tantrum, my Mom went on helping my Dad with dressing into his own similarly colored garment...

In the meantime, I still tried to get rid of the musty smelling pieces of clothing that I already started to loathe.

Unfortunately, my untrained little fingers just couldn't find out how to unbuckle all those strange looking buttons...

Why didn't my parents listen to my complaints, and help me out of this horrible thing I absolutely didn't want to wear?

Angrily, and feeling betrayed, I glared at my Dad, trying to let my eyes shoot burning daggers...

At last, my Dad took me into his arms, while he explained:

"My little Prince, we HAVE to wear our Royal garments today, because our people want to SEE their Beloved Leaders and their little Crown Prince!

"Could you please stop being angry, and try to behave as the future Gypsy King that you once will be? Don't disappoint your waiting subjects...

Feeling surprised, I looked up at my pleading Dad; while my little brain tried to digest this new information...

Suddenly, the real importance of wearing my Royal garment started to dawn upon me.

For the first time, I understood that being a little Crown Prince was not only a lot of fun, but also brought quite a lot of responsibilities!

Although my undeveloped brain still didn't grasp the full extent of my revelation, my Inner Self KNEW I had been an Important Leader before...

Therefore, in my Inside, I knew exactly how a real Aristocrat should behave!

Even a tiny one, like me...

Immediately, I suppressed my anger, by regulating my breath and forcefully shutting down all my emotions.

Then, I produced a huge smile, while forcing myself to be the happy looking little Prince my parents wanted to see.

Still feeling a little bit guilty, I sighed and whispered:

"Sowwy..."

My Mom gasped from disbelief, while she exclaimed:

"Janov, you are RIGHT. Harold DOES understand you! Look at him! He switches from anger to a smile, just like that!

"How is that possible, for such a small child... And, did I hear him say 'sorry'? I cannot believe my own ears..."

Shaking her head in utter amazement, my Mom stared at me with a totally new expression on her stunned face...

Well, I was sure my astonished Mom would have to get used to many more unexpected surprises in our future!

After all, I WAS a very special child!

A moment later, I sensed the powerful aura of my Big Friend, obviously planning to enter our caravan...

Of course, I started to fidget and jump up and down in my Dad's arms, trying to make enthusiastic sounds!

My Dad smiled at my sudden excitement; while he opened our door, to let our Vice King and mutual friend in.

Michail, clad in his own black-and-golden garment, looked us over from head to feet, while he chuckled:

"Sorry, I seem to be in the wrong caravan! The people I'm looking for, usually don't dress this refined."

"Well, look at yourself! I almost forgot how you look without your fur coat... But, today, you look great!"

Michail winked at me, while he reopened our door, and guided us to our circle of benches around our campfire.

We sat down on our own Royal wooden bench; and I looked around at all our colorful caravans in sudden surprise...

Vaguely, I remembered the second day of my life, when my Dad had taken me to this same circle of wooden benches.

Then, everything had been covered in blinding white snow, while I was wrapped in a warm blanket that left only my little face free...

Today, all the snow was gone; and the colorful world I saw this time, differed quite a lot from the first one I had seen!

This was only the second time I was outside, and I looked around in surprise at all the abundant colors...

This time, my Dad didn't throw me high into the air; but he sat me on his lap and folded his safe arms around me.

I always loved that feeling, which reminded me of the warm and cozy womb I had been living in for nine months...

Feeling safe and protected, I looked at all the people that showed up in the circle of caravans around our campfire.

Several people approached us, greeted my parents and Michail, and ruffled my hair, before sitting down.

Many suntanned children were frolicking around, or chasing after each other around our campfire, now and then curiously staring at their little Crown Prince...

I smiled at them, and they smiled back at me immediately!

Patiently, we waited, until all the grown-ups were seated on their own wooden benches, this time wearing their own beautifully colored garments.

When all the grown-ups were seated, all the children stopped their playing and climbed onto one of the inviting laps, to be cuddled and feel loved.

My Big Friend, Michail, sat next to us on our Royal bench. Only, he seemed to be totally caught up with his girlfriend...

Much to my disappointment, both Michail and Felicia were way too busy whispering, kissing, and smiling at each other, to pay any proper attention to ME...

Of course, I tried to catch their attention, by fidgeting and making sounds that created a lot of saliva around my mouth.

However, this time, my Big Friend didn't even see me! He just went on whispering and kissing...

Slowly, I started to dislike the kissing woman who had so easily caught all Michail's attention.

Why was SHE having all the fun with my Big Friend, while that always had been MY exclusive privilege?

Obviously, I started to feel a little bit 'jealous'; although, at that time, I didn't even know the word.

Desperately, I started to fidget even more...

At last, my frustrated looking Mom took some tissues, and cleaned my again drooling mouth.

Then, with an angry voice, she admonished me:

"Sit still, and try to behave as the Royal Prince you are!"

Suddenly feeling ashamed, I sighed and whispered:

"Yes Mum..."

The surprised expression of total disbelief on my Mom's shocked face was priceless!

Now, our violin players rose from their benches and started to play a tender melody, full of sadness and longing.

The beautiful sound tore at my heartstrings; and I felt like crying, but desperately repressed my sobs.

I didn't want to be a nuisance, or to disturb the heartwarming atmosphere...

My Dad looked at me, saw my tears, wiped them away, and gently rubbed my stomach to relieve the tension.

Fortunately, that helped. My sobbing faded away; and I looked up at my Dad and smiled at him.

I saw that he had tears in his own eyes too, and I loved him even more. I was sure my Dad and I were kindred souls!

Slowly, our violin players let their music fade away; while they returned to their benches and sat down.

Now, my Grandmother rose from her own wooden bench, to make her announcements.

First, she looked around the circle, making eye contact with everybody, until her eyes rested on me...

She smiled at me; and I recognized her, offered her a broad smile, and stretched my tiny arms out towards her!

Many people reacted astonished, whispering:

"Look at that! Our little Prince already responds to his Grandmother, although he is only two months old! Wow, what a special child is he...

"And, look at those bright blue eyes! They feel like staring straight into your soul, just like our Wise Woman always does..."

My Grandmother waited until everybody had calmed down and was ready to listen to what she had to say...

Again looking around, she announced:

"Today, our little Crown Prince, Harold Janovski Romani, shows up here to let our Wise Woman read his past lives and his possible future; as we always do when a member or our Royal Family sits upright for the first time. His father, our beloved King Janov Nikkinsky Romani, has already proven to be 'one of us'; meaning he has been a Gypsy before, in one of his past lives. His mother, our beloved Queen, Maria Soren, also has proven to be 'one of us'; before she arrived here and married my son. Once we are sure that our little Crown Prince is 'one of us' too; he will have the status of Royal Prince, and we will raise him accordingly. Now, my little Prince and beloved grandson, our Wise Woman will look into your past lives and possible future, and she will share her relevant findings with us. So be it!"

My Grandmother bowed towards us, and sat down.

Now, my Dad rose from our bench, with me in his arms.

First, he bowed towards his Mother and previous Queen, to show her his love and respect.

Next, he carried me to our Wise Woman, and handed me to her...

The Wise Woman sat me down on her lap; while she stared at me with her piercing eyes, as if she could be looking directly into my deepest core...

The intensity of her stare made me feel very uneasy; and I nearly started to cry from sudden discomfort.

I didn't want to be left with our Wise Woman! I wanted to sit on my Dad's lap, and feel safe in his strong arms!

Where was my Dad?

Suddenly, the Wise Woman turned me around on her lap, so that I sat across her legs.

She covered my eyes with one hand, while she put her other hand against the back of my wobbly head.

Then, she started to hum; producing a strangely sonorous and monotonous sound...

An intense energy started to radiate from her hands; numbing my little body and making me feel drowsy...

Within a second, my Inside felt totally at ease and safe; because I recognized her powerful energy, and knew exactly what it was going to do to me!

I recognized the intense energy that engulfed me; and I was sure I had used this same kind of energy myself many times before!

As a powerful Shaman and mystic Mage, I had cured and healed many people; by helping them remember their past lives and healing their Karmic traumas.

Now, our Wise Woman was helping me remember my own past lives; to look into them and share her findings...

My Inner Awareness left my little body and entered our timeless Eternal Realm, where I immediately felt AT HOME.

Here was where I belonged in reality; and to where I would return after I had redeemed my Karma, performed all my Earthly duties, and readied all my important tasks!

Now that my awareness was freed from the impediments of my material environment, I remembered who I was in reality, and why my Cosmic Friends had chosen me to go back to Earth.

I sensed many Beloved Ancestors and Spirit Friends around me; but they only sent me their greetings while telling me to go on.

Another time, we would talk some more; but, today, I was here to let our Wise Woman have a look at my past lives and possible future...

After greeting my Beloved Ancestors and Eternal Friends, I let myself drift into a much deeper trance.

The Wise Woman changed her humming; making me leave our Eternal Realm and propel backwards along my timeline, until I entered my last life on earth...

Suddenly, I remembered my former Dad and Very Best Friend; who had raised his little son all alone after my last Mom died in childbirth.

We were 'trappers'; living in a vast forest with many steep ravines and dangerous rapids, trading our deer pelts in faraway villages for food and equipment.

From a very young age, my Dad taught me how to set a trap, sneak around, and spice our roasted animals using carefully selected herbs.

Here, I grew up happy and carefree; until a hungry grizzly bear killed me, my former trapper Dad, and our closest neighbor and dearest friend.

I was sure we would soon meet each other and be very close friends again in my present life; but only after I first redeemed some old and very nasty Karma...

The Wise Woman changed her humming again; making me propel deeper backwards along my timeline, until I entered another past life.

In that life, I had hunted down several so-called 'witches', to burn them on stakes and thus 'save their souls from burning in hell for all eternity'...

Now, according to our universal Law of Karma, 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth', I first had to endure the same ordeal, to clean myself and redeem all my former sins.

Of course, this Cosmic Law is not for punishment; but it forces us to gain much more Love and Compassion for our previous 'victims', and thus enables us to better ourselves!

Unlike my burnt victims, I would prevail; and the profound experience would make me both stronger and wiser.

Again, the Wise Woman changed her humming; making me propel even deeper backwards along my timeline, until I entered a life where I had been a real Aristocrat...

Immediately, I recognized my former 'trapper Dad'!

Only, in this past life, he was our Beloved 'Gypsy Monarch Harold the Great', while I was our beloved Vice King and his very best friend.

Working closely together, we had founded our modern Gypsy way of living, filling it with much more Love, Freedom, Understanding, and Compassion!

I also recognized our secluded community and surrounding mountains; proving I had been living in this same secluded place at least once before!

Then, I had been our beloved Vice King; while, now, I would be our next King and the next Beloved Leader of all forty million Gypsies on Earth...

Suddenly, the Wise Woman produced a high-pitched sound; propelling me forward towards my possible future...

In my future, I would grow up healthy and prosperously; while my 'old soul' would develop itself in even more Cosmic Love, to prepare itself for its Special Task in our World.

Soon after my sixth birthday, I would first redeem all my old and nasty Karma; assisted by a very nice man and his friendly young son, who once had been my Dearest Friends and now would be my trusted Earthly Helpers.

Two years later, according to my Cosmic Plan, I would meet my former 'trapper Dad' and beloved 'Gypsy Monarch Harold the Great'; and he would adopt me and be my new Dad, to help me grow up as our future Gypsy Leader.

Working together, we would write several books about our Peaceful and Lovable Gypsy way of living; and our famous 'Gypsy series' books would be read all over the world!

Then, I would marry a nice Gypsy girl and have my own son; to raise my little Prince and let him follow in our footsteps...

All the time, all our Beloved Ancestors, Cosmic Helpers, and Spirit Friends, would be with us and help us from within their own timeless Eternal Realm.

The Wise Woman let her humming slowly fade away, until the sound stopped completely...

Slowly, my Inner Awareness returned into my body; while my human brain already wiped out my trance experiences.

My inside felt as if I woke up from a dream; making me feel confused, while my little body started to tremble all over.

Fortunately, our Wise Woman asked my Dad to take me over, because she needed a few minutes to recover...

My Dad carried me back to our own bench, where he sat me onto his lap and folded his safe arms around me.

He filled me with his own powerful energy, while rubbing my upset stomach; until I sighed, burped, and felt a lot better.

Soon, all the memories from my 'strange dream' had faded away, until I couldn't remember anything of what had happened during my induced trance.

I started to look around again with curious eyes, and fidgeted enthusiastically when Michail finally looked back at me and smiled at me...

After our Wise Woman drank some water, she told us:

"Our little Crown Prince certainly is 'one of us'; because he has been our own beloved Vice King! He was the dearest friend of our Beloved 'Monarch Harold the Great'; therefore, it is a good thing that he already carries the first name of his beloved great-grandfather! Soon after his sixth birthday, our Prince has to redeem some nasty Karma first; but he will prevail, helped by our Beloved Ancestors and Spirit Friends. Next, he will start writing many Gypsy series of books that will be read all over the world! After he is our next Gypsy Leader, he will marry a nice Gypsy girl, and raise his own son to follow in our footsteps. My beloved Royal Prince, be welcome again in our Gypsy community; and we will raise you according to your officially recognized Royal status!"

Immediately, our violin players rose from their bench, and started to play joyful melodies full of hope and glory.

All our people rose to their feet and went to my proud looking parents; to congratulate them with their now officially recognized Royal Prince.

Many of them also congratulated ME, by kissing my wrinkling nose or ruffling my unruly hair...

At first, I loved all the well-meant attention very much.

However, after some time, I started to feel too tired, and closed my eyes to shut everybody out for a moment...

Immediately, I tumbled into a deep sleep; probably because I was dead tired from all my strange sensations.

A few hours later, I woke up in my small den, opened my eyes, and looked around.

Obviously, my parents had brought me home, cleaned me up, and laid me in between my pillows to have some more sleep.

Smilingly, I realized that I now felt much happier, without wearing my itching Royal garment!

Inwardly, I hoped that I never had to wear the annoying thing again...

Only, now, my wet diaper started to feel itchy; and I wanted my Mom to replace it and clean me up.

Because I felt very happy, and absolutely didn't feel like crying, I decided to CALL my busy Mom, who seemed to be working in our kitchen while rattling our pans.

Ultimately, my mouth and throat had already been able to pronounce the words 'sorry' and 'yes Mum'.

I only had to make my whispering voice a lot louder, to make myself be heard against all the rattling noises...

Enthusiastically, I started to make some sound, by willing my throat and lips to form the word 'Mom'.

Only, much to my frustration, my unwilling mouth and throat didn't produce any audible sounds at all!

I only had to swallow a lot of excessive saliva, as usual...

What could I be doing wrong?

I was absolutely sure I HAD pronounced the words 'sowwy' and 'yes Mum', although I had only whispered them!

Now, suddenly, no sound at all left my drooling mouth...

Feeling frustrated, I started to think; trying to find out how I had been able to say those words, just a few hours ago.

Maybe, replaying all the events in my mind would help me find out what I was doing wrong?

By replaying the past events in my mind, I hoped to remember how I had been able to whisper the audible words 'sowwy' and 'yes Mum', by using my mouth and my throat...

Very much to my delight, I almost immediately found out what could have happened!

I was sure I had mumbled the words while, at the same time, I had sighed from frustration because I felt guilty!

And, I already knew that 'sighing' meant 'breathing out'...

Immediately, I took a very deep breath, and let my lips form the word 'Mom' while breathing out forcefully.

YESSS! Much to my delight, my efforts really worked!

This time, my mouth and throat succeeded in making a whispering sound that resembled the word 'Mhommm'!

Only, my whispering sound wasn't loud enough for my still busy Mom to hear me from our kitchen.

Obviously, I had to use my 'vocal cords' as well, to bring my sonorous baritone voice into my whispering...

How would I be able to do THAT?

After some more heavy thinking, I decided that the only audible sound my throat could produce loud enough for my Mom to hear me, would be crying!

That would certainly set my large vocal cords into proper action!

Most likely, my throat had to cry out loudly; while, at the same time, my lips had to form the word 'Mom'...

Immediately, I opened my mouth, and started to CRY!

While crying as loudly as I could perform, I closed my lips, and desperately tried to form the word 'Mom'...

Well... after hearing my own rather pathetic result, loudly echoing through our caravan, I started to laugh at myself!

This hilarious noise sounded more like a heavily frustrated animal in severe pain and distress...

Within a split second, my Mom stormed towards me from our kitchen, with a very worried face!

She dived towards my bed, scooped me into her arms, and immediately started to look my body over from head to foot!

Of course, she didn't find anything to be worried about...

For a moment, my Mom continued to look frustrated.

Then, she saw my sparkling eyes and broadly smiling face!

At first, she looked confused, while she sniffed the air...

Then, with a sudden smile, she told me:

"You have only soiled your diaper? My dear Royal Prince, what the heck did you do? I thought you had fallen out of bed and injured yourself, or worse...

"Please, never ever utter such a terrible scream again! Now, come here, and let Mommy change your smelly diaper and feed you."

Well... My 'Mommy' would now change my still itching diaper, as I originally wanted her to do!

However, I also felt a little bit sorry, for alarming her like this...

Only, how else could I have trained myself to use my voice?

My 'Mommy' took me to our living room; while I started to repeat her new word that I was sure I hadn't heard before.

Her new word, 'Mommy', seemed to sound even friendlier than her old word 'Mom' had done...

I took a deep breath, breathed out, and whispered:

"Mhhhommmmy... Mhommmy..."

My surprised looking Mom nearly let me slip out of her arms, while she stared at me in sudden astonishment!

Fortunately, she rescued me just in time, by quickly putting me down in between my pile of pillows on our couch.

Looking at me in total bewilderment, she exclaimed:

"Harold, you are whispering again! My dear son, you ARE a very special child. Just wait until your Daddy hears you!"

Of course, I immediately tried out my Dad's new name 'Daddy', and whispered a little bit more loudly:

"Dhhadddy... Mhhommmy... Dhadddy... Mhommy..."

Much to my delight, my vocal cords suddenly started to make their own deep baritone sounds, harmoniously adding them to my louder whispering!

Immediately, I started to make my vocal cords sounding even louder, until I could say my words almost correctly.

FINALLY, I would be able to talk more or less properly, although I was sure I first had to practice quite a lot more...

Feeling elated, I repeated the words over and over:

"Mhommmy, Dhadddy, Mommmy, Dadddy..."

My now very proud looking Mommy lifted me from our couch, and started to dance and whirl around in our room, while carrying me in her arms!

Still looking very happy, she laid me back onto our couch and changed my soiled diaper, while I continued to train speaking louder and louder.

For a moment, I had to stop my speaking; because my Mommy took me onto her lap, to feed me with her yummy nourishment from her soft breasts.

Hungrily, I drank and drank; until my stomach was filled to the brim, and I had burped all the excessive air out...

After cleaning my face, my Mom laid me down onto our couch, in between my huge pile of pillows...

Immediately, I kicked all my pillows onto the floor, because I wanted to have much more freedom!

Next, I wrestled my body around and pushed myself up; until I sat upright, leaning against the backside of our couch.

From here, I could overlook our living room, and follow my Mom with my curious eyes wherever she went...

All the time, I continued to train myself to speak both new words even more properly.

Stubbornly, I went on and on, until my words started to sound exactly like my Mommy had pronounced them.

Then, already feeling very satisfied, I just concentrated on saying the words louder and louder.

Half an hour later, a very well-known aura approached our caravan, clearly planning to be home early.

Immediately, I started to jump up and down from happiness!

I almost fell off our couch, but regained my balance at the last moment.

Within ten seconds from now, the man I loved most in the whole world, would enter our caravan!

Enthusiastically, I exclaimed one of my new words:

"Daddy!"

My Mom looked at me with a very surprised face, while she asked me:

"Is Daddy really coming home, this early? I still don't know how you can be so sure, every time..."

Ten seconds later, our front door opened, and my Dad entered our caravan!

He shucked his shoes, entered our living room, and first kissed my beaming Mom.

Then, he came over to me, smiling at my sparkling eyes and over-enthusiastic face...

Offering him my broadest smile, I started to hop up and down on our couch, while I repeated my new word:

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

My Dad suddenly looked perplexed!

Nearly stumbling over his own feet, he stopped abruptly.

Slowly, he opened and closed his mouth, as a fish craving for oxygen, while he stared at my proudly beaming face...

Then, he came up to me, while he stuttered:

"My precious son, you are already calling me 'Daddy'? Did your Mom teach you how to say this word?"

Enthusiastically, I bobbed my head up and down, to let my Dad know that he was absolutely right.

Then, I decided to say all the new words...

Proudly, I started to repeat all my words:

"Daddy, Mommy; Daddy, Mommy; Daddy, Mommy; Hawol... Hadol... Harol... Harol...th... Harol...p..."

Why didn't my mouth tell my own name correctly?

The too difficult word my mouth now tried to pronounce, absolutely didn't sound like my own name, 'Harold'...

Feeling disappointed, I tried it again; but, again, the name my mouth tried to speak didn't sound as it should be.

Obviously, my untrained little tongue just couldn't couple the sound 'Harol' to its immediately following 'd'...

This was VERY annoying!

My untrained mouth just wasn't able to pronounce my own name, 'Harold', with 'd' at the end, without breaking my tongue over it...

What should I do now?

I absolutely WANTED to be able to say my own name correctly!

Stubbornly, I tried it again; but, again, my tongue refused to pronounce the too difficult 'd' at the end of my name...

Now, I started to think...

Couldn't there be an easier way for me, maybe temporarily, to pronounce my own name?

I WANTED to be able to tell other people my name!

Suddenly, my built-in 'little brainiac' took over; and it came up with what could be a workable solution, at least for now!

My mouth and tongue had already been able to pronounce the new words 'Daddy' and 'Mommy'; so... yes, why not?

With a smile from ear to ear, I asked my parents:

"Mommy, Daddy, ...Harry?"

For a moment, total silence fell over our living room...

Then, both my Mom and my Dad raced towards me; trying to embrace my tiny frame at the same time!

My very proud looking Dad scooped me up first, in the process nearly crushing my ribs in his strong arms.

With tears in his proud looking eyes, my Dad exclaimed:

"Harry, my dear son, you really are one out of a million! How old are you in reality? According to our calendar, you should be only two months old...

"Now, I am absolutely convinced you are the fastest developing child in our universe! Please, could you say your own name again? And, my precious Harry, I love you dearly."

"Daddy, Mommy... Harry luvjou deawly!"

This time, both proudly beaming parents started to kiss me all over, while my nearly crying Mom threw her warm arms around my Dad and me.

For a very long time, they kept me sandwiched in between them, having tears of pure joy in their eyes.

They only let me go after I started to wheeze and pant, trying to wrestle free to get some fresh air...

However, I didn't mind at all.

4. Crawling; walking; a 'wandering question mark'.

A couple of weeks later, I woke up from my usual morning nap on our couch, and first produced a heartfelt yawn.

Then, as usual, I kicked my pile of pillows out of the way; to have some more freedom, and be able to sit upright and look around.

A moment later, all my pillows were on the floor; except for one stubborn pillow that teasingly shoved just out of my reach...

Well, who was the boss here? Of course, I wanted to kick that obstinate thing towards the floor as well!

I wiggled my body around so that my legs pointed towards the unruly pillow, stretched out at full length, and kicked at it...

Alas, the disobedient thing went even further away. Teasingly, it shoved just out of my reach, instead of falling to the floor...

Now, I became angry at the pigheaded pillow that didn't want to obey me. The persistent thing HAD to listen to my will!

Stubbornly, I wrung the upper half of my body towards it; while, at the same time, forcefully kicking my legs against our couch.

Now, I only had to flail my arms to make myself roll over onto my stomach, as I had done many times before.

Lying prone, I tried to wriggle my body forward, to reach the mischievous pillow and kick it off my couch...

However, my unwilling little frame only wobbled and jiggled from left to right; but it did not move forward.

What should I do now? I absolutely wanted to kick that scalawag pillow towards where it belonged!

Feeling frustrated, I decided to try out something different I had never done before.

Still lying prone, I pushed my arms up against our couch and stretched them at full length...

Suddenly, the upper half of my body rose up from our couch, supported by my outstretched arms!

This time, I only had to lift my head, to be able to look around easily...

Hey! Looking around like this was even more fun than sitting upright!

And, again, I had discovered it all on my own.

Now, I only had to bend my arms, to lower myself back onto our couch and lying prone again...

Only, what would happen if I bended only ONE arm?

Immediately, I tried it out...

THAT was quite a lot more fun than I had anticipated! My body rolled around along its axis, until I was again lying on my back...

Only, surprisingly, my entire body had also moved a couple of inches towards my obstinate pillow!

Immediately, I turned back onto my stomach, pushed myself up, and rolled around again, and again, and again...

Unexpectedly, my rolling little body tumbled off our couch, following my obedient pillows towards the floor!

With a loud yelp, I fell down, bumping my head on the floor with a dull thump.

OUCH! That hurt terribly!

Feeling frustrated and angry, because my enthusiasm had betrayed me like this, I started to cry...

Immediately, my worried looking Mom appeared from our kitchen and raced towards me.

She squatted down and scooped me up from the floor, looking me over for any serious damage...

Only, I had already gritted my teeth and stopped crying.

Of course, falling off our couch had been my own fault, for not paying enough attention to where I was rolling!

Now, I had to pay the price for my lesson, with a swelling lump on my head.

Well... My lump was painful, but I was sure I would survive.

I smiled at my worried looking Mom, to let her know I was okay and that I wanted to go on with my experiments.

However, my Mom started to look around our living room, instead of putting me back onto our couch...

Why did my Mom do that? Feeling a bit uneasy, I tuned in into her mind, to read her thoughts...

A moment later, I felt severely shocked! Much to my dismay, I sensed that my Mom thought about restricting my freedom, to prevent me from having any more accidents!

Only, I didn't WANT to be restricted by my worried Mom!

I had planned to experiment with moving around on our couch quite a lot more... And, of course, I still wanted to kick that remaining unwilling pillow to the floor!

Besides, would pillows get headaches and swelling lumps too, from falling off our couch and bumping onto the floor?

As far as I knew, they never yelped...

How could I convince my worried Mom I would be careful from now on, because I had learned my lesson the hard way?

Of course, I could try to tell her what I planned to do, and that she didn't need to worry about me any more.

However, I was sure she again wouldn't pick up any thoughts or pictures. She never did...

Maybe, I could try to manipulate her motherly feelings for me?

Hmm...

I looked up at my Mom, and offered her my biggest smile.

Then, I told her the words I had practiced many times:

"Mommy, I luvv you verry musj!"

My Mom got tears in her eyes, while she kissed my wrinkling nose and answered with a choking voice:

"My dear Harry, I love you too; very, very much! Only, I want to protect you from falling off our couch again. What shall I do..."

Of course, my inside was sure that I really meant what I had said. I loved my Mommy dearly, and with REAL love!

Only, I absolutely loathed the idea of being 'protected', if that meant being restricted from experimenting... How could I convince my too cautious Mom to let me keep my freedom?

Feeling rather desperate, I decided to try to force my thoughts into my Mom's brain!

Perhaps, I would be able to reach her mind easier, by first bringing our heads together?

I put my small arms around my Mom's neck, and pushed my face against her warm cheek.

Now, I tried to send my pleading thoughts directly into her unwilling brain.

Hoping she would pick up some of my energy, I begged:

'Mom, please, don't restrict me. I NEED to experiment, and I promise I will really be more careful from now on!'

Suddenly, my Mom looked at me with a very surprised face, while she hesitantly responded:

"Will you really be more careful from now on? I don't want to send my precious Harry to a hospital with broken bones..."

YESSS! Finally, my Mom had started to understand me!

Much to my delight, she had picked up the last part of my thoughts, and she answered my unspoken question!

In response, I nodded my head vigorously; while sending her a picture of a very happy Harry, safely playing on our couch...

My Mom could count on me!

While my Mom sat me back onto our couch, she told me:

"Yet, I want you to be quite a lot safer! Please, sit still, and wait until I am ready..."

First, my Mom dragged our table out of the way, thus creating a lot of free space on our floor.

Then, all my pillows went back to our couch; piled up on top of the unruly one.

Now, my Mom picked me up and put me down onto our floor, which fortunately had a thick rug and was spotlessly clean.

Much to my delight, my Mom had a VERY good idea!

I felt elated; and immediately restarted my experiments.

Again, I started to roll around and around; but, now, I first looked carefully at where I was and to where I went...

After some time of rolling around and having fun, I decided to try out something even more difficult.

Although my little body rolled across the floor at a reasonable speed, it was a rather impractical way of moving, and a tiring way as well.

This time, I wanted to try out something more practical; while my new movements also felt a lot more natural...

After again rolling onto my stomach, I first folded both arms and legs under my body.

Next, I planted both my hands AND my knees onto the floor, and slowly pushed myself up...

Suddenly, I sat on all fours, looking up at my watching Mom.

My body only wobbled a little bit; but I kept my balance!

Because my arms were much longer than my thighs, I sat almost upright, and was able to look around with ease!

Again, I had discovered something new and usable that turned out to be lots of fun. Now, I only had to find out how I would be able to move around on our floor properly...

Because it came to me naturally, I just started to shift both my arms and my legs back and forth, hoping to move forward...

Almost immediately, I lost my balance and tumbled onto my back.

What had I done wrong? I started to think...

Because, even after some heavy thinking, I didn't understand what could have happened, I decided to experiment some more...

First, I rolled onto my stomach, folded my arms and legs under my body, and pushed myself up on all fours.

Now, I placed only one arm forward, while trying to keep my balance.

Next, I placed my other arm forward; and it felt natural to let one knee follow, and then the other one...

YES! This time, my entire body had moved forward a couple of inches, and with surprising ease!

Plus, I was still on all fours, proudly keeping my balance! Now, I only had to train myself in moving my arms and legs much faster, and rhythmically...

Half an hour later, I was racing across our living room floor, at an astonishing speed!

This was the real work! This time, I was really crawling around on our carpeted floor, all on my own!

Finally, I had achieved what I had been trying to do all the time, but didn't know how to do it.

Feeling more and more enthusiastic, I started to crawl faster and faster, trying to move my limbs even more rhythmically...

Of course, in my over-enthusiasm, I again forgot to look out where I went.

Unexpectedly, I bumped my still painful head against one of the walls, and stopped in surprise!

OUCH! The same painful lump on my head that I still had, now hurt even more than it had done before!

Feeling rather silly, I slumped down onto the floor...

Again, I had forgotten the important rule to play it safe and be very careful with any new things, always and everywhere...

Again, I gritted my teeth, paying the painful price for my important lesson.

From now on, I HAD to look out where I was crawling; all the time, and everywhere!

I looked up at my again worried looking Mom, while forcing myself to show her a broad smile...

Fortunately, my Mom smiled back at me, feeling reassured by my again beaming face.

Obviously, she also was VERY proud of her so extremely fast developing little boy!

Then, my inside felt a well-known powerful aura approaching our caravan!

Did I really sense my Dad's joyful energy, planning to come home this early?

Immediately, I sat ready to greet him, exclaiming:

"Mommy? Daddy home!"

Ten seconds later, my Dad entered our caravan, winked at me, and first shucked his shoes in our hallway...

Of course, I sat ready for takeoff, impatiently waiting to show off my newly gained ability...

The moment my Dad entered our living room, I crawled towards him at lightning speed!

I bumped into his legs, and looked up at him with a beaming face and sparkling eyes...

Looking stunned, my Dad bent over, scooped me off the floor, and took me into his arms, uttering:

"My precious son; again, you surprise me! Are you really crawling around, all on your own? Ultimately, you are not even four months old...

"My dear Harry, you are a real super boy; and I am very proud of you, and of your extremely fast development! Please, could you demonstrate your crawling again?"

My proud looking Dad gently put me back onto our floor.

Then, he sat down on our couch, to enjoy looking at me and at my recently discovered astonishing achievements...

Of course, I took off immediately, again proudly demonstrating my newest ability.

Adeptly, I rounded all the corners of our living room, on my way avoiding all the grown-up legs-in-my-way...

Then, I saw one of my pillows that had fallen off our couch and onto the floor, and crawled towards it.

Spontaneously, I decided to help my Mom a bit with tidying.

I grabbed the pillow with one hand, and towed it towards my Dad on one arm and two knees!

With a proud face, I told him:

"Daddy? Pwease, up cous..."

Of course, my Dad understood what I wanted him to do.

He smiled at me, took the pillow out of my hand, and ceremoniously placed it onto our couch where it belonged!

Good Daddy! I think you will be very trainable...

My Dad stared at me for quite some time, until he uttered:

"My dear son; I still don't know what to think of you, and of all your extraordinary achievements at such an extremely young age. Up to now, I always thought that babies started to crawl around for the first time after they were at least seven months old. And, I was sure that youngsters couldn't talk properly and know any real words before they were at least a year old... Now, I am looking in marvel at my own young son; a tiny lad who, according to our calendar, is only three months and three weeks old. Yet, much to my surprise, my little son already crawls around our living room at lightning speed, and the tiny lad even speaks quite a lot of words! My son, who are you in reality? Our Wise Woman told me our Ancestors are with you, and that you have a very important task to fulfill on our earth... Is that why you are so precocious and extremely clever? Has it to do with your amazing 'gifts'? Then, I feel very blessed to have you as my son! I only hope I will be able to educate you properly, without making too many mistakes..."

Sensing my Dad's doubts, I pulled myself up by his trousers.

Immediately, my Dad lifted me onto his lap and folded his safe arms around my small frame, pulling me against his chest.

Yes, that was exactly what I had wanted my Dad to do! Feeling very happy, I octopushed myself against his broad chest, while trying to melt into his powerful manly aura.

I looked up at him, and offered him my most beautiful smile.

Then, I told him, trying to formulate my words correctly:

"You awreddy aw a vewwy good Dad, and I luvv you deawly!"

For quite some time, my Dad and I stared into each other's eyes, both of us marveling in our mutual love and togetherness.

In the meantime, I showed him a picture of a little Harold, feeling very happy to be the son of such a good and lovable Dad!

First, I carefully formulated the correct words in my own mind.

Then, I projected my words into my Dad's brain:

"Please, Dad, stop doubting so much. You already ARE a good Daddy, and I am sure I will never find any Dad who is a better parent than you are. I love your dearly; and, please, don't worry. All our Ancestors and Spirit Friends are with us, and they will never allow you to make any serious mistakes. You only have to listen to your own heart! And, please, always let me experiment, whenever I feel the urge to develop myself some more..."

Obviously, my Dad had picked up most of what I told him in his mind, because he started to smile respectfully.

Again, we stared into each other's eyes, feeling our powerful mutual love radiating between us and warming our souls...

Then, my wet diaper started to feel too itchy; and I asked my Mom, now using my normal baritone voice:

"Pwease, Mommy, Harry clean diaver?"

Working together, my proud looking parents removed my soiled diaper, cleaned my smelly bottom, powdered me without making me sneeze, and put a fresh diaper on me.

After many more kisses and cuddles, they laid me in between my pile of pillows; where I fell asleep almost immediately.

Vaguely, I heard them talk to each other; about my extremely fast mental development, sonorous sounding baritone voice, and astonishing knowledge of several very difficult words...

After I woke up, my Dad and I sat across from each other on our floor, having lots of fun with rolling a plastic ball to and fro!

Every time our unruly ball escaped behind me, I crawled after it and kicked it back to my patiently waiting Dad.

Every time our ball escaped to another place, I pointed at it.

Then, I told my chuckling Dad:

"Daddy, pwease, ged ball..."

Much to my delight, every time, my Dad behaved as a well-trained parent; and I thought he could be a natural.

Obediently, he crawled after our ball, went back to his own place, and again rolled it towards me.

Most of the time, I caught our ball between my legs, took it in both hands, and threw it back to my waiting Dad.

The few times when the naughty ball escaped from my legs, both my Dad and I had lots of fun.

After a long time of playing and having fun, I started to feel too tired, and clambered onto my Dad's safe and cozy lap...

My Dad took me to our couch; where he slumped backwards, until his head rested on my stacked pile of pillows.

Immediately, I draped myself all over his chest, and put my little nose into his left armpit! This always was my most favorite place, from the first day on...

Smiling from ear to ear, my chuckling Dad told me:

"You really are my little octopus! Harry, my dear son, I am very, very proud of you, and I love you with all my heart!"

My Dad started to stroke my back, slowly going up and down; and I loved the funny feeling very much, because it gave me little goose bumps all over my shivering body.

For a moment, I basked in the nice feeling of being very close to each other and loving each other very much.

Then, I became too drowsy, and closed my eyes...

Within a minute, both my Dad and I were sound asleep on our couch, snoring in unison!

After we woke up, I left my Dad's stomach, dived towards our floor, and immediately started to crawl around again.

However, now that I was able to move around all on my own, nothing in our caravan was safe for my insatiable curiosity!

Soon, I disappeared into our interesting kitchen, where I tried to have a very close look and a possible feel at every colorful or blinking thing that caught my attention...

Fortunately, my Mom saw me just in time, and swiftly took me back to our living room!

For quite some time, my chuckling parents were busy preparing our caravan for my early moving around...

Working together, they placed everything out of my reach that could be opened, put into my mouth, or was too sharp to handle.

Fortunately, my parents loved me dearly, and never complained about their perhaps a little bit too adventurous young son...

Now and then, my Dad took me to the front window in our living room, where he lifted me onto his knee to have a look outside...

I always loved looking outside at our faintly glowing campfire, and at our huge circle of wooden benches around it.

Sometimes, a couple of people sat on their benches, softly talking to each other while drinking coffee.

Several suntanned children were playing around them or chasing after each other, now and then shouting at each other while having lots of fun.

Of course, I wanted to join our kids, and partake in their fun!

However, my Dad explained that I had to wait until I would be able to walk around properly, before I was allowed to play outside.

I just had to be a little bit more patient...

Yeah well... Up to now, patience hadn't exactly been my most developed capability... I always wanted to have my want NOW!

When would I finally be able to walk around and play outside?

Suddenly, the playing children saw me, and waved at me...

I felt extremely happy, and immediately raised my own hand to wave back at them! The playing kids recognized me, and they obviously wanted me to join them outside!

Unfortunately, I still was too young...

Now and them, my parents had to fulfill some important task outside our camp, because they were our Gypsy King and Queen.

Of course, they always asked their best friend, Michail, to take care of their little son, until they were home again...

I always loved these times very much, when I could be together with my Big Friend, and romp with him or play our funny games!

Michail was never tired of rolling our ball towards each other; or stacking my pillows until the heap collapsed.

Then, we both shrieked with laughter, and immediately started to stack the huge pile of unruly pillows again.

We always had lots of fun, and Michail never complained.

Now and then, Felicia, Michail's girlfriend, accompanied him.

She always sat next to her boyfriend on our couch, while desperately trying to catch all his attention...

From the very first day we met each other, I was sure Felicia didn't like me...

Maybe, she was jealous of all the attention my Big Friend and I were paying each other?

She never helped me; and always left everything to her boyfriend, even washing me or changing my diaper.

Well, I certainly didn't protest, and always crawled towards Michail when I needed or wanted something!

Michail didn't protest either; and always immediately helped me, or did what I asked him to do.

One day, Felicia sat on our couch sulking and moping; while I saw my Big Friend growing more and more irritated.

Then, Felicia started to complain about feeling bored...

Suddenly, Michail shouted at his pouting girlfriend:

"Now, SHUT UP, and please leave us alone!"

Much to my delight, Felicia listened to her rather angry boyfriend!

She rose from our couch, stomped out of our caravan with a bitchy face, and slammed our door shut with a loud bang!

My Big Friend just laughed at her antics, and confidentially told me she always made it up to him after a day or so...

Smiling back at Michail, I thought Felicia had been acting way too 'childish'; but I wisely kept my mouth shut!

Michail lifted me onto our couch, and sat down next to me.

However, this time, I just crawled across his lap and past my pile of pillows, towards our huge front window.

After I pulled myself upright with some difficulty; I craned my neck to be able to look outside...

Longingly, I stared at the playing children around our campfire; who again had lots of fun chasing after each other.

Every time I saw them playing outside, I so wanted to join them and partake in their happy games...

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to go outside, until my wobbly legs would be strong enough to walk around on my own.

When would my legs finally support my too young body; and let me walk outside and join their happy games?

A couple of playing kids saw me, staring at them from behind our window; and they enthusiastically waved at me!

Feeling touched by their clearly visible affection, I lifted my own hand and started to wave back at them...

Unfortunately, that caused me to lose my balance and fall down onto our couch.

Obviously, my tiny legs were still way too wobbly to keep me upright for a prolonged time...

Feeling disappointed about my obvious clumsiness, I left the window and crawled onto Michail's lap, to be held and comforted.

Of course, my Big Friend happily obliged.

A few minutes later, Michail put me down onto our floor, but he continued to hold my hands...

Gently, he pulled me upright, until I stood more or less vertical on my wobbly legs...

Why would my Big Friend do that?

By reading Michail's mind, I found out what he wanted me to do, and I felt elated!

My Big Friend wanted me to try to WALK, while he would help me by holding my hands...

YESSS! That was exactly what I wanted to learn, preferably as soon as possible!

Within a few minutes, I stepped around in our living room, while safely holding myself onto Michail's enormous hands.

Now, I only had to train myself a lot more, until I was able to do the same thing without any help at all...

Tomorrow, I would ask my Dad or my Mom, to help me walk around our living room like this more often...

After a few months of trying and training, I finally found out how I could walk around and keep my balance, all on my own!

Many times, I had taken several wobbly steps, while holding myself against my Mom's body or onto my Dad's trousers. Sometimes, I seemed to 'walk' even better when my Dad took my hands, and guided me around our living room...

However, every time I tried to walk without any help, I stumbled over my own feet, lost my balance, and fell down!

My parents tried to comfort me, by telling me that my little body was still too young to be able to walk on its own...

However, I didn't believe them, and stubbornly went on trying to walk without any help!

I WANTED to be able to play outside, just like all the other kids were doing.

Inwardly, I was sure I was a very fast learner; and that my leg muscles were certainly strong enough, due to all my training!

I only had to find out how to use my legs and feet the right way...

One day, I decided to have a closer look at how my parents and our visitors were walking without ever stumbling...

Almost immediately, I saw what I had been doing wrong all the time.

Obviously, the others didn't step their feet behind each other, but they always stepped them NEXT to each other!

That was why my own little feet always seemed to be in the way while I tried to take the next step...

Ten minutes later, I walked around in our living room, all by myself, and without any help from anybody!

Or, to say it more correctly, I toddled around, wavering from left to right, but feeling very proud of myself.

Although I now knew what I had to do, I still had to learn how to keep a proper balance while walking around...

Trying not to stumble too much, I toddled towards my surprised looking Mom in our kitchen, and proudly looked up at her...

Then, I had to clamp onto her waist with all my might, because I lost my balance and nearly fell down.

From now on, every morning, as soon as my parents took me to our living room, I immediately pulled myself upright!

Determinedly, I started to walk around; trying to keep my balance, while avoiding all the obstacles that were in my way...

Within a few days, I succeeded in walking faster and faster, without grabbling around any more to keep myself upright.

Then, one morning, I finally raced around in our living room without ever falling or stumbling!

Finally, I was WALKING, and even RUNNING, all on my own!

Again, my Mom told me she couldn't believe her own eyes.

Again, my surprised looking Dad told me he was very proud of his so rapidly advancing little son!

Ultimately, I was only seven months old; thus, statistically, my little body would still be way too young to be able to walk without any help...

The next morning, my parents took me outside our caravan, to let me discover some more of our secluded Gypsy world.

After we had some healthy breakfast, my Mom put a fresh and clean diaper on me.

Then, my Dad opened our front door, took my hand, and carefully guided me down the steps of our caravan...

The very moment I stepped onto the solid ground, my Dad released me and told me to have fun!

Suddenly, a fascinating new world opened up to me, full of interesting things and unexpected surprises!

This world differed quite a lot from the world I had seen through our windows...

First, I just stared in awe at all those colorful caravans around me, neatly put in a wide circle around our faintly glowing campfire.

Next, I looked at all our wooden benches, set around our campfire in a much closer circle.

Vaguely, I remembered sitting on our own Royal bench, the last time I was here, waiting for my Grandma and our Wise Woman to have a look at my past lives...

This time, nearly all the benches were empty; except for a few people who were drinking coffee and softly talking to each other.

For quite some time, I just looked around, at all those interesting things I now could see much more clearly...

When I felt more at ease, I finally started to toddle around, while trying to keep my balance on the rugged ground.

Curiously, I started to look in, under, and behind all the new and unexpected things that called for my immediate attention!

I also started to try out all the interesting things that possibly could move, open, or have a peculiar taste...

All the time, my worried looking Mom followed me, trotting after me wherever I went, keeping a close eye at everything I did.

Now and then, she stopped me from pulling branches from our campfire, eating mud, or putting living ants into my mouth...

A bunch of suntanned children showed up, who had been playing some hiding game around our caravans.

When they recognized their little Prince, they reacted enthusiastic!

They even tried to talk to me...

Only, this time, I was way too occupied to let myself be distracted by them!

I just waved my hand to acknowledge them; and immediately went on, already toddling towards the next interesting object...

A next time, I would take a lot more time to talk to them and partake in their games; but, today, I was too busy!

The kids just chuckled, turned around, and restarted playing their usual game of 'hide and seek'.

Then, of course, the inevitable happened!

For a few seconds, my Mom turned around, to answer my Dad who had asked her a question...

At exactly that same moment, I left my parents and grabbed a burning branch from our glowing campfire!

Feeling fascinated, as in a trance, I stared at its beautifully glowing end with all those playful little flames...

Never before had I seen such a wonderful and strangely appealing plaything...

Fortunately, I didn't put the burning branch into my mouth to taste it; as I had tried to do with all the other interesting things.

Tentatively, as if my Inside warned me I had to be VERY careful, I only touched its glowing end with my fingers...

A split second later, I burst out into a loud and angry ROAR; my sonorous baritone voice reverberating through our entire camp!

OUCH! That hurt TERRIBLY!

Feeling utterly betrayed by the unexpected searing pain, I threw the burning branch far away, while shouting another angry yell!

Everybody in our camp stormed towards me, feeling alarmed by my loudly roaring baritone voice!

They crowded around me, and desperately wanted to know what had happened...

One of the alerted children took the still burning branch from the steps to one of our wooden caravans, and hastily put it back onto our campfire before it burned our entire camp down...

Both my Mom and my Dad had stormed towards me, now looking at my reddening hand with worried and guilty faces...

Only, I had already gritted my teeth, trying to tell everybody that this had been my own fault, for being too incautious...

While all the grown-ups still calmed me down, everybody followed my guilty looking parents towards our own caravan.

Inside our caravan, my Mom put my painful hand into lots of cold water, until the burning sensation slowly lessened.

Next, she took me to our Wise Woman, who put some soothing balsam onto my reddened burns.

She also brewed a sour tasting tea and let me drink it, to dull the still irritating pain...

Although I didn't get any blisters, the nasty pain held on for several agonizing hours!

All the time, my Mom held me onto her lap and whispered soothing words, until I finally calmed down and fell asleep.

This time, my important lesson had been a VERY clear one...

I HAD to be quite a lot more careful with all these unknown things, until I knew exactly what terrible harm they could do!

The next morning, I forgot my painful experience and just went on exploring my new world, albeit a LOT more careful.

Again, I tried to have a closer look at all the interesting things that were calling for my immediate attention.

However, this time, I only looked at them, instead of touching them and trying to put everything into my mouth...

Again, my still very worried looking Mom followed me wherever I went, albeit now even more closely!

At last, she saw that I really acted a lot more careful than I had done before, and started to relax somewhat...

That is, until I tried to climb the steps to one of our neighbor caravans, while pulling myself up by its rickety handrail.

Suddenly, I stumbled, grabbled around in vain, and tumbled onto the ground with a dull thump!

Of course, I started to cry; not from the little bit of pain, but merely from the sudden surprise...

My again worried looking Mom tried to comfort me, but I was already on my way towards another interesting object!

This time, my Dad laughed at my Mom, while he admonished her to let me have some more freedom:

"Our son has to learn from his experiences, and he is clever enough not to make the same mistake twice..."

Thirty seconds later, I fell off the steps to the next caravan, this time landing upside down!

Now, I had a quickly growing lump on my head; but who cares...

I still had FUN, just gritted my teeth, and was already on my way to another interesting object.

My suddenly very disappointed looking Dad only shook his head, but wisely didn't say a word...

Near the end of my busy day, I started to feel both hungry and tired, and asked my Mom to feed me and put me to bed.

My Mom looked again at my burnt hand, but both the pain and the reddishness were nearly gone.

Yet, I still had to drink another cup of sour tasting tea, to make me sleep deeper...

Okay, I would be able to live with that.

First, she fed me some yummy nourishment from her breasts.

After I had stilled some of my hunger, she prepared a nice tasting baby food, to let my inside slowly get used to more solid food.

Finally, she put me to bed in my small sleeping den.

That same night, I slept like a log, dreaming of many beautifully glowing branches with their playfully dancing little flames...

This time, they didn't singe me any more, because I had learned my important lesson and acted a lot more careful around them!

Although the burning flames and I would never be real friends, we promised to respect each other always and everywhere...

Apart from that, they were really beautiful!

The next morning, all the reddishness had disappeared from my hand; and all the remaining pain was gone.

After eating some healthy breakfast, and getting a fresh diaper, I went outside again; and immediately resumed my exploring.

Because, from now on, nothing extraordinary happened to me; my Mom slowly released her excessive wariness.

At last, my parents just stayed home, because they knew they could trust me not to do any more dangerous things...

A few days later, my Dad and Michail were sitting on our own Royal wooden bench, talking and drinking their coffee, while I toddled around them.

Hesitantly, my Dad told my Big Friend about his promise to talk to his little son as if I were a grown-up...

My Dad seemed to feel very relieved; when my Big Friend only smiled, and answered he wasn't surprised at all!

From my first day as a little baby, I had been extremely precocious and very eager to learn...

Thus, it could be expected that I would be extremely early with speaking as well!

Michail even suggested that my Dad and he should try to teach me some extra words, to help me develop even faster...

Immediately, and feeling VERY enthusiastic, I stormed towards our Royal bench, to start with my first lessons!

From this day on, both Michail and my Dad helped me with speaking and understanding the too difficult words, by correcting me and letting me use them in several different sentences...

Of course, their invaluable assistance helped me tremendously in developing my grammatical knowledge even faster!

Soon, I had developed a very impressive and extensive vocabulary; and I was able to make myself perfectly clear.

I also seemed to have an astonishing memory for languages, and never forgot any new words anybody taught me...

Many other people started to teach me as well.

They joined us on our own Royal bench; and all their grammatical lessons and linguistic examples were helping me even more!

Day after day, I sat ready on our bench; to learn and to be taught all those difficult words and their proper meaning...

Within a few weeks, I started to ask the people around me my OWN important questions.

And, they surely couldn't get away with only some vague half-reply!

One of our stunned visitors teasingly exclaimed that I had to be our youngest Gypsy 'linguistic prodigy'...

Of course, I felt very proud of my new honorary title; and I was even able to pronounce it correctly without any help!

However, nothing in our world comes without a price...

At last, my now tormented teachers started to complain that I had changed into a real 'wandering question mark'!

They were right; because my extremely bright brain just couldn't stop 'badgering' them and asking them all my burning questions!

The words I now loved best, and used most, were 'why' and 'what', closely followed by 'how come'...

My curiosity was insatiable, and my 'built-in little brainiac' wanted to understand absolutely everything!

Slowly, I drove all the helpful people in our camp to despair, with my now and then absolutely impossible questions...

"Why does my Mom have blue eyes and blond hair, and how come all of you have brown eyes and dark hair?"

"That is because your Mom comes from a far away country, called Sweden. Your Dad brought her here and married her."

"What is a 'country called Sweden'? Why did my Dad bring her here? How come I look like my Mom and not like my Dad?"

"Of course, we are only simple people and don't know ALL the answers...

"Please, go ask your Mom or Dad your next questions! Maybe, THEY will be able to explain the answers to you..."

Feeling a little bit rejected, I stamped towards my chuckling parents, to ask them all my burning questions.

Patiently, my chuckling Mom told me about 'other countries', where people were living under different circumstances...

Of course, I felt even more curious, and wanted to know:

"When are we going to those 'other countries'?"

"Maybe, after a couple of years, when you are old enough..."

"Why am I not old enough to go now? You always tell me I am already a big boy!"

My Mom laughed at me; but my Dad shook his head and told me to be a little bit more patient. My time would surely come...

Yeah, well; 'patience' had never been my strongest quality.

I wanted to go and travel to those 'other countries' NOW!

My Dad tried to ruffle my unruly hair, but I felt a bit angry and retreated towards another bench.

Why were my parents always telling me I had to wait 'until I would be old enough'?

I was very bright, and able to understand everything people told me; so why did I have to wait for so long?

Just wait, until I am old enough to travel to the 'far away country called Sweden' all by myself...

5. Camp rules; Mother Nature; my second birthday.

Finally, halfway through our very cold and snowy winter, I would celebrate my long-awaited FIRST birthday; on March the third!

Because our camp was very poor, and nobody had much money, no child ever got any expensive birthday presents...

However, our parents always managed to make it a special day; thus, we DID celebrate it, abundantly.

I had lived forward to my special day for several weeks; while impatiently counting the remaining days on all my fingers and toes, initially adding those of my chuckling parents.

Slowly, I needed less and less fingers; until I no longer needed to add those of my Mom and Dad.

Finally, only one little finger remained, to count the last day; and I went to bed feeling full of anticipation...

Tomorrow would be my first birthday!

Alas! My long-awaited birthday turned out to be a real disaster; because, unexpectedly, I had a nasty fever and felt awful.

That morning, I crawled out of my bed, wavered towards my parents, and started to cry from disappointment...

Why the heck had my shivering little body chosen exactly this day, to make me ill and ruin my first Real Feast?

While I was asleep, my parents had decorated our living room with many beautifully colored balloons and festoons!

However, today, I couldn't care less, and just crawled in between my pillows on our couch; coughing, shivering, and sniffling...

My Dad took me onto his lap, gently rubbed my upset stomach, and helped me blow my running nose.

Soon, I asked him to lay me back in between my pillows, because my trembling little body felt too dizzy and cold.

Today, I even didn't want to taste my nice looking birthday cake with one little candle, but only wanted to drink lots of water...

In the meantime, my worried looking Mom left our caravan and went to our Wise Woman, to ask her for advice.

Our Wise Woman showed up in our caravan, felt my forehead, looked at my tongue, and told my parents I had gotten a nasty flu!

This week, I was the fourth child in a row that got the same illness, and she was sure that many more kids would follow suit...

Fortunately, all the sniffling kids would recover within a week; and they would soon be their happy selves again.

She brought me some bitter tasting tea to suppress my fever, and trotted towards the next sniffling child...

Fortunately, our Wise Woman was right, as usual. Within a week, I started to feel much better, and the nasty fever left me.

Now, I really enjoyed our still abundantly decorated living room!

For the second time, my proud parents and all our close friends congratulated me with my first birthday...

I even got another delicious birthday cake my Grandma had baked especially for me, decorated with one burning candle!

While everybody sang, "He is a jolly good fellow", I was supposed to blow out my candle and do a secret 'birthday wish'...

Only, what should I wish for, being only one year old?

Feeling a little bit shy, I whispered into my Dad's ear:

"Dad? Sorry, but I don't know what to wish for..."

Fortunately, my Dad didn't laugh at me, as I had feared; but he continued to look serious, while he suggested:

"Well... I think you could wish for an excellent health..."

Yes! My wise Dad had a marvelous idea!

Feeling elated, I puckered my lips, blew out my burning little candle, and silently wished for an excellent health for ALL of us.

After everybody left our caravan, I helped my parents popping the balloons, removing the colored festoons, and tidying our room.

Now, I only had to wait until my second birthday showed up...

Only, first, SPRING showed up in our secluded valley, which was surrounded by many huge mountains and vast forests...

Almost immediately, the freezing mountain air became much warmer, and all the remaining snow disappeared.

Finally, I would be able to play outside again!

Many times, I had looked longingly at our playing children, who were throwing snowballs at each other and having lots of fun in the thick blanket of snow that covered our entire camp...

Only, I could not go and play outside; until I no longer wetted my diaper during the day, to prevent its wetness from freezing...

Now, finally, all the freezing danger was gone.

Immediately after the warming sun showed up, all our children had disappeared into their caravans, shucked their winter clothes, and returned clad only in their 'birthday suits', to enjoy the warm sun on their naked skins and get their beautiful golden tans back.

Of course, I asked my parents to let me join the other kids...

With a big smile on his face, my Dad told me I was now clever enough to explore our secluded camp without any supervision!

Last year, I had sufficiently proven to be an always prudent and extremely mature little 'brainiac'.

Therefore, from now on, I didn't need my parents' permission any more; and I was allowed to just leave our caravan and play outside whenever I wanted!

Only, before I went outside on my own, my Dad first explained a couple of very important rules I should remember all the time.

My Dad and I sat down on our couch, next to each other; and I listened carefully to what he had to tell me...

First of all, I always had to think at least twice, before I planned to do anything that didn't feel good; and I always had to restrain from doing anything that could be dangerous or harmful!

If I wasn't absolutely sure, I had to ask him, my Mom, Michail, or any other responsible grown-up first.

This was the most important rule in our camp, and I had to obey it always and everywhere.

Many years ago, our Ancestors had set our second important rule, because a couple flocks of gray wolves were living in the mountains surrounding our camp.

Now and then, during a quiet evening, we could hear their howling; sounding from far away, especially when the moon was full.

Although, up to now, the wolves never approached our camp or attacked any young children, one could never know...

Therefore, all our youngsters had to wait until their bodies were strong enough to fight a wolf, before their parents allowed them to enter our surrounding woods or outstretched forests!

Of course, measuring the muscle strength and fighting capabilities of each individual young kid would be a way too tedious task...

Fortunately, our Ancestors had found a more easy way; and set a much simpler but very satisfactory rule, which said:

'All our young children have to stay inside our secluded camp, until they no longer need to wear a diaper during the night!'

That way, our parents could be sure that their young children had at least a basic bodily control, in case anything unexpected or dangerous happened to them outside our camp!

To say it briefly; I was allowed to play in and around our camp, and enter our surrounding bushes; but I always had to stay far away from any surrounding woods or forests!

The winding paths across our bushes, which were leading outside our camp, were strictly forbidden; until I would be strong and experienced enough to be able to fend for myself!

Even after I no longer needed a diaper during the night, I had to join a much older and more experienced kid first, until I became an experienced trapper and no longer needed any supervision.

That way, all our kids would always be as safe as possible, while scouring our outstretched woods and dense forests...

In addition, my wise Dad told me another very important rule I always should remember, in case I ever entered our woods...

If I ever happened to meet a stray wolf, or any other dangerous predator with sharp teeth, I immediately had to grab a long and sturdy branch!

Then, I had to push that branch into the open mouth of the predator, using all the muscle strength I could bring forth!

Hopefully, the predator would fight the branch instead of me, or it would feel too hurt and run away...

All the time, I had listened intently and open-mouthed; while I shuddered at the scary thought of being devoured by some nasty predator with an open mouth and very sharp teeth...

Now, I solemnly promised my parents I would always obey all our important rules; and I would be very careful.

They could count on me, always and everywhere!

After kissing my parents, and telling them I loved them dearly, I happily went outside, for the first time all by myself...

Immediately, I enjoyed the warming feeling of the sun on my bare skin very much!

When could I finally shuck my diaper during the day; and go naked, just like all the playing kids around me did...

I almost couldn't wait to grow up some more...

During that second spring and summer, my little body continued to grow up steadily, healthy, and prosperously.

Every day, I trotted outside, as soon as I had eaten my healthy breakfast and put on a clean diaper...

Happily, I strolled around in our camp, stared at what the other children were doing, or tried to 'help' my busy Dad or Michail.

Now and then, I still 'pestered' our grown-ups, by bombarding them with my thousand-and-one important questions...

Fortunately, everybody seemed to like their curious little Prince very much, and they always took all their time for me.

Sometimes, I tried to play with the other children, because I wanted to partake in their usual games of 'hide and seek'...

However, the kids explained that I was still too young, and had to wait until I no longer needed a diaper during the day!

Of course, I tried to convince them otherwise, by using all my brainy persuasiveness; but they still didn't let me join them!

The mere fact that I was very early in my mental development, or extremely bright for my age, or our Beloved Crown Prince, didn't make any difference to them.

I just HAD to wait until my parents allowed me to be clad solely in my 'birthday suit' during the day.

Until that time, I had to play with my fellow 'toddlers' in our camp, until I could leave my diaper at home and show up naked...

Feeling disappointed, I stomped home; where I crawled onto my Dad's safe lap, to be held and comforted.

Then, I burst out into tears; feeling too small, unwelcome, and rejected...

I didn't want to play with my 'fellow toddlers', because they always behaved like 'little babies' and were no fun at all!

The only things the other toddlers seemed to be good at, were sucking on their thumbs and playing with mud and small pebbles...

Besides, most toddlers couldn't even talk properly...

After I calmed down, my Dad explained that most 'toddlers' in our camp had to wait until they were at least four years old, before they became 'dry' during the day.

After they needed their diaper only during the night, they were called 'diaper kids', and could join their 'diaper group' and partake in their games around our camp.

After that, most kids had to wait until they were five or six years old, before they could shuck their diaper and were completely dry.

Then, they joined our group of 'older kids', who entered our woods to catch small animals and roast them over our campfire...

Well, I was now one-and-a-half-years old; thus, I had to wait for -- counting on my fingers and two half-fingers -- at least another two-and-a-half year, before I would become a 'diaper kid'...

Couldn't I force my little body to grow up faster, and warn me in advance every time it suddenly decided to urinate or defecate?

My very bright 'brainiac' brain was already growing extremely fast; so why couldn't my growing body be able to follow my fast brain...

Much to my disappointment, my wise Dad only chuckled at my heated arguments, and told me to be a lot more patient.

My time would surely come...

Yeah, well... I was sure I had heard those 'wise words' many times before...

Only, I didn't WANT to be impatient, and always feel restricted by my still very immature little baby-body!

Ultimately, even my deep baritone voice sounded like a grown-up! Didn't that fact make me more special than the other kids were?

Suddenly, my way too bright inside started to doubt...

Why the heck had I chosen to be such a 'special' child, before I left our timeless Eternal Realm and became a human baby?

I was sure that my too precocious 'brainiac' life was making my life a lot more difficult than the easy lives of my 'fellow toddlers' were!

THEY didn't seem to have so many problems with waiting until they grew up and became older, while playing with their pebbles...

Grrrr...

The next morning, I forgot my misery, and trotted outside again.

First, I looked longingly at our 'diaper kids', who were playing their usual games of hide and seek around our caravans.

Then, I decided to stop waiting, and go and do something else!

Feeling a bit bored, I gathered a handful of small pebbles, and sat down on our own Royal wooden bench.

One by one, I threw my pebbles into our glowing campfire, all the time trying to hit a specific burning log.

Every time I hit the log, a shower of little sparkles appeared around it, and spread out into many different directions...

After some training, I was able to hit the log very accurately, exactly at the spot where I wanted the little sparkles to show up!

Now that I had reached my goal, I felt bored again, left our bench, and sauntered towards our surrounding bushes.

Nearly every day, I looked at all the very interesting fauna, and investigated all the abundantly growing vegetation.

The first few times, I had been afraid of unexpectedly meeting some hungry wolf or other dangerous predator with sharp teeth...

Therefore, I always took a sturdy branch with a sharp point in my trembling hands, to be able to defend myself if necessary!

However, after nothing happened, my wariness left me; and I felt more at ease while exploring our so interesting Mother Nature.

Now and then, I stared longingly along the winding paths that led towards our mysterious woods and dense forests...

When would it finally be my time, to enter these paths and catch my own animals to roast them over our campfire?

Every morning, our group of 'older kids' left our camp and followed these mysterious paths, to set up their traps and catch their fat marmots and other small critters.

I always longed to follow them; but I had to stay in our camp until I finally became a 'big boy' and no longer needed a diaper at all...

Only then, would I be allowed to enter our surrounding woods, set up my own traps, and catch my own animals...

Of course, I stayed in our surrounding bushes; and only stared along the interesting paths, as I had promised my parents!

I didn't want to disappoint them, or to forfeit their valuable trust in me!

And, to play it safe, as a tiny boy, I also didn't want to be attacked by some nasty predator with sharp teeth...

Although I knew what I had to do, I wasn't sure whether my muscles really would be strong enough to push a sturdy branch into an open predator mouth, as my Dad has told me to do...

While strolling around in our surrounding bushes, I was always VERY interested in all the abundantly flourishing vegetation.

Often, I squatted down, and stared in awe at all those beautifully colored flowers, attached to their stems adorned with many green leaves or little needles.

I had already discovered that, after the flowers wilted, their remainders started to grow even more; and finally became much bigger fruits, seeds, or pods!

However, some plants didn't have any flowers at all; but they just sprouted out of Mother Earth, like 'mushrooms' and 'ferns'...

Why had our Supreme Being created such an abundant diversity? Could there be a hidden meaning behind all this?

Would my wise Dad or my Mom be able to give me any answers?

Half an hour later, I brought home a few good-smelling and very interesting plants, to ask my Mom some questions about them...

I was sure the plants were harmless; because I had 'sensed' their energy in advance.

The harmful plants always warned me to be careful with them, by making me feel nervous or queasy!

I seemed to have a very useful 'sixth sense'; which always warned me in case some unknown plant was dangerous or unhealthy...

Much to my surprise, my Mom reacted rather warily at seeing the nicely smelling plants I asked her to look at...

She called them 'weeds'; and warned me not to touch any of them ever again, because they could be poisonous and make me ill!

With a sour face, she threw my weeds into our trashcan; and I had to wash my hands thoroughly before going outside again.

Well... I didn't want to object, but my 'intuition' told me my Mom knew next to nothing about my 'weeds'; and she only wanted to play it safe and protect me in advance from any harm...

I thanked her for her warning, kissed her, and went outside again.

Although my inner 'intuition' or 'sixth sense' had clearly told me otherwise; my Mom's serious warnings had made me doubt...

Therefore, I decided to be more careful. From now on, I didn't touch any interesting 'weeds' any more, but only looked at them...

Why didn't I listen to my own 'Inner Wisdom' any more?

Maybe, Mother Nature had to teach me an important lesson first...

The next day, while I squatted down to look at some colored flower, a flying insect buzzed nearby and landed on my thigh.

Immediately, I tried to brush the small beast off; but I did it too wildly, and the angry insect stung me before it flew away!

A second later, I involuntarily yelped from the unexpected pain! Feeling shocked, I stared at the reddening stitch, which already started to swell and itch terribly...

What should I do now? Should I run to our Wise Woman, to let her have a professional look at the steadily swelling stitch?

However, I also didn't want to act too 'babyish', by immediately toddling home and crying for my Mommy...

A split second later, my Inside knew exactly what I had to do!

My 'Inner Awareness' seemed to remember this particular insect, and it also knew how to cure its very nasty stitch!

Could I be remembering one of my past lives? It had to be...

Feeling very surprised about my sudden and totally unexpected knowledge, I looked around; until I found a dark brown 'weed'...

For a moment, my mind hesitated, because my Mom had strictly warned me not to touch any unknown weeds...

Then, I just took a few of its tiny brown leaves, squashed them, and smeared the foul smelling juice onto the swelling.

Within ten seconds, all the itching was gone, while the nasty looking swelling already started to diminish!

How did I suddenly know what I had to do to cure myself, after that unknown insect stung me?

Could I have been some 'medicine man' in one of my past lives, or maybe a 'healer'?

Inwardly, I made a mental note, to ask our Wise Woman about those past lives, as soon as I saw her.

Maybe, she would know the answers, and tell me some more about my unusual 'gifts'...

Fortunately, as a direct result from my unexpected experience, I immediately restarted to trust my own valuable 'sixth senses'!

From now on, I would always listen to my own 'inner feelings' and valuable 'gifts', instead of to my wariness and fears!

Before I left, I thanked the brown weed in my mind, for helping me.

Much to my surprise, I thought I heard a faint 'you are welcome my young friend' in my mind, but wasn't sure...

However, being thankful felt great!

The next morning, I looked at a couple of small birds that were feeding their tiny offspring in their cleverly hidden nest.

All the time, they were flying back and forth, bringing their little kids many caught insects and other 'tasty' vermin...

At first, they seemed to be afraid of me; until I 'tuned in' into their tiny bird minds, and explained I only wanted to be their friend!

From then on, they trusted me; even when I nearly put my nose into their nest, to have a better look at what they were doing...

Within a few days, they even greeted me when they saw me, by flying towards me and twittering loudly!

Next, I started to study a huge caterpillar in a thick shrub that was eating and eating, leaf after leaf, becoming fatter and fatter.

Would my Dad be able to answer my questions about this animal?

For a moment, my doubtful mind hesitated... Could unknown caterpillars be poisonous and make me ill, if I took them home?

Again, my Inside seemed to know the answer! I could touch this particular insect and take it home without any fear at all!

Carefully, I plucked the wriggling beast from its leaf, took it into my hand, trotted home, and showed it to my Dad...

My Dad started to laugh when he saw the wriggling caterpillar in my hand; but he also told me:

"You best bring it back to where you found it, and leave it alone; until it spins itself into a cocoon and becomes a butterfly."

Of course, I now had at least a zillion important questions about this very interesting phenomenon!

Would really my caterpillar become a butterfly, after it first cocooned itself?

Patiently, my Dad explained that, near the end of summer, my steadily growing caterpillar would finally stop eating, and spin a sturdy cocoon around its fattened body, to protect itself.

During winter, it would be asleep in its safe and cozy place; while its appearance would be 'metamorphosing' totally.

When next spring showed up, the cocoon would burst open; and a beautiful butterfly would appear, stretch its wings, and fly away!

Of course, I wanted to see my huge caterpillar grow up, to 'metamorphose' itself into a beautiful butterfly!

Wow! Our Mother Nature seemed to be full of surprises...

I thanked my Dad for his explanation, and hugged him fiercely.

Then, I brought my still wriggling caterpillar back to its own shrub.

Immediately, it started to eat again.

From now on, every day, I first went to my caterpillar, to stare at it and wait until it would start to spin itself into a cocoon...

All the time, I hoped that no birds of prey would see it and eat it, or bring it to their little offspring to have a feast meal out of it.

Of course, I had immediately told my little bird friends to leave my caterpillar alone, even after their children grew up and started to fly around and feed themselves...

Fortunately, my little friends listened to me, and never did any harm to my always eating and steadily growing caterpillar.

Finally, just before fall set it, my fattened caterpillar attached itself to a rigid branch.

From there, it hung upside down, and slowly started to spin a silky cocoon around its fat body.

Of course, I now sat glued to the spectacle during the entire day! Only reluctantly, I left my place, to eat and have some sleep...

After three days of arduous work, the silky cocoon was ready; and my caterpillar stopped moving and seemed to fall asleep.

From now on, its cocoon started to become darker and darker, until I could no longer see its 'metamorphosing' inside.

Now, I only had to wait until next spring showed up; which would be a few months after I celebrated my second birthday...

Unexpectedly, an icy cold winter wind started to blow, clearly coming from our surrounding snowy mountaintops.

Soon, several little snowflakes were playfully whirling outside our caravan windows; and I stared at them in fascination!

Immediately after I had eaten my healthy breakfast and donned a clean diaper, I jumped up to have a quick look at my caterpillar!

Only, much to my disappointment, my Mom told me to stay at home, because of the suddenly very cold weather...

Of course, I started to protest fiercely, because I wanted to go outside anyway!

Nothing or nobody would be able to stop me from going outside, to have a look at what my metamorphosing caterpillar had done during the cold night!

What if any nasty predator had found my cocoon, and eaten its steadily growing butterfly inside?

Besides, every morning, I had left our caravan and studied Mother Nature!

Now, all of a sudden, I had to stay at home, only because the weather was a little bit too cold? No way!

Feeling determined not to let any cold weather or too wary Mom spoil my day, I just stomped towards our front door.

Although my Mom still tried to tell me something important, my wise Dad only chuckled at my angry tantrum.

He even opened our front door and stepped out of the way, to let me through...

Because I was stubbornly determined, I still didn't want to listen to my protesting Mom, and just trotted outside!

Of course, my wise Dad turned out to be absolutely right.

Within a few seconds, I got goose bumps all over my body, while the very cold mountain wind almost choked my throat!

My unclad skin started to shiver, while I hastily retreated inside and attached myself to my Dad to feel warm again...

From our living room, I heard my frustrated Mom mutter some words about her little son being too 'pigheaded'...

Pigheaded? Who? Me?

While the cold snowflakes on my shivering body and diaper slowly melted away, I clambered onto our couch in the living room.

From there, I stared outside at the suddenly extremely chilly weather, and the already lessening snowflakes...

Longingly, I looked at our growing group of 'older children', who were waiting for the last lazy ones to show up.

This time, they were clad in their beautifully colored garments, to protect them from the sudden cold.

Soon, they lined up and disappeared into the winding paths, to search for the last edible nuts and any cleverly hidden small animals in hibernation...

Only our group of younger 'diaper kids' stayed in our camp; this time also clad in their colored warm garments.

Of course, they immediately started to gather the fallen snowflakes, trying to make little snowballs out of them, to throw them to each other...

A few diaper kids saw me looking at them, and waved at me.

One of them even threw a tiny snowball towards our window!

I so wanted to join them, and throw my own snowballs...

Suddenly, I got a bright idea, and asked my Mom:

"Please, Mom, could you clad me in some warm garment, just like the other kids, so that I can play outside in the snow?"

My Mom just stared at me, as if she didn't understand me...

My wise Dad slowly shook his head, with a sad face...

Then, with a sad voice, he told me:

"To be honest; your Mom and I WERE planning to clad you in something warm, before you went outside!

Only, you didn't listen to us, and already seemed to have another plan..."

My Mom and Dad continued to stare at me, with disappointed faces; while my own face slowly colored a deep red.

Oh my... This time, I HAD been way too 'pigheaded'; and, again, I had been much too impatient for my own good!

Again, I had to learn an important lesson; this time about listening to my parents first, before coming to an incorrect conclusion and throwing a childish and inappropriate tantrum...

Feeling very ashamed of myself and of what I had done, I bowed my head in submission and mumbled:

"Sorry, Mom and Dad. I thought you wanted to keep me inside, to protect me from the cold weather... Therefore, I reacted too impatient and refused to listen to what you had to say. Please, forgive me for being too pigheaded; and I promise I will do my utmost to change my stubborn behavior from now on..."

Immediately, my beaming Dad scooped me off our couch and took me into his arms, while he almost cheered:

"Thank you, my precious son, for being who you are! Your Mom and I are PROUD of you, because you are willing to change yourself for the best. Now, let's clad you into the warm jeans, watertight coat, and shiny boots we already bought in advance, so that you can look at your caterpillar and play outside."

Ten minutes later, my again proud looking Mom had dressed me into the most beautiful new clothes that I had ever seen!

Vaguely, I remembered the first time when I had to wear a small Royal garment, a long time ago...

Then, I had protested fiercely, wanting my parents to remove the itchy thing immediately!

Now, again wearing some clothing, beside my usual diaper, was a very strange feeling, as if my skin felt too tight and itchy.

However, this time, I just accepted it, because I knew I HAD to get used to wearing some extra clothing, at least during our very cold winter.

And, I still wanted to have my daily look at my sleeping but hopefully metamorphosing caterpillar in its cocoon!

After my Mom had dressed me, I walked towards our hallway, and stared in our oblong mirror for a long time.

Until now, I had always stared at a little toddler with a light brown skin, blond hair, and very bright blue eyes, wearing a diaper...

Now, I suddenly stared at a little stranger I had never seen here before!

The new boy was wearing a beautifully colored watertight coat, nice blue jeans, shining red plastic boots, and a pair of brightly colored warm mitten.

I liked the boy at first sight, and winked at him; and the little stranger in the mirror winked back at me immediately!

My Mom chuckled at my beaming face, while she asked me:

"Do you like your new clothes?"

"Oh yes, I like them very much! Thank you, Mom, for buying them for me; and I am still sorry for being too pigheaded."

"That is okay, and I understand. Now, go outside and have fun!"

After hugging and kissing both my Mom and my Dad, I stepped outside, halted, and looked around curiously...

Much to my disappointment, the little bit of snow had already stopped, and most snowflakes had already melted away.

The playing 'diaper kids' had disappeared too; probably playing elsewhere, or trying to gather the last tiny bits of snow...

Well, winter had just started; and I was sure that, very soon, much more snow would fall from the sky, just like it had done last year!

Last winter, I had been a one-year-old little toddler, who had to stay home because he still wet his diaper during the day...

Now, I was a much bigger boy, nearly two years old, and I wet my diaper only if I felt too agitated, or forgot to pee in time...

My diaper was now hidden underneath my blue jeans; and nobody could see it, unless they looked at my slightly bulging front...

Feeling very proud of my beautiful new clothes, I decided to visit Michail's caravan first, to show them off to him...

Politely, I knocked on his door; waiting until my Big Friend would show up and admire the new boy he hadn't seen before...

Much to my disappointment, the door opened only a little bit; while Felicia glared at me with a distracted face!

Obviously not liking the sudden disturbance, she grunted:

"Yes? What do you want?"

"Is Michail in, please? I want to show him my new clothes..."

"Michail is way is too busy; so just go home and forget it!"

Fortunately, my Big Friend showed up in the doorway, shoved his moping girlfriend aside, and exclaimed:

"My dear Prince, you look FANTASTIC! Or, are you some new boy I haven't seen here before? Who are you?"

"You are silly! Of course, I am still the same Crown Prince Harold; and only my new clothes are new."

"Yes, I see; and your new clothes look GREAT on you! Do you want to come in and drink hot chocolate?"

For a moment, I hesitated... but then, shuddering, I thought of Felicia's angrily moping face, and answered:

"No, thank you; but another time will be fine. Today, I feel more like staying outside..."

Michail seemed to understand my obvious hesitancy; because he told me to have fun and come back a next time!

By reading Michail's mind, I sensed that my Big Friend didn't approve of Felicia's behavior, but he didn't want to fight her either.

He disappeared inside; and I turned around and went to our surrounding bushes, to have a look at my hibernating caterpillar...

Surprisingly, I already got used to wearing my new clothes! They really started to feel nicely warm and cozy...

My dormant cocoon was still untouched; and my little bird friends had already disappeared towards a much warmer place, taking their offspring with them.

The trees and bushes were losing their remaining dead leaves; and all of Mother Nature around me looked strangely gloomy...

Inwardly, I hoped that spring would show up very soon!

Slowly, I sauntered back to our faintly glowing campfire.

There, I clambered onto one of our wooden benches, next to two parents who were sitting there with their own little toddlers.

Of course, I had seen both kids before; but I had always been much too busy to pay any attention to them...

Now, for the first time, I tried to have some small talk with the girl of around my own age and the slightly older boy.

Well... 'talking' to them turned out to be a real disaster!

The little girl just sat on her Mom's lap; while sucking on her thumb and looking rather dumb.

I asked her a simple question; but she only stared at me, sucked even harder, and didn't respond at all...

Chuckling inwardly, I concluded that this little girl really 'sucked'!

The slightly older boy was playing with some small dinky toy, by shoving it around and around on the bench.

In the meantime, he continually produced several rather silly sounds...

I hoped that talking to this boy would be a bit more entertaining!

I asked the boy what he was doing, but he only answered:

"This is my car! Vroom, vroom..."

Could this so silly acting boy really be a couple of months older than I was?

Although he had to be a lot more than two years old, he was still talking and playing like some brainless little baby!

I was absolutely sure I had never seen such dull and uninterested behavior before...

Could both silly kids be a little bit 'retarded', as my Dad once told me some uneducated 'gadjo' children seemed to be?

Or, shivering at the thought, could this silly behavior be USUAL behavior for any 'normal' two-year-old toddlers in our camp...

Suddenly, something very important started to dawn in my too bright brain, making me shudder at the mere thought...

If these two-year-old toddlers were showing 'normal' behavior for their own age; then, I REALLY was extremely 'precocious', and a way too intelligent 'brainiac' for my own good!

This idea also explained why I always wanted to play with the older kids, and never even looked at any young toddlers...

Although, technically, I was a little 'toddler' myself, both my inside and my sonorous baritone voice felt like being MUCH older...

Could my 'very old soul' be in the way, making me act much more mature than my real age required?

Only... I didn't WANT to be such a precocious brainiac, or some way too bright and extremely special 'child prodigy'...

Up to now, being such a 'special' child had only brought me quite a lot of extra trouble and misery!

I desperately wanted to be a NORMAL boy, just like all the other little kids my age were...

Being a 'brainiac', 'impatient', and 'pigheaded', like I always was, had only made my life much more difficult than it should be!

Why couldn't I just sit still on our bench and suck on my thumb, or play with some dinky toy and make all those silly sounds?

Thinking about it, I didn't even HAVE a dinky toy to play with...

Slowly, I slid off the wooden bench, greeted both parents and their silly kids, and sauntered back to my still hibernating caterpillar.

For a moment, I felt jealous of its easy way of living...

Couldn't I just spin myself in, hang down for a couple of years, and metamorphose myself into a 'normal' grown-up?

The next morning, much to my delight, everything in our camp was covered with a thick blanket of eye-blinding snow!

Immediately, I forgot my depression, and forced my sleepy looking Mom to put on my diaper and new clothes in a record time.

Teasingly, I told her:

"Come on, Mom, life is too short to waste it in nothingness!"

After my chuckling Mom had forced me to wolf down some 'healthy breakfast' first, I raced outside, and immediately started to roll around and around in the very soft blanket of snow!

Soon, I looked like a sturdy little snowman, with a brightly beaming face and an enormous smile from ear to ear...

Rolling around like this felt marvelous; and it was exactly what I had seen many other children do!

Then, I had planned to do it myself too, the very moment when I would see my first snow...

Feeling very happy, I scrabbled upright, grabbed some snow, and joined a couple of 'diaper kids' in their ferocious snowball fight!

Much to my delight, all the kids accepted me immediately; because I turned out to be very good at fighting our 'enemies'.

Although I was the tiniest kid in our diaper group, my lithe little body easily dodged most of the attempted attacks.

And, within a second, I started throwing my own accurately aimed snowballs at our enemies, hitting them nearly every time!

Now, I felt very happy to have trained myself in advance, by throwing small pebbles at a burning log in our campfire...

I had the time of my life; and only reluctantly returned to our caravan to eat, drink some water, and test my still dry diaper.

Immediately, I raced back outside, to resume our ferocious game of attack and counter-attack in our thick blanket of snow.

Finally, I 'belonged' to our diaper kids; and they accepted me for who I was and for what I could do, instead of for my diaper-clad little body!

All of them seemed to forget that I was less than two years old; and, of course, they didn't know that I wore a diaper underneath my blue jeans...

Now that nobody could see my diaper, everybody seemed to be very happy to have their little Prince around, and they totally accepted me as being 'one of us'.

To them, I was just the smallest kid in our diaper group; and, only now and then, somebody teasingly called me 'our little runt'...

Yet, my thoroughly trained muscles were relatively strong; and I easily won several wrestling contests with the other kids!

Unfortunately, during our very cold winter, the kids never played their usual game of 'hide and seek', because the weather was way too cold to sit or lay still for a prolonged time...

A few months later, March the third showed up again; and my proud parents and I celebrated my SECOND birthday!

Again, my parents had decorated our living room in advance.

Again, my Grandma had baked one of her delicious birthday cakes, this time decorated with TWO burning candles.

During all day, all the people who adored me showed up, to congratulate their little Prince with being two years old.

After sipping some drink, they disappeared again, so that the next few people could enter our caravan and congratulate me.

Now and then, somebody brought me a small birthday present, making me blush and feel very special!

I knew that everybody in our camp was very poor, especially during winter when nobody had any paid work in the outside 'gadjo' world...

During the few quieter moments, I crawled onto my Dad's safe and cozy lap, to be held and cuddled.

Of course, during this day, I didn't even think about going outside, or joining my friends to have another snowball fight...

I had to be home all the time, in case any next visitors showed up to congratulate me!

Finally, during the afternoon, my Big Friend, Michail, showed up in our caravan, this time accompanied by his girlfriend, Felicia.

Much to my surprise, Michail brought me a colored picture book, showing all sorts of beautiful butterflies and their caterpillars!

With lots of love in his eyes, my Big Friend told me that everybody in our camp had collected a little bit of their own money, to be able to give me this special birthday present!

For a moment, I felt overwhelmed and didn't know what to say...

Had Michail really collected this much money and been to a 'gadjo market', especially for me, to buy me this beautiful birthday book?

Feeling very thankful, I smothered my Big Friend with kisses, and thanked him abundantly for buying me such a special book!

I also asked him to thank everybody else in advance, and tell them that I loved them very, very much, with all my heart!

Tomorrow, I would go outside and thank all my people personally...

Now, I retreated to our couch, and started to flip through all the colored book pages... until I suddenly found a picture that looked exactly like my own fat caterpillar before it cocooned itself!

Trembling, and in total awe, I stared at a huge picture next to my caterpillar; showing a majestic butterfly, leaving its cocoon while spreading its enormous wings, as if it felt ready for take-off...

With a choked voice, and shuddering from my sudden emotions, I asked my Big Friend to read the accompanying description to me, while I tried to follow the printed words with my finger...

From the description, I learned that my metamorphosed caterpillar butterfly is called an 'Atalanta'; and this enormous beast is one of the hugest and most beautiful butterflies on earth!

When spring showed up, my dormant caterpillar friend would have changed into what had to be the Absolute King of Butterflies...

This time, I started to cry from sheer happiness, while I kissed my broadly smiling Big Friend again.

Then, I dived towards Felicia, and kissed her suddenly blushing cheek as well!

This splendid picture book full of butterflies was the most valuable birthday present I could ever think of!

Starting tomorrow, my Dad or Mom could help me reading all the accompanying descriptions, until I would be able to read them myself...

Near the end of the day, our violin players showed up and started to play a beautiful melody full of joy and happiness.

Now, it was my time to blow my two burning candles, and to do my secret wish for the upcoming year...

Only, even after quite a lot of deep thinking, I just couldn't come up with any wish at all...

I already felt totally happy, and I already possessed everything that I wanted; so what else could I wish for?

After some more deep thinking, I finally decided to wish for a very long and happy life full of Love and Gratitude, for all of us!

While whispering my birthday wish, I blew my burning candles, everybody clapped, my parents kissed me, and I was sure I had wished for exactly the right thing!

6. King Butterfly; 'black magic'; Michail's twin sons.

The next morning, while playing outside with my friends, I suddenly felt a very strong call of nature!

Of course, I had felt this same call many times before, but the feeling had always been just too late to act upon it...

Now, for the first time, I felt a very strong urge to defecate, just BEFORE I pooped my still dry diaper!

Hurriedly, I raced home, went to our lavatory, jerked my diaper from my body, and let myself go with a deep sigh of satisfaction.

FINALLY, my little body had warned me in advance, although I was only two years old...

After I had defecated and urinated, I took some toilet paper and meticulously cleaned my smelly bottom.

Then, I washed my hands in our small kitchen and dried them.

Being very proud of myself, I raced to our living room, and jumped onto my Dad's lap at full speed.

Feeling extremely enthusiastic, I exclaimed:

"DAD, and MOM; I have pooped all by myself, and my diaper is still dry! Finally, I am a real Big Boy!"

Of course, my parents congratulated me abundantly with my newest achievement; while my proud looking Dad folded his arms around my tiny body and held me very close!

Chuckling, my Dad told me:

"Harry, I am again very proud of you! Are you really sure you will stay dry from now on, at least during the day?"

"Yes, Dad! I can feel it in my inside. From now on, my body will always warn me in advance, every time I have to poop or pee..."

"Okay, I believe you. Now, you really are our Big Boy!"

I smiled, dived in between my Mom and my Dad, and very much enjoyed the happy feeling of being sandwiched in between the two people I loved most in the entire world.

Both parents put their arms around me and around each other, and we cuddled each other for a very long time.

It felt good, to be a little boy in our secluded Gypsy community!

Then, my Mom started to doubt again, and asked me:

"Are you really sure you don't need your diaper any more? What if your body doesn't warn you, and you unintentionally soil your new blue jeans? Ultimately, you are only two years old; and I don't want to clean your winter clothes, only because you are too stubborn to wear a diaper beneath them..."

Still feeling absolutely sure about myself, I answered her:

"Mom, I am absolutely sure! I can feel it in my inside. Please, trust me. From now on, I need a diaper only when I am sleeping!"

Hesitantly, my Mom surrendered; and she helped me shuck my still dry diaper underneath my warm winter clothes.

Now, without the extra clothing around my belly and bottom, I felt much freer, and raced outside to join my diaper friends.

Only, although I was now very happy to be a REAL 'diaper kid', I decided not to tell my friends about my 'little-kid-achievement'...

Fortunately, my very early 'dry' body never betrayed me during the day; and I never disappointed my Mom's trust in me!

I always immediately went to our small lavatory when I had to go; and I put on my diaper only during the night.

Now, I only had to wait until I didn't need any diaper at all; hopefully very soon...

A few months later, SPRING showed up in our mountains, the outside air warmed up, and all the snow disappeared!

Feeling very happy, I trotted outside without wearing any clothes, and joined my own group of enthusiastic 'diaper kids'.

Finally, I could go totally naked, for the first time since my birth, although my tiny body was only two years and a few months old!

Soon, I would be just as bronzed as all my friends always were...

Then, I thought of my still metamorphosing caterpillar!

During all winter, it had slept, until spring would show up...

According to my colored picture book, it was now time for my 'King Atalanta', to wake up and leave its cocoon as a real butterfly...

Immediately, I was in a tremendous hurry, hastily left my group of diaper friends, and raced into our surrounding bushes, to have a quick look at my cocooned caterpillar friend...

Would it now transform into a beautiful butterfly?

Alas... my cocoon was still hanging upside down from its rigid branch, slowly moving in the steadily warming breeze...

Nothing seemed to have changed; and the metamorphosing caterpillar inside seemed to be deep asleep...

Or, was it frozen to death, due to the cold winter temperature?

Feeling disappointed, I returned to my friends; although I now felt nervous all day, fidgeted around, and almost couldn't wait to have my first look at the enormous wings of my King Atalanta.

That is, if it had survived our extremely cold winter...

From now on, every morning, I stormed outside and towards the sleeping cocoon, hoping my butterfly would show up today...

Impatiently, I stared at the silent thing, as if urging its inside with my thoughts to leave its shelter and greet me!

However, for several days, nothing happened; and, at last, I started to feel too disappointed and lost my interest.

Maybe, both my Dad and my book were wrong, and my cocooned caterpillar had really frozen to death during our cold winter...

Although I felt a bit sad; I decided to live with the facts!

Tomorrow, I would take my cocoon from its branch; and bury it in Mother Earth, while performing a small ceremony.

Then, I would forget it, and go on with my life...

The next morning, I suddenly woke up and sat upright! While I was asleep, somebody had called my name, although everybody else in our caravan was still asleep and snoring...

Or, had I been dreaming?

Again, a warm and soulful voice in my inside told me:

"Please, my dear friend, wake up and go greet your butterfly!"

For a second, I didn't know what to think of my 'message'...

Then, my Inside recognized the so well-known voice!

This was the soulful voice of our King of Ancestors; one of my dearest Spirit Friends who was still living in our timeless Eternal Realm!

Immediately, I jumped out of my bed and raced to our small lavatory, to quickly empty my bowels and wash my hands.

Next, I left our caravan in a hurry; and sprinted towards our surrounding bushes, shivering from the sudden morning cold.

Would, finally, my Atalanta butterfly reveal itself to me?

After arriving in our surrounding bushes, I stared at my lazily swinging cocoon in utmost surprise...

My cocoon was OPENING!

My Ancestor Friend had been absolutely right!

Something unbelievable and wonderful was happening...

Teasingly slowly, my cocoon opened its top.

Little by little, my totally metamorphosed caterpillar friend showed up, now looking like some strange and unearthly creature...

While hopping up and down from sheer enthusiasm, I stared at the strange looking creature that slowly showed up.

First, it carefully put two very tall antennas up into the air and felt around, as if testing the environment...

Then, it unfolded two enormous butterfly wings, decorated with several beautiful red, gold, violet, and deep blue colors!

Gasping in absolute rapture, I nearly forgot to breathe from my suddenly welling emotions...

This huge and splendid looking animal WAS the absolute King of Butterflies!

In total awe, I stared at my huge Atalanta friend, which for several months had been my steadily growing caterpillar friend...

I never thought it would be able to transform into something this wonderful and unearthly magnificent!

Would my friend allow me to touch it, as a greeting?

Carefully, I stretched my hand out towards it, to greet it...

Suddenly, the tall body of my huge King Butterfly shuddered, while it quickly rearranged its enormous wings.

After a few tentative flaps, it rose majestically up into the air, and landed exactly on my outstretched hand!

Sitting on my hand, my butterfly friend turned around and stared at me with two enormous eyes full of tiny facets...

Feeling deeply thrilled, and almost unable to speak from all my welling emotions, I stared at the beautiful butterfly on my hand.

This was the most honoring thing that had ever happened to me!

Slowly, almost reverently, I bowed my head towards my butterfly, in an attempt to greet my beautiful Friend King Atalanta.

In my mind, I thanked it, for being my friend for so many months.

Would it understand my thoughts?

Much to my surprise, my staring butterfly Friend rose high onto its thin legs, and slowly performed a deep bow towards me!

Now, I was sure it DID understand me!

Again, it spread its enormous wings out at full width; and flapped a couple of times, as if trying to wave farewell to me.

For several seconds, we stared into each other's eyes...

Then, my King Atalanta butterfly friend slowly rose high into the air, turned around, and flapped away; leaving me totally in awe and feeling deeply grateful...

After my beautiful Friend disappeared behind the treetops, I sat down onto an old stump, supporting my head with my hands.

Suddenly sobbing from my powerful emotions, I wiped the welling tears out of my eyes with the backs of my hands.

I already MISSED my caterpillar friend!

Ultimately, it had been my little friend for many months, until it transformed into a huge butterfly and flapped away...

Secretly, I hoped I would soon find myself a new little caterpillar friend, maybe during the upcoming summer...

Would our Beloved King of Ancestors still be around me?

Silently, I thanked my dear Ancestor Friend in my mind, for waking me just in time to greet my beautiful Atalanta butterfly...

Again, I heard His warm voice in my inside, responding:

"You are welcome, my friend! Soon, we will meet again and talk some more. For now, you have to forget everything about me..."

For a moment, I started to doubt...

Could I have made my Friend's warm voice up in my mind, because I expected to hear some answer? I wasn't sure...

Nevertheless, thanking my Ancestor Friend felt great!

Still feeling very humble, I rose from my stump and trotted home.

At home, I raced into my parents' bedroom, and immediately woke my softly snoring Mom and Dad!

Then, I waited impatiently, until they had rubbed the sand out of their eyes...

When they finally stopped yawning and were ready to listen to me, I had an unbelievable and truly amazing story to tell!

Enthusiastically, I told my parents everything about my sudden waking up; and watching my beautiful King Atalanta show up, land onto my outstretched hand, greet me, and flap away.

Surprisingly, I forgot everything about our King of Ancestors, and only remembered some warm voice that woke me up...

A few weeks later, Michail finally decided to marry Felicia, after a long time of being 'engaged'.

Immediately, our entire camp organized a Big Feast, and everybody contributed some goodies or tasty snacks.

Soon, many filled platters showed up; to be set out onto the hastily arranged circle of wooden tables.

Of course, I raced around the circle; and tried to 'help' everybody wherever I could!

At last, all the tables were covered with many copiously filled platters and cups of brightly colored lemonade.

However, first, we all sat down on our wooden benches, to listen to my Grandmother marrying the beaming pair.

All the kids left their games and crawled onto one of the many inviting laps, to be cuddled and feel loved.

This time, I crawled onto the lap of Pietro, our technical man; because a small girl had already occupied my Dad's lap.

However, I wasn't jealous at all. Live and let live...

My beaming Grandmother married the happy looking pair; by ceremoniously binding their hands together with two beautifully colored ropes, symbolizing they wanted to be a married couple...

Next, she blessed them and their family, in the name of all our Beloved Ancestors and our Highest Supreme Being.

Now, the happy bride and groom bowed towards each other, and embraced and kissed each other, to seal their vows.

To end the ceremony, Michail and Felicia freed each other from their colored ropes, and threw them into our glowing campfire.

While their flaring ropes were sent towards our Supreme Being, they were now a married couple!

My Grandmother sat down on her Royal wooden bench, looking around with a big smile and a happy face; while our violin players started to play beautiful songs full of love and happiness.

Everybody else rose from their benches and slowly queued up, to go and congratulate the newly married couple.

Of course, I stepped into the slowly forming queue, next to Pietro, and patiently waited until it would be my turn.

For a moment, I hesitated...

Should I congratulate only Michail; or his new spouse as well?

How would Felicia react, if I congratulated her too? I was sure that she didn't like me at all...

When it finally was my turn, I just stepped towards them!

With my politest face, I congratulated both my Big Friend AND his new missus, wishing them all the good luck in the world.

Totally unexpectedly, Felicia embraced me and offered me a big kiss on my cheek, her first one ever!

I felt confused, closed my eyes, and forgot to kiss her back. Until now, I never thought she liked me, not even a tiny bit...

Michail laughed at my confused face and ruffled my unruly blond hair, while I wiped the unexpected kiss from my cheek.

I needed a moment for myself; to regain my posture and get rid of the strange feeling...

Then, I sauntered towards the arranged circle of tables, to partake in our Big Feast!

Enthusiastically, I started to wander from table to table, on my way tasting several nice looking goodies and colored snacks.

Yummy! Those snacks certainly tasted much better than the healthy meals my Mom always cooked...

Still munching, I already sauntered towards the next table.

Several older kids were walking along the tables; while carefully choosing what they wanted to taste...

One of them, Misha, turned towards me and warned me:

"You better don't eat too many snacks at once, because they might upset your stomach and make you throw up."

However, I only laughed at Misha, while popping the next tasty looking pastry into my mouth...

Why would I listen to an older kid? I was my own boss; and certainly mature enough to decide for myself!

Half an hour later, I trotted to our surrounding bushes, to let my upset stomach throw up all the eaten snacks and goodies...

Of course, my worried looking Mom followed me immediately.

She waited until I had emptied my stomach completely, before she cleaned my face with a few tufts of grass.

Then, she wanted to take me back to our caravan, because she thought I could be ill...

However, I assured her that everything was okay with me! I had only eaten too many snacks, and I wanted to stay outside and have fun for a much longer time!

Shaking her head, my Mom returned to our own Royal bench and sat down next to my chuckling Dad...

The older kids approached me again, and a chuckling Misha playfully admonished the too pigheaded little Prince:

"Well, I DID warn you! Obviously, you are still too little to walk around on your own..."

Glaring at Misha indignantly, I rebuked:

"I think you are only jealous of me, because I am the fastest developing child in our community!"

"Yeah, well... Next to speaking all these difficult words, you surely are the fastest puking child in our community!"

This time, my angry brain couldn't come up with any caustic response or witty remark...

Not knowing how I should respond, I turned around and stomped away.

Feeling frustrated, I trotted to our own black-and-golden caravan, and angrily kicked it...

Fortunately, the kicking helped, and my flaring anger soon subsided and went away, as always.

Of course, Misha had been right; but I didn't want to admit it.

Pigheaded? Who? Me?

Hmm...

After a moment of pondering, I returned to the still snickering kids, and offered them my well-meant excuses.

Although they reacted a bit timid; they accepted my apologies.

Misha told me they didn't really mean it, but only wanted to have some fun with their too stubborn little Prince...

Yeah, well... Obviously, my too stubborn inside first had to learn quite a lot more, before the older kids really accepted me!

Fortunately, Misha ruffled my hair, to let me know he understood and that everything was okay...

Then, they strolled away, to go pester somebody else.

In the meantime, a few 'diaper kids' had started to gather their friends, to go and play hide and seek around our caravans.

Yesss! This was exactly what I had been waiting for all the time!

Finally, I would be able to partake in their games I had longingly stared at so many times before!

Of course, now that I no longer needed a diaper during the day, and was clad just like all the other kids were, wearing only my 'birthday suit', I now officially belonged to our 'diaper kids'!

Feeling very enthusiastic, I joined the growing group of children; and they just accepted their little Prince as being 'one of us'.

Before we started, one of the oldest kids first gathered the few 'newcomers', to explain their playing rules to us...

During our games of hide and seek, everybody had to stay within the appointed borders; and nobody was allowed to enter one of the surrounding caravans without warning the others first.

Now, the kid pointed out where the appointed borders were; and he made sure that we understood everything.

By reciting a funny dipping rhyme, the group chose one of our kids, who would be our first seeker.

He had to close his eyes and slowly count to twenty, before he started looking for his friends...

Immediately after the seeker started to count, al the kids swarmed out, trying to find a proper hiding place...

I found a small hole at the base of one of the surrounding shrubs, and wriggled my tiny body into it.

Carefully, I covered the still visible parts of my arms and legs with some fallen leaves and a little bit of forest litter.

Then, I regulated my breath to calm myself down, forced my body to lie absolutely still, and waited...

Finally, I was playing my first real game of 'hide and seek'!

Much to my surprise, even after a very long time of searching, the desperate seeker just could not find me!

At last, the frustrated kid asked his friends:

"Are you sure our little Prince understands our rules? Perhaps, he hides outside the borders, or in a caravan...

"Ultimately, he is the tiniest kid in our group. How old is that baby anyway?"

One of the other kids started to chuckle, while he responded:

"I know where our little Prince hides; and he did nothing wrong! He only is way too good for all your clumsy efforts to find him..."

"Well, I give up! This little runt is just TOO good for me..."

Immediately, all the other kids started to search for me!

They went scurrying through our surrounding bushes; crawling under our benches, and seeking under and on top of all our caravans...

In the meantime, I bit my tongue, while trying not to snicker too loudly at all their clumsy efforts to find me...

Finally, one of the searching kids found me accidentally, because he literally stumbled across one of my covered legs.

Triumphantly, I showed up from my hiding place, still wiping the leaves and some forest litter from my stiffening little body...

Immediately, all the other kids crowded around me!

They congratulated me, high-fived me, and told me I was a surprisingly good hider for such a 'little runt'!

Was I sure I was playing their game of hide and seek for the first time?

Suddenly, everybody wanted to be my friend, even the seeker!

Now, I could choose to be the next seeker, if I wanted...

However, I decided to wait for a next time, shook my head, and appointed one of the other kids to be our next seeker.

And, again, my friends couldn't find me for a very long time...

This time, I decided to be a seeker and search for my friends.

Fortunately, my Mom had taught me how to use all ten fingers plus ten extra fingers, to count to 'twenty'.

Thus, I closed my eyes, and slowly touched all my fingers twice, before I opened my eyes and started to look around...

Very soon, I had found all my hiding friends and tagged them; because I was able to feel their energy fields, and easily sensed in which direction their auras where hiding...

Again, everybody high-fived me, and told me their 'little runt' was an extremely good seeker, next to being an excellent hider.

Plus, everybody wanted to be my friend even more!

Well, I would be able to live with that...

Proudly, I appointed a next seeker, and we went on.

From now on, playing 'hide and seek' was my favorite game!

My little body was able to crawl into the tiniest hole; and I could lie or sit perfectly still for a very long time, by regulating my breath.

The only disadvantage was that my muscles became very stiff, after not moving for such a prolonged time...

Accidentally, much to my surprise, I found out that my inside automatically switched on some really strange 'ability', which effectively blurred the vision of whoever was searching for me!

That way, the seeker always totally overlooked my hiding place, unless he literally stumbled upon my hidden body...

Vaguely, my Inside remembered I had inherited this useful ability from a past life, where I had trained myself in sneaking towards a wary prey, to catch it before it saw me and fled away!

Hilariously, in my present life, my Inside didn't seem to know the difference between a wary prey, and my searching friend...

We continued to play hide and seek until our parents called us to our caravans; to have dinner, wash up, and go to bed.

Of course, we promised each other to restart our games first thing in the next morning!

However, the next morning, my parents took me to our Wise Woman, to let her have a professional look at my bodily growth!

My bright brain was developing extremely fast; but my immature little body just stayed too small and didn't grow enough...

Compared to all the other two-and-a-half-year-old 'toddlers' in our camp, I still was and stayed the shortest one.

Yet, my muscles were much stronger than most other children of around my age; and I won every wrestling contest with ease!

Fortunately, the other kids didn't tease me too much with my too slow growth; except for, now and then, calling me a 'little runt'.

Our Wise Woman invited my parents and me in, and asked me to sit down next to her on her leather couch.

First, she looked me over from head to foot, staring at me with her piercing eyes, making me feel uneasy and a little bit drowsy.

Then, she asked my parents and me several annoying questions about my usual eating habits and bowel movements...

Fortunately, none of our answers seemed to disturb her; and she assured my parents and me that I was healthy enough.

Now, she asked us to be as silent as possible, because she wanted to consult our Ancestors and Spirit Friends about me.

She closed her eyes and sank into a deep trance; to ask my Beloved Ancestors and Spirit Guides for advice...

After a few minutes, our Wise Woman returned out of her trance, drank some water, and needed a moment to recover.

Then, she told us not to worry about my bodily development, because our Ancestors told her that nothing was wrong with me!

My body didn't grow enough because my extremely bright brain developed too fast and demanded too much of its energy!

However, I would continue to grow up in excellent health; and my size would catch up with my age soon after I reached puberty.

In the meantime, my body would probably continue to stay a little bit shorter than the other kids of around my age...

Well; I was sure I would be able to live with that!

After I returned from visiting our Wise Woman, all my new friends curiously crowded around me.

Of course, they wanted to know what had happened to their little Prince; and when would I finally grow up and no longer be our 'littlest runt'?

I told my friends what our Wise Woman had said; and that my small size would catch up with my age when I reached puberty...

One of the 'older boys', Misha, thought that I would first have a couple of 'growth spurts', as every kid had from time to time.

I only had to wait patiently, until my body decided to grow taller!

Yeah, well... Thank you very much, Misha; but, up to now, 'patience' hadn't exactly been my strongest quality...

However, I decided to keep his prediction in mind!

That same evening, I helped my Mom to put a visible mark on our doorpost, exactly at where the top of my head was now.

That way, I would always be able to estimate my growth; and I could look out for my first 'growth spurt'...

The next morning, my friends and I resumed our play of hide and seek; and everybody swarmed away to find a hiding place.

This time, I decided to find out what happened while my confused Inside blurred the vision of our seeker...

Therefore, I just squatted down behind an open cartwheel, while barely hiding at all!

Much to my surprise, I found out that I could switch my strange abilities on and off on purpose, by using my Shaman powers!

I only had to tune in into the minds of my friends, access their visionary brains, and wipe out my own picture...

That way, all my friends overlooked me totally; even when I didn't hide at all!

For the next hour, I had very much fun; because nobody was able to find and tag me any more, until I allowed them!

Then, my initial fun slowly disappeared, while my inside started to feel like some weird outcast...

Wasn't I cheating on my friends terribly, by deliberately using my powerful 'special abilities' on them?

Yet, my pigheaded streak refused to give up and play 'normal' again. It just wanted to WIN all the time...

At last, my strange abilities became too obvious; and a few jealous kids refused to play hide and seek with me, because even our well-trained Natural Trappers couldn't find me any more.

That way, now that I was winning all our games, their former fun was gone; and they started to mope and walked away...

Surprisingly, none of them ever found out how I could be able to disappear completely from their vision; although, every time anybody looked at the place where I was hiding, I just concentrated on them and blanked their minds!

Only our Wise Woman seemed to understand what I was doing; and, at last, she shook her head and called me towards her.

With a very serious voice, she warned me:

"Please, my friend; be very careful with your powerful abilities! Always listen to your own heart first, before you start performing your magic tricks. You are developing into an extremely strong Shaman and Mage; but, unintentionally, you could harm your friends or any other people with your exceptional powers..."

"But... how do YOU know what I am doing? I am sure I never told anybody! And, how could I ever harm my friends? I am only blurring their vision, so that they cannot see me any more..."

"To be honest, I have done the same things when I was young! Fortunately, reading thoughts or blurring someone's vision is relatively harmless. However, your developing powers could easily go too far and cause some permanent damage, like a lasting headache or some nasty eye cataract..."

Oh my... I never thought I could be a DANGER to my friends...

Of course, I loved everybody in our camp dearly; and I absolutely didn't want to cause anybody any harm!

What the heck had I been doing, albeit unwittingly...

Feeling severely shocked, I decided to be extremely careful with my strange 'gifts'!

From now on, I would always listen to my own heart, before I again used any of my 'developing powers'.

I never suspected that using any of my Shaman or Mage 'abilities' could work against me, by harming my innocent 'victims'...

Of course, I already knew that our 'own heart' connects us to our Supreme Being; and it always acts out of Pure Love and never does any harm to anybody.

Thus, my own heart would never allow me to use any 'black magic', but always tell me to act solely out of Love and Compassion.

Besides, my Important Task on Earth was to bring much more Love and Light to the people around me; and I had to use my special abilities accordingly...

I was sure that our Wise Woman had heard all my thoughts, because she now started to smile broadly!

Unexpectedly, she hugged me fiercely, and told me she was very happy to be my friend and 'personal advisor'.

From now on, I would always be welcome in her caravan; and I could always ask her any important question that came up in my mind...

Feeling very strange, I returned her hug, slowly left her caravan, and sauntered into our surrounding bushes.

For quite some time, I just sat down on my old stump, while thinking and trying to 'listen to my own heart'...

At last, I started to understand that cheating had NOT been a proper way of playing games with my friends, unless our rules explicitly allowed me to do so.

Unintentionally, I had broken my friends' valuable trust in me, by manipulating their minds without their consent...

How could I ever make this up to my friends?

Feeling very ashamed of myself, I decided to stop using all of my developing 'Shaman abilities', immediately.

From now on, I would play 'hide and seek' with my friends only by just hiding myself, without any more cheating!

And, I would use my valuable 'gifts' and 'abilities' only in case I REALLY needed them, or during an emergency.

The next day, my surprised looking friends found out that their own searching capabilities suddenly were much stronger!

All at once, they were able to find and tag their 'little runt' much more easily; although I still stayed one of the best hiders in our camp...

Immediately, they started to play our games with much more enthusiasm; teasing me because they could find me too easily!

Even the quitted and moping kids forgot about their jealousy, returned to us, and started to play again.

That day, I found out that playing our games without cheating was a LOT more fun than always winning had been!

Again, I had learned a very valuable lesson, and bettered myself.

Sitting on her own bench, our Wise Woman waved at me, with lots of love and understanding in her piercing eyes.

Obviously, she had read my thoughts again, and felt very happy...

Around once a month, my Mom measured my new length; while I was standing upright against our doorpost, and she carefully marked the top of my head.

Much to her and my delight, the new mark always showed that I had been growing up a tiny bit!

Yet, I still stayed the 'littlest runt' in our group of diaper kids...

Now and then, I stared at the advancing marks on our doorpost; planning to keep on growing until I was at least as tall as my Dad or Michail were...

Only, when would I finally have my first real 'growth spurt', and suddenly grow up quite a lot taller?

Unnoticed, I started to feel a little bit tired of all my waiting...

Again, summer turned into fall; and fall turned into another cold and snowy winter, forcing us to wear our warm winter clothes...

Soon, I celebrated my THIRD birthday, with three burning little candles on my tasty birthday cake.

Again, everybody visited me and congratulated me with being three years old. However, this year, they didn't buy me another birthday present...

Now, I only had to wait for one more year; until I would be four years old and, hopefully, become totally 'dry'.

Then, I would finally be able to join our group of 'older kids' into our woods!

I really longed to join them; to set up my own traps, and to catch my own small animals to roast them over our campfire...

One of the older boys, Misha, had already taught me how to fold an effective snare, by using a piece of wire and some forest litter...

Sometimes, my parents had to visit another Gypsy community, to perform their Royal duties as our Beloved King and Queen.

Usually, they asked Michail to look after me, until they returned.

Of course, I was always very happy to have my Big Friend around for the whole day, and invited him in enthusiastically!

Only, this time, Michail brought Felicia to accompany him; and they crowded together on our couch...

Feeling a bit neglected, I climbed onto Michail's lap, and started to milk as much attention out of him as I was able to muster.

My Big Friend didn't seem to mind, romped with me, and patiently answered all my burning questions; like 'how come our sun shows up and disappears again every day and night'...

In the meantime, I peeked at Felicia's belly, because I felt more and more curious...

Using my Inner Eye, I could clearly see two tiny boys, cozily floating around in their shared womb!

I was absolutely certain that Felicia was pregnant; but why did she carry TWO little infants in her belly?

Vaguely, I remembered how crammed my Moms womb had been with only me in it...

Wouldn't her womb, with TWO steadily growing baby boys in it, soon be way too crowded for them?

In our secluded camp, nobody else had any twins, and nobody ever told me they existed...

At last, my curiosity won over my politeness, and I blurted:

"Felicia, why do you carry TWO babies in your stomach?"

Total silence fell over our living room...

For a second, I doubted. Had I been too impolite; or had I asked Felicia such an impossible question?

Then, Felicia jumped up from our couch, glaring at me as if she had detected some dangerous alien from another planet!

She tried to respond, but became angrier and angrier, while her face grew redder and redder with rage...

At last, she shouted, with fire-shooting eyes:

"How the heck do YOU know I'm pregnant? Even Michail doesn't know, because I wasn't sure and didn't tell him.

You REALLY are a little freak! And, why do you want me to carry TWO children?

I don't want to have twins! One little crybaby will be more than enough, thank you very much..."

At hearing Felicia's sudden and vile outburst, I felt shocked into my deepest core, and started to cry from frustration.

While I stealthily looked at her belly again, I was still sure she carried two little infants in her belly, and both of them were boys!

Within a couple of months, my Big Friend and his missus would be the proud parents of TWO healthy babies!

Why wasn't Felicia happy? Didn't she like children?

That would be very sad...

Then, I felt even more shocked, because I saw a nasty dark cloud along Felicia's timeline, surrounding her but not her two children in her belly.

Both little boys would be born healthy; but something terrible was going to happen to their mother, and her children would probably become little orphans!

Now feeling horrible, I absolutely refused to see any more nasty predictions, and angrily shut all my 'gifts' down!

I didn't even answer Michail's worried questions; but just buried my face into his broad chest and sobbed loudly.

Obviously, having 'Shaman abilities' was not ALWAYS fun...

After eight months of pregnancy, and not wanting to have any twins, Felicia gave birth to two healthy baby boys.

Although they were twins, they didn't resemble each other at all!

The first-born baby, Michi, was somewhat taller; while his twin brother, Movi, was a little bit chubbier.

Unfortunately, their mother started to bleed after labor; and it wouldn't stop! Even our Wise Woman couldn't help her...

Michail rushed her to a 'gadjo' hospital; where she died.

Fortunately, for all of us, Felicia didn't die in our camp.

Our Gypsy belief forbade us to live in the same place where one of us had died...

Therefore, we would have had to leave our secluded camp, and move on to some other place!

That is why all Gypsies were living in their mobile caravans, always ready to move on if necessary...

After Michail returned home, he was inconsolable. He blamed himself for Felicia's unexpected death, and cried all the time.

Day after day, he visited our caravan; but the only thing he did was sit on our couch, stare into empty space, and sniffle...

My worried parents tried to talk to my Big Friend, but all their efforts to console him were in vain.

Michail didn't listen to them, and just sobbed on...

Of course, I too tried to get his attention and talk to him; but my Big Friend didn't even see me...

Yet, I desperately wanted to pull him out of his grief, and make him care for his little sons!

I was sure both boys missed their Daddy terribly, and that they needed him at least as much as I always needed my Dad...

After some thinking, I decided to do something more drastically, to pull my Big Friend out of his sad stupor.

I balled my fists, stormed towards him, and forcefully punched his stomach, using all the power my little fists could bring forth!

Michail suddenly flinched, coughed, gasped for breath, and stared at me in total confusion...

Now that I finally had his undivided attention, I admonished my Big Friend with my sternest baritone voice:

"Michail, go get your sons, NOW, and be their DADDY! Michi and Movi NEED you, and I am sure they already miss you terribly! Now that their mother is dead, YOU are the only person in the world they have! Please, take up your responsibilities, and be the loving Daddy they need. Of course, it is okay to be sad and cry; but don't punish your sons for what they cannot help. Now, please, stop moping, stand up, and GO GET THEM!"

For a very long time, Michail just stared at my heated face and blazing eyes; obviously feeling totally bewildered...

Then, finally, some life returned into his eyes, and he heaved a couple very deep sighs of frustration.

Slowly, he stretched his arms out, and pulled me towards him...

For a second, I thought my Big Friend would be mad at me for punching him, and tell me to shut up or leave him alone...

Then, he pulled me onto his lap, put his enormous arms around my tiny frame, and started to cry desperately.

However, this time, his desperate crying sounded totally different from what he had done so far!

It was clear that my Big Friend no longer pitied himself.

Finally, Michail unfolded his arms from around my crushed ribs.

He kissed my wrinkling nose, lifted me off his lap, sat me down onto my Dad's lap, and left our caravan without saying a word.

My very proud looking Dad stared at me with almost adoration in his beaming eyes, while he exclaimed:

"My so precious son... Today, you ARE our Royal Prince! I am VERY proud of you, and of how you knew exactly what to do, to help Michail out of his stupor... My precious boy; thank you very, very much, for being the loving soul that you are!"

"Yeah, well... I don't know... I punched Michail's stomach only because I was terribly mad at him, for neglecting his baby sons... Of course, Michi and Movi cannot help it; and I am sure they are missing their Daddy terribly, just like I surely would miss mine!"

Ten minutes later, Michail returned to our caravan, ducked his head to pass the doorpost, and stepped into our living room.

Although he looked a bit ashamed, he now carried his two little sons in his arms, carefully wrapped up in their colorful blankets!

He laid them down in between my old pillows; and smiled at us with a look of regret, but also with a lot more pride in his eyes...

My motherly Mom immediately doted over both babies; and she started to clean them and change their soiled diapers.

Next, she cooked some milky baby food, and fed them until they were filled to the brim, burped, and spilled at least half of it.

After my Mom had cleaned them again, I tried to play with them; but both little boys were still way too small and no fun at all...

7. Four years old; 'feeling herbs'; and Chief Cookie.

Again, summer turned into fall; and fall turned into winter...

And, finally, I celebrated my FOURTH birthday!

For many months, I had looked forward to being four years old; because I hoped my steadily growing little body would finally stop wetting my bed at night and become completely dry...

My wise Dad once told me that most 'diaper kids' would become completely 'dry' after they were five or six years old.

Well, my tiny body had been extremely early at becoming dry during the day; thus, I hoped it would be very early again...

Then, our rules would finally allow me to enter our surrounding woods, set my own traps, and catch my own animals!

My proudly smiling Mom had decorated my tasty birthday cake with FOUR burning little candles; and, this time, I knew exactly what my secret birthday wish would be.

After all our visitors had congratulated me, and our violin players showed up to play their beautiful melodies; I blew my four candles, and closed my eyes while everybody cheered and clapped.

In the meantime, I wished that I very soon would be completely dry and allowed to join our older children into our woods...

Would my secret birthday wish really come true?

Or, was a 'birthday wish' only some superstitious nonsense, found out to mislead easy-believing little kids like me...

Only time would tell.

Alas! Within a few months, I had to admit that month after month had passed by, and I still needed a diaper during the night!

Obviously, wishing my secret 'birthday wish' had REALLY been superstitious nonsense, as I already suspected it would be.

From now on, I would just blow my birthday candles, without having any more stupid secret ideas ever again!

Our 'littlest runt' was no longer some silly 'believer'.

Morning after morning, I woke up being soaking wet, and feeling more and more betrayed by my too immature little body.

Why couldn't my tiny frame magically grow up a lot faster, just like my extremely bright brain always seemed to do?

I was growing TIRED of all that waiting...

Of course, I also waited impatiently until I finally would have my first 'growth spurt', and suddenly grow a lot taller...

Compared to my friends of the same age, I still was and stayed our 'tiniest runt', although my baritone voice sounded much older...

Slowly, I started to feel a bit depressed; because I HATED living in this too small body, which refused to do what I wanted it to do.

Couldn't I cocoon myself, as my caterpillar friend had done; to pop up when I would be old enough to stay dry during the night?

I still desperately wanted to join our older boys into our woods, to set my own traps and catch my own animals!

Only, our strict Gypsy rules forbade me to join them, until I would be a real 'big boy' and no longer needed a diaper at all...

Of course, I had asked my Dad, my Mom, and Michail about growing up faster... But, they only told me to wait and be patient!

My time would surely come...

Grrrrrr!

Every morning, I shucked my wet diaper, took a shower, wolfed my healthy breakfast down, and gulped a glass of milk.

Then, I trotted outside, to sit on one of our wooden benches...

From there, I stared longingly at our queuing group of 'older kids', who left our camp and disappeared into our woods.

I knew they went looking for interesting animal prints and edible nuts; and they always caught plenty of small animals...

Every time our older kids disappeared into our surrounding woods, I felt more jealous; and I started to mope more and more about my misfortune of being too little.

When would it finally be MY turn to enter our woods, and have fun setting traps and catching small animals to roast them over our campfire?

Near the end of the day, when our older kids returned, I always immediately joined them and listened to their stories...

However, I also wanted to SEE what they were doing, with my OWN eyes!

While our older kids returned from our surrounding woods, they always were in a cheerful mood and having lots of fun.

During summer, they always carried several caught animals; and, now and then, baskets filled with edible nuts and delicious fruits.

They divided the nuts and fruits among us; and started to clean their animals out in our small butchery near our parking lot.

First, they smeared the cleaned animal meat with a little bit of salt and some squashed yellow plant leaves they called 'spice'.

Then, they roasted their prepared animals on wooden stakes over our campfire, to savor them after they were readied...

Every day, I listened to their interesting stories, while they were preparing their animals.

In the meantime, I dreamed about joining them, entering our woods, and setting my own traps. I so wanted to be one of them, and to 'spice' my own animals...

However, until now, they didn't even let me HELP them...

Mostly, I just dreamed away; while they told me about chasing a pig through the woods, or catching a rat in their snares...

Unfortunately, our strict rules forbade me to help them with the roasting, until I had caught my own animal first.

I couldn't catch my first own animal, because I wasn't allowed to join the older kids into our woods.

I wasn't allowed to join them into our woods, because my too small body still needed a diaper at night...

Grrrrr!

This morning, again, our queue of older kids slowly disappeared into our woods; while I almost burst out in tears.

Feeling too little, and very sad, I sauntered around our campfire, visited Michail's caravan, and pestered my Mom and Dad.

However, everybody reacted a little bit annoyed, and told me to go play outside and have some fun with my friends!

At last, I reluctantly went to my playing 'diaper friends'.

Only, suddenly, they looked too small to be my real friends...

Of course, they were again playing their usual game of hide and seek; but, this time, they seemed to act too 'childish' for me...

Obviously, my steadily developing brain was becoming too bright for them, or too precocious for my own good!

Although I was only four years old; in my inside, I already felt much older...

I knew that my bright brain was developing extremely fast; but, why couldn't my too immature body follow my fast brain?

Wasn't there some 'magic way' to force my too small body to grow faster, or to train it to listen to what I wanted it to do?

Would our Wise Woman, or maybe Michail, know a way to let me grow up faster and be dry during the night?

I went to Michail, to ask him about it; but my Big Friend only started to laugh at my sour face, while he told me:

"My dear young Prince, just be happy to be such a small boy, and enjoy your early youth for as long as you can! Way too soon, you will be an old man like me; and, then, you will regret all your missed chances to be only a little child..."

"But, I WANT to be like you! I only HATE being so little, and I cannot wait to grow up and be allowed to enter our woods... I want to enjoy my early youth NOW; by joining the other kids and set my own traps and roast my own animals, just like they always do!"

"Well... I think you might be a little bit too intelligent for your own good. Ultimately, you are only four years old, and your body is still a bit too small for your age. Yet, I can talk to you as if you are a grown-up; and you do understand everything I am telling you, sometimes even outwitting me with your clever answers... This is not a common behavior for a boy your age! Most four-year-old kids are still sucking on their thumbs... Now, please, try to be the little child that you are, for as long as you can."

Still feeling frustrated, and becoming angry, I left my Big Friend, and stormed outside to kick and pummel a big tree!

For a long time, I raged and muttered, while trying to kick all my anger and frustration away, until I started to feel a bit better.

Of course, I knew that my Big Friend was right; but that didn't make my waiting any easier...

Ultimately, I didn't even WANT to be such an intelligent 'brainiac'!

I desperately wanted to be just like any other four-year-old boy, and feel happy with my early youth!

And, I was sure that being 'normal' would make my frustrated life quite a lot easier!

I only didn't know how to change my way of thinking...

After offering the big tree my well-meant excuses for kicking it, I turned around, and strolled into our surrounding bushes.

Sitting on my old stump, I started to think...

Yesterday, I had asked one of the 'older boys', Misha, about the yellow 'spice' they always smeared onto their roasting animals.

Misha had patiently answered all my questions; and explained that the tasty yellow plant they always used to spice their food, was called an 'herb', and they used only its tiny yellow leaves.

Then, Misha added a couple of very interesting facts...

His friends and he were relatively sure there had to be many more useful 'herbs' among our abundant vegetation; but none of them knew how to recognize those herbs, or how to use them...

Only our Wise Woman knew everything about 'herbs'; because she always gathered them from our woods; and she used them to cure nasty illnesses, or to smear them onto inflamed wounds...

Suddenly, I understood what I had done instinctively, after that nasty insect stung me and I smeared some brownish juice onto its itching swelling!

Without knowing what I was doing, instinctively, I had 'healed' myself, by using the leaves of some 'healing herb'...

Was I REALLY becoming our new 'Wise Boy', to recite the loving words my wise Dad once teased me with?

Or, maybe, I was turning into a so-called 'Healer'?

Wow...

Near the end of the day, I returned to our wooden benches, and waited until our older kids showed up and prepared their animals.

Much to my surprise, this time, Misha suddenly shared a big chunk of his own nicely roasted marmot with me!

Of course, Misha already knew how eagerly I wanted to join him and his friends into our woods, to catch my own animals...

Maybe, he even pitied me a little bit...

Feeling grateful, I savored the tasty chunk of marmot meat, while the other older kids smiled at me indulgently.

They all seemed to like their so eager little Prince very much; and I smiled back at them broadly, because I liked them too.

After I thanked Misha abundantly for his generosity; I went to our own caravan, to have dinner with my parents.

The next morning, after the older boys disappeared into our surrounding woods, I walked straight into the bushes where I knew Misha's yellow 'spice herbs' were growing.

Feeling curious, I plucked one of the tiny yellow leaves, squashed it, and tasted a little bit of its juice on my tongue...

Yes, this yellow 'spice' tasted exactly like the nice flavor from Michail's roasted marmot! Only, in its pure form, its taste was too strong and pungent to be pleasing...

Suddenly, my inside was absolutely sure I KNEW this strong tasting 'spice', because I had used it myself many times before!

Unexpectedly, I had a recollection of being a little trapper boy; always helping my trapper Dad spice our chunks of animal meat, before smoking and preserving them for our upcoming winter...

From a very young age, I always scoured our rocky mountains, dangerous rapids, and outstretched woods, to collect many different types of spicy herbs.

Strangely, I knew exactly which herb would be poisonous or make me ill; by 'feeling' its energy and listening to what that particular herb 'told' me.

My trapper Dad knew I had a 'special gift'; and he relied blindly on my infallible 'sixth sense' of knowing which herb would serve our food...

Feeling very surprised, I first shook my head in denial, trying to get rid of my strange 'daydream'...

Then, I became VERY curious!

Had I really been a little trapper boy in one of my past lives; helping my trapper Dad collect out tasty herbs and spices?

Last year, I always 'felt' the energy of all the different plants; and sensed whether they could be poisonous or harmful...

Would my 'special trapper gifts' still be working; perhaps like some 'heritage' from my past life as a little trapper boy?

Immediately, I started to try to 'feel' all the different plants that I now 'remembered'; to put their information away for later use.

Plus, I tried to 'talk' to the plants that I could not remember...

Much to my delight, all the herbs still wanted to 'talk' to me; 'telling' me on which particular food they could be used...

Again, the dangerous or poisonous herbs made me feel nervous or queasy; and I discarded them immediately!

Enthusiastically, I went on 'feeling' all the different plants around me; until I was sure I would remember them, and know by heart what they did to me and for which food I could use them.

Feeling very enthusiastic, I returned to my wooden bench, to wait for our group of older kids to show up...

Would Misha again offer me a chunk of his own roasted marmot?

Perhaps, he would let ME roast his marmot, or any other mammal, to use my own newly discovered tasty spices on it...

This time, I had quite a lot of new and very interesting information for my new older friend, Misha!

Soon, our happy looking older kids showed up, again carrying many fat marmots and other edible critters.

How should I tell them that I had found quite a lot more tasty 'herbs', next to their yellow 'spice' they normally used?

Suddenly feeling a bit unsure, I decided to wait until Misha again offered me a chunk of his own roasted animal.

Would Misha want to listen to the smallest 'runt' in our camp?

Impatiently, I waited...

After Misha had roasted his fat marmot, he chuckled at my eager face, while he again offered me a big chunk of meat, which was again flavored with the tiny yellow spice leaves.

Feeling thankful, I started to devour the roasted chunk.

However, now that I remembered all those other 'herb spices', I was much more particular about the rather bland taste...

I was sure that, as a little trapper boy, in my past life, our own roasted chunks of animal meat had been MUCH tastier!

How should I tell Misha about my recent discoveries, to make him try out some of the new spicy herbs that I had discovered?

Remembering the exquisite flavors of all the different herbs I had tested and tasted, I told my new friend:

"Misha? I am sure your roasted marmot could taste even better! Next time, you might add some of that greenish moss from those trees near the border of our bushes. And, you could add a few of those tiny blue flowers, but not too much, to enhance the flavor! If you wish, I will help you and point them out to you..."

Suddenly looking very surprised, Misha blurted out:

"Huh? How do YOU know about spices? For as far as I know, you've never roasted an animal yourself! Did you talk to our Wise Woman, about using such spicy moss and flowers?"

"No; but I went into our bushes, to look for the unknown spicy herbs you've talked about... And, I found LOTS of them!"

"But, don't you know that using unknown herbs can be very dangerous? Many herbs are poisonous; and, if you don't be very cautious with them, they can make you ill or even kill you!"

"Of course, I know! Only, I seem to have a 'sixth sense', which always lets me know which herb is dangerous, by making me feel upset or queasy. Besides, I have already tasted all the herbs; and, as you can see for yourself, I am still alive and kicking!"

"Well... Maybe, I could try out some of your tasty herbs, if I can find them from your description... But, if the result tastes yucky, you will have to eat the spoiled animal all by yourself!"

"That is okay with me; but only if I can use my own herbs on it, and roast the animal all by myself!"

"You know that our strict rules do not allow you to do that, unless you have caught your own animal first..."

"Then, let me join you tomorrow! I know how to fold a snare and set a trap, because you already showed me how to do it."

"I am very sorry, but you KNOW you will have to wait until you are dry during the night, and your parents allow you to join us..."

Because I started to feel frustrated and angry, I left Misha.

Angrily, I stomped towards our own black-and-golden caravan; and kicked its outside a couple of times, muttering loudly.

Why didn't my tiny body grow up much faster; or could it finally have its first 'growth spurt'; just like every other 'normal' kid my age had from time to time, according to Misha?

Why was my tiny 'little runt' body still staying too small, and too immature to listen to my full bladder at night?

My Dad heard my kicking and muttering; and showed up in our doorway, to have a look at what I was doing...

He saw my angry face, sensed what could have happened, and again told me to be more patient. My time would surely come, and I only had to wait some more...

His response made me extra furious, and I sneered at him:

"Why didn't you and Mom breed me a couple of years earlier? Now, I am still such an impossible little runt..."

My Dad stared at my angry eyes with a frustrated face; until he shook his head and slowly sauntered back inside.

Fortunately, my fury never lasted long. Soon, I forced myself to calm down, regulated my breath, and followed my Dad into our living room.

I climbed onto his lap without saying a word, and enjoyed the feeling of his strong arms around my waist.

Of course, my frustrated Dad couldn't help it...

Soon, both my Dad and I had forgotten our silly frustrations, and we were best friends again.

The next morning, our group of older kids queued up again and disappeared into our woods, while I stared at them longingly...

However, this morning, I decided to DO something!

First, I told my 'diaper friends' to go play without me; because I had something more important on my mind.

Then, I went into our surrounding bushes, to gather several tasty herbs that I wanted to use to spice Misha's next roasting animal...

Immediately, I started to collect many nicely smelling herbs that had 'told' me they would improve the taste of our roasted animals.

After I was sure that all my gathered herbs were harmless, I tasted them critically; plus, I 'asked' them how they wanted to be used.

Again, the yucky herbs made me feel queasy, while the poisonous ones radiated anger, darkness, or danger.

This very useful 'sixth sense' never betrayed me; even after I grew up and collected unknown herbs from other countries...

I also collected a couple of yellow 'spice' leaves, a few tiny blue flowers, and some greenish moss that I had told Misha about.

Feeling content, I returned to our caravan, carrying several nicely smelling herbs, flowers, moss, and yellow leaves...

Unfortunately, my parents were out, visiting some friends, and I didn't know where they were; so I couldn't ask my Mom for help...

What should I do now?

Well... because I was very self-supported for a four-year-old tiny boy, I just put my herbs into our kitchen sink, washed them thoroughly, and dried them using a couple of tissues!

Now, I only had to squash them, or slice them into tiny pieces...

Hesitantly, I took my Mom's very sharp kitchen knife and her wooden cutting board out of one of the kitchen drawers.

Of course, I was sure my Mom would NEVER allow me to use her sharp knife, because she thought I would be way too young to handle such a dangerous thing on my own...

However, this was an emergency!

Carefully, I bundled all my herbs together, and positioned the bundled string onto my Mom's cutting board.

Now, hesitantly, I took her sharp kitchen knife in one hand; while steering the wobbly bundle with my other hand.

Very carefully, while trying not to cut my fingers, I tried to slice the unwilling bundle of herbs into many small pieces...

Suddenly, and totally out of the blue, my hands started to move all on their own; and I was sure I had nothing to do with it!

All at once, one hand started to steer the unwilling herbs string, while the other hand adeptly used the sharp knife to chop my bundle of herbs into tiny pieces, at an amazing speed!

After chopping all the herbs, my hands laid the knife down onto the sink, and again started to listen to my own will...

Open-mouthed, I stared at the amount of perfectly chopped herbs, neatly piled up on my Mom's wooden cutting board...

Then, feeling utterly surprised, I stared at my small hands...

How could my hands have acted all on their own; without any help from me?

Had they really chopped all my herbs for me, while my conscious mind didn't know what I was doing?

Of course, this was IMPOSSIBLE; because I didn't have any cooking training, and I had never chopped any herbs before!

Yet, the 'impossible' HAD happened; and my 'unconscious mind' had taken over and chopped all my herbs for me...

Or, could my Ancestors or Spirit Friends have had a hand in this?

Still feeling utterly surprised, my inside suddenly thought of my 'little trapper boy' from my past life...

Could I have remembered some of my former cooking skills; just like I sometimes remembered being a Shaman and a Mage?

That would also explain why I 'remembered' all these unknown plants I was sure I had never seen before in THIS life...

Clearly, my 'little trapper boy' from my past life had 'taken over'; and he had steered my hands, to help me...

Now, I remembered how he always helped his trapper Dad skin their animals and prepare their daily food.

Obviously, he had also been very good at using sharp knives and chopping herbs...

Could I ask my 'little trapper boy' to show up again, if needed, to help me with the rest of my spicy herbs mixture?

Feeling very curious, I got a clove of garlic and a small onion from our own stock.

I put them onto the cutting board, took the knife in my hand, and slowly started to peel the onion...

Within a second, my hands sliced the onion and smashed the garlic at lightning speed, again without any intervention from me!

Now, I was SURE that my 'little trapper boy' from my past life was helping me, by taking over when I needed him.

Wow! This was an extremely useful 'extra ability'!

Carefully, I scraped my nicely smelling herbs mixture into a cup.

Next, I washed my Mom's cutting board and sharp kitchen knife, dried them, and put them back into the kitchen drawer.

After washing my own hands and drying them, I went to my usual wooden bench, taking the filled cup with me.

Now, I only had to wait, until my new friends showed up...

Near the end of the day, our older kids showed up from our woods; but they were even more enthusiastic than usual!

Soon, I found out why that was... Today, next to all their usual marmots and other small critters, they triumphantly carried a fat porcupine to our campfire!

Of course, I immediately sat glued to the strange looking beast, staring in amazement at all those razor sharp quills.

Mother Nature had provided this strange animal with a very efficient defense system; probably to discourage any nasty predator with sharp teeth.

Only, its excellent defense had not prevented it from being caught in Misha's snare...

After Misha and I had skinned his porcupine and cleaned it out, we put it onto a wooden stake to roast it over our campfire.

In the meantime, the other kids had already gathered their yellow leaves, to 'spice' Misha's porcupine and their own animals...

Now, it was MY time, to persuade my new friends to try out my own nicely smelling herbs mixture!

I took my cup of herbs, and teasingly put it under Misha's nose.

Showing him my best puppy dog eyes, I wheedled:

"Misha? Please, try out MY herbs mixture on your porcupine. You only have to add a little bit of oil, to make it sticky..."

At first, Misha looked a bit confused, as if he didn't know what to do...

Then, he sniffed my nicely smelling herbs mixture, sniffed it again, and his eyes grew very big!

Suddenly turning towards the other kids, he exclaimed:

"Just smell THIS spice! Have you ever scented such exquisite aroma? I think we should try it out on our porcupine..."

Now, everybody wanted to smell my so special herb mixture!

One by one, my friends took my cup, sniffed at it, and nodded their consent with smiling faces and watering mouths.

However, then, a few kids started to look a lot more hesitantly...

One of them asked the others, with a doubtful voice:

"How can I be sure there isn't any poison ivy or pseudo chervil in this herb mixture? Can we really trust our little Prince? I think we should ask our Wise Woman for her advice first!"

All the other kids immediately agreed; looking relieved now that they could be sure they wouldn't be poisoned unintentionally...

In procession, we left our campfire and went to our Wise Woman, to ask for her professional advice...

Our Wise Woman showed up from her caravan, smiled at me, and asked the kids what she could do for them...

Misha explained everything to her. He also told her that our little Prince seemed to have sort of a 'sixth sense' for feeling unknown plants and detecting any dangerous herbs.

Now, they only wanted to be absolutely sure, before using my nicely smelling herbs mixture on their roasting porcupine...

After Misha had told her everything, our Wise Woman stared at me for a long time, until she finally nodded.

Now, she took my cup of mixture into both hands, 'felt' its energy, and sniffed at it.

She smeared a little bit of my greenish mixture onto her hand, and tasted it...

Then, with a broadly smiling face, she told us:

"Well... I cannot find any harm in this exquisite tasting mixture; and it certainly smells excellent! Please, could I have my own slice of roasted porcupine, if there are any leftovers?"

For a moment, everybody stayed silent...

Then, all my friends started to cheer loudly, while Misha took me onto his shoulders and horsed me back to our campfire!

Obviously, everybody was very eager to taste my special herbs mixture on their roasting animals...

One of the kids offered me their bottle of baking oil; and I put a few drops of oil into my herbs mixture, to make it sticky.

Next, he handed me a brush; and I smeared out porcupine carefully with the oil and my tasty mixture, trembling with pride...

In the meantime, many other kids had started to smear their roasting animals with MY nicely smelling herbs...

Two strong boys took the wooden stake and put it over our campfire, to get our porcupine roasted.

Misha started to turn it around and around, while I smeared it from time to time with the baking oil and the remainder of my mixture.

Soon, a heavenly aroma started to caress the air, making our mouths water and our hungry stomachs grumble aloud.

Even a couple of grown-ups sniffed approvingly, and politely asked to be allowed to taste a piece of porcupine...

When our porcupine was ready, a few older boys divided its meat into chunks, and sliced the chunks into smaller pieces.

Now, everybody started to nibble on a piece of roasted porcupine, after first carefully tasting it...

Immediately, they looked surprised, took a bigger nibble, and then a really huge bite!

Smiling broadly, they took another huge bite, now staring at me with pure reverence in their beaming eyes...

Much to my delight, our roasted porcupine turned out to taste more than delicious. It certainly tasted much better than any roasted meat had ever tasted before now!

Inwardly, I felt very relieved, while I frantically savored my own fat slice of heavenly tasting porcupine.

Fortunately, everything had gone extremely well, and I hadn't made any serious mistakes with my choice of herbs...

Silently, I thanked my 'little trapper boy' in my mind.

Everybody marveled at the exquisite taste of our porcupine meat, and had second helpings. In absolute silence, they savored their fat slices of spicy meat, with beaming eyes.

Finally, they licked all their fingers and their lips clean, and told me I had done a more than excellent job!

As usual, we burped loudly, to thank the spirit of our porcupine for offering us its tasty meat.

For a long time, everybody remained speechless, still enjoying the nice aftertaste of our porcupine and their own animals.

Now and then, they stared at their blushing little Prince, with pure awe and reverence in their proudly beaming eyes.

Then, all the older boys beckoned each other; and they huddled together, obviously whispering about me...

Why did they do that? Could I have done something wrong?

After a moment of whispering, Misha left the nodding group and approached me.

Politely, almost reverently, he asked me to stand up, because he wanted to lift me onto his shoulders!

Hesitantly, I obliged... What could Misha be up to?

Would I now be kicked out of their group?

Much to my surprise, Misha started to horse me around our campfire in wild triumph, while he told me:

"My dear young Prince, never did we taste such delicious meat! Thank you very much for what you have done for us; and, from now on, my friends and I want you to be our Chief Cook!"

While my little heart nearly burst with sudden pride, my throat choked up; and I could only enthusiastically nod 'YES'...

WOW! Totally unexpectedly, our entire group of 'older kids' had become my new Friends; and they wanted ME to be their Chief Cook and help them spice their roasting animals!

After Misha slid me down onto the ground, my throat felt too choked up to give my new friends any audible answer.

However, I still nodded vigorously; until my head nearly fell off and I had to stop before I dislocated my neck...

From now on, every day, I went into our surrounding bushes, preferably while my Mom was away.

Of course, I didn't want to cheat on my Mom, and I still loved her dearly; but I just wasn't sure how she would react...

After collecting my fresh herbs, I brought them home, and used my Mom's kitchen knife and cutting board to chop and slice them.

At first, my 'little trapper boy' took over completely; until I started to get the hang of it and was able to chop the herbs all by myself.

From now on, my 'trapper helper' took over only when I really needed some help, or asked him for it...

Soon, I started to experiment with my mixture, putting different herbs together, trying to concoct even more refined tastes.

I seemed to have a natural feeling for which herbs tasted best, and what I could mix together to refine the taste even more...

Now and then, my experiments failed, and we had to throw away a yucky tasting animal, but who cares?

It was mid-summer, and my friends always had plenty of animals as a replacement!

I learned from every new experience, and my cooking skills vastly improved.

And, to be honest, I loved my self-allotted task as our little Chief Cookie very much!

After a couple of days, my Mom called me into our kitchen, while she pointed to her wooden cutting board:

"What did you do to my board? It smells rather peculiar, and I am sure neither your Dad nor I have anything to do with it..."

"Sorry, Mom, for not cleaning your cutting board well enough. I needed it again, to slice my herbs for our roasting animals."

"What are you telling me? YOU sliced herbs, and you had to do it again? Did you use my sharp kitchen knife too? Don't you know how dangerous that knife is... I am sure you are still way too young to handle such a risky thing on your own!"

"But, Mom... Please, I NEED your knife! I am our Chief Cook now, and I have to use it tomorrow again! Please..."

"YOU are our Chief Cook? Do you really believe that? For how long have our older kids been making fun of you like this?"

"MOM! I really AM our Chief Cook now; and nobody is making fun of me! I have been slicing my herbs and spicing our roasting animals for at least two weeks now..."

"And, you want to use my sharp kitchen knife tomorrow again? Then, let me see your fingers! And your hands and arms..."

Sensing I was winning my plea, I proudly spread my fingers out towards my Mom; and she looked them over carefully.

Of course, my wary Mom didn't find any nasty cut or scratch on my entire body, not even the faintest old scar...

Still not looking totally convinced, she hesitantly asked:

"Please, could you show me what you are doing every day? I still think a four-year-old little boy is way too small to handle such a dangerous knife without any supervision..."

Feeling a bit affronted because my Mom called me a 'little boy', I raced towards our bushes, and quickly gathered several herbs.

I raced back to our caravan, washed my herbs in our sink, and dried them carefully.

Then, I just took my Mom's cutting board and sharp kitchen knife out of the drawer, without asking her first.

While asking my 'little trapper boy' for help, I chopped my herbs into pieces at an astonishing speed, while adeptly steering the unwilling bundle with my fingers.

I had also gathered a few tasty little cloves and small pods; and I squashed them expertly, by using the side of the knife.

Finally, I took an empty cup, and used the knife to scrape my nicely smelling herbs mixture into it...

All the time, my Mom stared at my lightning fast ministrations, gasping for air and with bulging eyes!

Obviously, she never thought her little son could be THAT good at handling such a huge and dangerous knife without ever injuring himself!

Of course, my 'little trapper boy' had been showing off awfully; but my astonished Mom didn't need to know that...

After regaining her breath, my still gasping Mom swallowed a couple of times, while she stuttered:

"Harry, I never knew you could be such an amazing cook! Now, I am sorry for doubting your unbelievable skills. You absolutely convinced me! From now on, I will trust you; but, for heaven's sake, look out not to cut your fingers instead of your herbs!"

Of course, I stared my Mom down in disdain; because she again questioned my skills as our Chief Cook...

However, at the same time, my inside felt very proud that my Mom finally trusted me!

Therefore, I suddenly embraced her, told her I loved her very much, and we cuddled for quite some time.

Then, for the first time, I helped my Mom cook our own dinner, this time spiced by my own carefully selected herbs...

That evening, my proud looking Dad took me onto his lap and held me very close, while he told me:

"You are growing fast, my son! I can vividly remember when your mother told me she was pregnant, and how happy I felt... Now, you are a tiny boy and sitting on my lap; but, way too soon, you will leave us, marry a nice girl, and have children of your own! Today, your Mom told me our older kids promoted you to be their Chief Cook, even though you are not allowed to leave our camp. And, tonight, by cooking an exquisite dinner, you have proven to be an excellent Chef, able to perform real miracles with your tasty herbs mixture... Only, please, always be modest, and don't think you are allowed to do more than the other children, just because you are a Prince. The older kids allow you to be their Chief Cook, only because you are extremely good at cooking, and you have earned your honorary title! Please, always do everything in a way that allows you to be really proud of yourself, and you will be an excellent Gypsy Leader in the future."

Of course, I immediately agreed with my wise Dad!

From this day on, I would always do only those things that would make me feel really proud of myself!

Feeling very happy and respected, I tried to melt into my Dad's powerful aura, while enjoying his engulfing tender loving care.

By 'octopussing' myself onto his broad chest, I marveled in the nice feeling of being cared for and loved by such a wonderful man.

My Dad and I continued to hug and cuddle for quite some time, until I nearly fell asleep in his safe and warm arms.

At last, he joined me in our small shower stall, and washed me from head to toe, while both of us had lots of fun! Then, he dried me, put a diaper on me, and playfully tickled my belly button; making me squirm and giggle from the funny feeling.

I always LOVED it, when my Dad tried to pamper me, and took all his time to help me!

Yes, I still do...

Finally, I kissed my Mom goodnight; and again thanked her for allowing me to use her cutting board and sharp kitchen knife.

My proud looking Mom smiled at me, kissed me back, and thanked me again for helping her spice our very tasty dinner!

Now, my Dad put me to bed in my small den, and gently draped my blankets around my nearly sleeping little body.

Feeling dead tired, but wonderful and very happy, I closed my eyes and immediately fell asleep.

Soon, I started to dream, of being a Real Big Boy and catching an enormous animal in my first snare...

8. I am a Big Boy; a dream; and entering our woods

I woke up early in the morning; and carefully rubbed the sand out of my eyes, while thinking about yesterday...

Today, I would again help my Mom with cooking, now that she officially allowed me to use her sharp kitchen knife.

To please her, I would try to collect some very rare and special herbs, to spice our own food and make it even tastier!

After breakfast, I would first go into our surrounding bushes, and ask my precious herbs for advice...

Feeling bright and shining, I stretched out as far as I could, to loosen my stiffened muscles.

Then, I jumped out of bed, to shuck my wet diaper and take my usual morning shower.

As I had done hundreds of times before, I untied the wet thing, and let it drop onto the floor.

Now being naked, I turned around, to go to our small shower stall and wash the nightly urine away...

Only, something very strange suddenly started to dawn on my confused mind...

Why didn't my naked belly feel chilly from the nightly wetness, as it always did in the morning?

I also missed the strong acid smell of nightly urine that always evaporated from my wet diaper...

What could have happened to my diaper, or to me?

A split second later, I snatched my diaper from the floor, and felt its inside with trembling hands...

Then, I started to dance around and cheer from pure happiness.

MY DIAPER WAS DRY!

Vaguely, I remembered waking up in the middle of the night, to take a quick leak.

Feeling sleepy, I had loosened my diaper, emptied my bladder, and again fastened the still dry thing.

Yawning from sleepiness, I had crawled back into my bed, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Now, my diaper was still dry!

FINALLY, my bladder had warned me in time, during the night, when I had to visit our small built-in toilet!

Finally, I was a Real Big Boy instead of a 'diaper kid', and I could join my older friends into our woods!

For the first time, my tiny body hadn't betrayed me any more!

I stormed to my parents' bedroom, and jumped onto my Dad's stomach with a loud Indian howl:

"DAD! Please, wake UP! My diaper is still dry! From now on, I don't need it anymore! Finally, I am a Real Big Boy!"

My Dad woke up and yawned, while he squinted at me...

Then, he started to chuckle, at seeing my very eager face.

While lazily tickling my dry belly, he mumbled:

"A very good morning to you too! What time is it? And, are you sure you will not wet your bed again tomorrow?"

"Yes, Dad, I am absolutely sure! Tonight, I woke up to have a normal leak. Finally, my body decides to grow up some more!"

My Mom woke up to my loud voice, slowly turned around, and stared at us with sleepy eyes...

Still feeling very enthusiastic, I told my sleepy Mom:

"Mom, from now on, you can throw all my diapers away, because I don't need them anymore!"

Smilingly, my Mom put her warm arms around my dry body.

For a moment, she pulled me against her soft breasts.

Then, smilingly, she assured me:

"From now on, you will be our own Real Big Boy. Only, you are growing too fast, and I am sure I will miss my little baby!"

Although I didn't like my Mom calling me her 'little baby', I still felt extremely happy.

Enthusiastically, I started to smother my parents with little kisses, until they both giggled and begged me to stop, or else...

Would my parents now allow me to join my older friends into our woods, to set my own traps and catch my own animals?

My Dad took me into his arms and kissed my wrinkling nose.

For a moment, he just stared at my still very eager face...

Then, he told me:

"Harry, my precious son; finally, you have achieved what you always wanted so desperately! Now, it is your time to discover some more of our beautiful world. Tonight, you will sleep without a diaper; and, when your bed is still dry in the morning, your Mom and I will allow you to join the older children into our woods. I can still vividly remember my own first time, when I finally could accompany the older kids, so I know how it feels. Only, please, always be very careful when leaving our camp, and always listen to all the older and more experienced children!"

"Yes, Dad, I promise I will be very careful; and I will always listen to all the older kids in our group!"

This morning, my Dad and I decided to shower together again, by sharing our way too small shower stall.

We washed each other, shampooed each other's hair, almost drowned each other in enormous clouds of lather, and had the fun of our lives!

Although my chuckling Mom started to complain about my Dad living through his 'second youth', both he and I couldn't care less; and we just went on having very much fun.

At last, my Dad and I dried each other; while I tiptoed to reach his hairy chest, and he squatted down to dry my belly and legs.

Now, we all enjoyed our healthy breakfast and glasses of milk.

Feeling happy, I trotted outside, to have my last longing look at our disappearing 'older kids' who soon would be my new friends...

Today, I was staring at them for the very last time!

Tomorrow, I would accompany them into our woods, to set up my own traps and catch my own animals!

Although my inside felt a little bit nervous, now that my Big Day approached; I almost couldn't wait to join our older group.

Longingly, I stared along the winding paths that lead through our surrounding bushes into our unknown woods...

Tomorrow, I was finally allowed to enter these mysterious paths, to enter our surrounding woods for the very first time!

After my older friends had disappeared into our woods, I turned around and gathered our 'diaper kids' around me.

First, I climbed onto one of our wooden benches, to look taller...

Then, I told my young friends, with a proud baritone voice:

"Since today, I no longer need any diaper at all; and, tomorrow, I am joining our older group into our woods!"

Much to my surprise, one of our 'diaper girls' started to cry!

Although I knew she was only five years old, I first thought she reacted rather 'childish' to my unexpected revelation...

Then, I heard her sob:

"Prince Harold, we will miss you terribly! Who will now teach us how to hide properly? You always were the best..."

All the other diaper kids nodded their agreement; while they started to assure me they would really miss me!

Couldn't I wait until I would be a bit older, before joining the older kids into our mysterious woods?

What if I got lost, didn't know my way back to our camp, and nobody could find me?

A somewhat older boy punched my arm, while he shouted:

"This is not fair! I am a LOT older than you are, and I am still wetting my bed at night! Why are you always so early?"

WHAT?

For a moment, I felt dumbfounded, and didn't know what to say...

Why would this boy think I would be EARLY? Didn't he know I had been waiting for AGES, until I finally would be dry?

Then, I started to think...

Could this somewhat older boy be right?

Up to now, I had always assumed I was late in my development, because I was and stayed the tiniest kid in our 'diaper' group...

However, this boy was nearly six years old, he was much bigger than I was, and he was still wetting his bed at night!

On the other hand, I was only four years and three months old, and I was already completely dry...

Could there be some truth in what this bigger boy shouted at me? Or, was he only feeling jealous?

Curiously, I looked around at the other 'little diaper kids'; and, for the first time, I estimated how old they were...

Suddenly feeling very surprised, I now saw that all these kids were quite a lot older than I was!

This was something important I had never noticed before...

I had always thought they would be a lot younger, because my too bright brain so easily outdid them...

Now, I saw that, in reality, I was not only the youngest kid in our 'diaper group', but I was also the fastest developing one!

While I gasped for breath, this sudden and totally unexpected revelation almost knocked me down.

For a second, I closed my eyes and put my head in my hands, while I tried to digest this new information...

I was NOT physically retarded; but, on the contrary, I seemed to be extremely FAST in my development!

My too small body should only catch up some in its length; but it was NOT too slow...

Still feeling strange and nonplussed, I left my diaper friends. Slowly, I went into our bushes, to gather some fresh herbs...

In the meantime, my brain started to accept that I had been wrong all the time, about being too slow in my development.

I had not been slow at all; but, on the contrary, I really was one of the fastest developing kids in our community!

Wow... Why had I never realized this before?

After I had gathered several tasty herbs, I went to our caravan, put a few nice herbs aside for our own dinner, and prepared the remaining herbs to use them on our roasting animals.

Then, I stepped outside and trotted towards Michail's caravan, to ask my Big Friend for his honest advice.

Of course, I trusted my own Mom and Dad; but I was afraid they would love me too much to be absolutely honest with me.

Besides, didn't every parent always think his own child was the most special creature in the entire universe?

My proud parents would be at least a little bit too prejudiced, to tell me the truth and only the truth...

Inside his caravan, my Big Friend was genuinely happy to see me; and he immediately pulled me into an enormous bear hug!

That felt wonderful! In vain, I tried to put my own small arms around Michail's enormous waist, which made both of us giggle.

Obviously, I still would have to grow quite a lot taller, before I would be able to return one of Michail's 'gentle' hugs...

Michail wanted to wash his sons first; and I 'helped' him, by creating lots of lather and smearing both enthusiastically splashing little boys with it, until they nearly disappeared in the clouds.

After a lot of wrestling, I succeeded in putting a clean diaper on a wriggling little Michi, while Michail helped a squirming little Movi.

Working together, we laid them in between their sleeping pillows, and told them to close their eyes and enjoy their nap, or else...

Finally, we sat down on Michail's couch in his living room; and I crawled onto his enormous lap, to be held and feel a bit safer.

Suddenly feeling nervous, I mumbled my burning question:

"Michail? I want to ask you something I think will be important to me, but I cannot find the right words... Am I really developing extremely fast? Up to now, I always thought my little body betrayed me, because it is too small and too immature. Only, this morning, an older kid suddenly told me I was very EARLY in my development! However, I also think he can be a little bit jealous... What do YOU think? And, please, could you give me a real honest answer, without considering my feelings?"

"Boy, what are you asking me now... A real honest answer... Well, okay, the best thing I can do is give it an honest try! Compared to all the other kids I have seen in my life, you are the brightest, most special, and fastest developing kid I ever saw. You sat upright extremely early, crawled early, talked almost immediately, and understood every single word we told you from a very young age. Now, you are only four years old, and you already stopped wetting your bed. That is very fast too, compared to most other kids in our camp. Plus, we have always been able to talk to you as if you are a grown-up; and, many times, you outdid us with your clever answers and witty remarks! So far, all of your developments have been extremely fast; with maybe one unimportant exception: your body is a bit too small for your age. Now, think for yourself, how many four-year-old kids are able to read the mind of somebody else, or are promoted to be a Chief Cook at such a young age? Please, forget all your silly doubts, and be PROUD of yourself, always and everywhere!"

Oh my... I had to think Michail's honest revelations over first, so that I could sort them out in my mind! Thus, I left his cozy lap and went to his window, to stare at our faintly glowing campfire.

From here, I started to consider his honest answers...

Firstly, my Big Friend confirmed that I really was developing extremely fast, with the 'unimportant' exception that my body stayed too small.

He also confirmed that my little body was very fast with being dry, compared to all the other kids of my age!

Thus, the angry boy in our 'diaper group' had been right; although he also could have been a little bit jealous...

I really was very early in my development!

Now, I wanted to think another important revelation over...

Was I really able to 'read the mind of somebody else', as my Big Friend unexpectedly stated?

Until now, I had never thought about any of my useful 'abilities' or 'sixth senses' as being some mysterious sort of 'mind reading'.

To me, they just were my 'normal' abilities, and nothing special...

However, now, I remembered how, as a baby, I always knew what other people told me, by feeling the energy of their words.

I also sensed the preceding auras of people who planned to pay us a visit; ten seconds before they actually reached our caravan.

Many times, I knew what my parents or Michail were going to tell me, by 'tuning in' into their minds and listening to their thoughts.

While playing hide and seek, I had removed my own picture from the minds of my searching friends, so that they couldn't find me...

Only, until now, I had never seen any of my 'special abilities' as some form of intrusive or nosy 'mind reading'...

Could I really be such a bad person?

Often, I had heard our own people snicker about gadjo 'clairvoyants' who were cheating on too superstitious people, by reading their minds and telling them exactly the things they wanted to hear...

Besides, private is private, and we proud Gypsies always estimated our personal privacy VERY highly!

Even our Wise Woman always politely asked us first, before she hesitantly entered our minds to look at our hidden thoughts...

Maybe, I should ask our Wise Woman about my mind reading, before I misused any of my 'upcoming Shaman abilities'...

Now feeling a lot better, I left the window and climbed onto Michail's enormous lap, to be held and cuddled.

Sitting on a cozy lap always was my most favorite pastime...

Immediately, my Big Friend put his strong arms around my tiny frame and tried to crush my ribs, as usual.

That felt wonderful, and I basked in the pleasant feeling of being loved without any restrictions or prejudices.

Obviously, Michail didn't care about me being a dangerous 'Shaman' or a too nosy 'mind reader'...

My Big Friend trusted me enough to know I would never misuse any of my special capabilities to satisfy my curiosity...

When our hungry stomachs started to rumble, Michail told me he thought about preparing a couple of sandwiches.

Of course, I immediately offered to help him, and to spice our healthy sandwiches with my own special herbs!

While my Big Friend boiled a couple of eggs, I raced outside, to gather a couple of spicy herbs and tasty little flowers.

I washed and chopped my herbs at lightning speed, while Michail looked at my skilled ministrations with a very proud face...

Now, I helped him slice a few tomatoes, prepare some lettuce, slice the eggs, and squash a little piece of garlic.

Soon, our nicely smelling sandwiches were ready; and we took them to the living room and sat down to devour them.

My Big Friend grabbed one of our sandwiches, sniffed at it, nodded approvingly, and took a huge bite...

His surprised face started to beam, and he nearly groaned with delight while savoring his tasty mouthful!

After devouring his second huge bite, he told me:

"My clever little Prince, never before did I taste anything this delicious! You are a real marvel, and an absolute excellent cook!"

Involuntarily, I started to blush, while I devoured my own healthy sandwich. Yes, it DID taste delicious!

After we finished our tasty sandwiches and drank some healthy juice, Michail's little sons started to wake up from their nap.

Of course, my Big Friend now had to tend to his wakening boys, to change their diapers and prepare their baby food...

After I thanked Michail abundantly for his honesty, I assured him he was the very best Big Friend in the entire world! I was sure we would always be friends, for the remainder of our lives.

Then, I went outside, to play with my 'little diaper friends'...

Surprisingly, now that I no longer felt like 'our tiniest runt', I felt much freer, and really enjoyed our 'childish' play!

Soon, we were playing our usual games of hide and seek; and, again, the seekers couldn't find me for a very long time...

No, I did NOT cheat on them. I just was very good at our game.

Near the end of the day, I returned to my wooden bench; from where I always waited for our group of 'older kids' to show up.

Today, I had to tell them some very important news! Tomorrow, their 'little Chief Cookie' would finally join them into our woods!

I almost couldn't wait to see their surprised faces...

Soon, our older kids showed up, again happily carrying several fat marmots and other small critters.

Marmots were the most common animals in our surrounding woods, and our children were always catching plenty of them.

Now and then, they caught some bigger animal, like a porcupine or a stray hare.

On rare occasions, they caught a small piglet, which had enough meat to feed everybody in our camp...

Immediately after my friends arrived, they trotted to our small butchery; to skin and clean their caught animals.

Impatiently, I waited, until they returned and wanted to smear their animals with my spicy herbs mixture.

Now, I climbed onto my bench, and told them:

"Starting tomorrow, I will join you into our woods!"

For a few seconds, silence fell over our group, while everybody looked up and stared at me with surprised faces...

Then, all my friends crowded around me, ruffled my hair, and congratulated me with my important milestone!

They told me they were very proud of their little Chief Cookie.

Although I would be the smallest kid who joined them into our woods, they were sure I would be a valuable part of our group!

My special friend, Misha, seemed to be genuinely happy to have me along, although he first asked me:

"Do our King and Queen really allow you to join us, although you are still such a little cookie and only four years old?"

"Yes! Although I am only four years and three months old, I am already completely dry! Since yesterday, I am a Real Big Boy; and my Dad and Mom really allow me to join you into our woods!"

Suddenly, Misha took me onto his shoulders and started to horse me around our campfire, while singing:

"Starting tomorrow, our Prince Cookie will be with us, to set his own traps, and to sample our caught animals in advance!"

Smiling at my now very proudly beaming face, my new friends turned around and started to prepare their cleaned animals.

I raced to my caravan, quickly got my cup of readied herbs mixture, and raced back to them; to smear the first staked animal with my nicely smelling herbs mixture.

Tomorrow, I would prove to my new friends that I could be much more than only their 'little chief cookie'!

Soon, a delicious aroma started to waft around, making many grown-ups sniff the air and smile at me approvingly.

When all the animals were roasted, my friends started to divide their meat into smaller chunks and slices...

Unexpectedly, ALL my new friends offered me a fat slice of their own animal to munch on; so that I could pick my own share!

From now on, I REALLY belonged to our group of older kids! Almost bursting with pride, I filled my stomach to the brim.

Then, my friends and I burped loudly, to thank the animal spirits for offering us their tasty meat.

That night, I slept without a diaper, for the first time since I was a little baby.

Sleeping like this was a nice feeling; as if, somehow, I was much more alive and more aware of my own body.

From now on, I would sleep just like everybody else in our Gypsy camp always did, totally naked, clad only in my 'birthday suit'.

I belonged to our 'young grown-ups' now!

The next morning, just before I woke up completely, I suddenly entered a happy dream that turned into a nasty nightmare...

In my dream, I was a little trapper boy, living in a huge forest with steep ravines, dangerous rapids, and swirling water streams.

From a very young age, my proud trapper Dad taught me how to catch deer and other strong animals in our cleverly hidden traps.

At first, he always tied a long leash around my waist; until I had enough training and didn't stumble into a hidden ravine any more.

When I could cross even the most dangerous water streams all on my own, and knew how to rescue myself if I unexpectedly fell into some foaming water, he released me and trusted me absolutely.

After we caught an animal, I always helped him skin it, clean it out, and divide it into several chunks, using my own very sharp knife.

I also helped him roast our chunks of meat, by spicing them with nicely smelling herbs I had selected from our surrounding forest...

Fortunately, I seemed to have sort of a 'sixth sense', which always told me which herb would be yucky or dangerous; and my trapper Dad was very happy with my extremely useful 'abilities'.

Suddenly, an enormous grizzly bear showed up, while my trapper Dad tried to rescue me with only a small knife in his hand!

Unfortunately, the bear killed my trapper Dad, me, and our closest neighbor and best friend who lived half a mile away from us...

Feeling shocked into my deepest core, I sat upright in my bed, still panting and wheezing and trembling all over...

Desperately, I tried tot get rid of my pictures, while still seeing the enormous bear with its stinking breath and its enormous claws...

Had my Dad and I really been killed by such an enormous beast?

And, who had been our closest neighbor and very best friend, who had lived all alone in his own log cabin?

I was sure that he and I had loved each other very much; and he had always helped us!

Or, had I only lived through some very strange nightmare...

Suddenly, a warm and soulful voice in my inside told me:

"My dear friend, don't feel too shocked, because you only remembered one of your past lives. Soon after your Earth has rounded your Sun two times, you will meet your neighbor again; and you and he will again be very good friends. You will also meet your former trapper Dad, and again be his son."

Much to my happiness, I recognized the warm and soulful voice of my very best Spirit Friend, our Beloved King of Ancestors!

About a year ago, after I had said farewell to my beautiful Atalanta butterfly, my Ancestor had promised to contact me again...

I clearly remembered His voice in my inside, telling me:

"Soon, we will meet again and talk some more. For now, you have to forget everything about me..."

Surprisingly, I HAD forgotten everything about my Ancestor Friend, until he now talked to me again.

Would I now again forget everything about him?

My strange dream stayed with me for a very long time. All the time, my 'message' showed up in my mind, making me think...

Of course, I already knew that our sun moves around our earth in exactly one day, thus creating day and night.

However, so far, I had never heard of our earth moving around our sun! I would have to ask my Dad or Michail about it...

Yet, my dream had been a confirmation that I really had been a little trapper boy, in one of my past lives, helping my trapper Dad spicing our roasting meat with several carefully selected herbs!

Only, would my former trapper Dad really be my Dad again?

How would this ever be possible, because I already had my own lovable Dad?

I was very fond of my own Dad; and I was sure I could not have two Dads at the same time...

However, of course, I was only remembering some strange dream; and everybody knows that dreams are never true.

Therefore, I shook my head forcefully, to get rid of the strange feeling.

Next, I left my bed, stretched out at full length, and immediately felt full of anticipation and energy!

Today was my 'Big Day', finally!

Today, I would join my new friends for the first time, into the vast woods and forests that surrounded our secluded camp.

Today, I would finally enter our mysterious woods, set up my own trap, and catch my own first animal!

Misha had already shown me how to fold an effective snare, and how to cover my trap with some forest litter, to make it invisible to any wary animals. Our woods were waiting...

Hurriedly, I went to our living room, to have a look outside.

Were my older friends already waiting for me?

To my disappointment, nobody was outside, and our deserted camp was still enveloped in darkness...

Our wooden benches were still empty, and only our campfire shimmered faintly in the crack of dawn.

Where were my new friends, the lazy slackers?

Come on, let's go...

Feeling a bit disappointed, I sauntered to my parents' bedroom, to warm up and feel comforted.

Silently, I crawled in between my snoring parents, planning to wait here until the sun showed up, and it would time to go outside and join my friends towards our woods.

My Dad woke up, turned around, chuckled when he felt my cold body, and threw his arms around me to warm me.

That felt safe and cozy; and I tried to let myself melt away into his beautifully colored and lovable aura, as usual.

For a moment, I closed my eyes...

I woke up at the bright sunlight, peeking through a small gap in our bedroom curtains and tickling my eyes.

Suddenly, I sat upright, feeling very confused...

WHAT? Had I really overslept my first appointment with our waiting group of older kids?

Immediately, I was in a tremendous hurry, and hastily jumped out of my parents' bed to have a quick look outside.

Feeling very shocked, I stared at my growing group of older kids who had already gathered around our campfire; and I was sure they were waiting for ME!

Why hadn't my Mom or my Dad woken me up, instead of silently leaving their bed to prepare breakfast?

Now, I belonged to the same 'lazy slackers' I always loathed; and this was on my first 'Big Day'...

Feeling angry, I stormed towards our kitchen and whined:

"Please, hurry up, because everybody WAITS for me!"

My Mom chuckled at seeing my panicking face, and responded:

"Calm down! I am sure nobody will leave without you; and, you have to eat your healthy breakfast first..."

Because I just couldn't stand still; I hopped up and down from frustration, while I hastily helped my Mom with our breakfast.

Then, I rushed our plates to our living room; and hurriedly started to wolf my food down, while nervously staring outside...

More and more older children were joining our steadily growing group, and all of them were still waiting for me!

What if my older friends didn't want to wait any longer, and just disappeared into our woods, without me?

Hastily, I gulped my milk down; but, now, I had to wait for my slowly eating parents to finish their own meals...

Silently, I asked my parents in my mind:

'Please, hurry up, because I don't want to be late and left behind on the most important day of my life...'

Finally, my Dad acknowledged my impatient fidgeting; and he allowed me to leave our table early, telling me to have fun!

I jumped up and raced to our front door, on my way nearly overturning our table, and in my hurry forgetting to say goodbye.

Hurriedly, I raced outside, squinting at the bright morning sunlight that suddenly blurred my vision...

A few waiting kids looked at me, nearly breaking my neck in my hurry to join them, and they started to chuckle.

They also nudged a couple of others; until all of them laughed at my too obvious hurry to join them...

Suddenly, all my older friends started to cheer:

"HA-ROLD! HA-ROLD!"

All at once, I felt timid, and slowed down considerably...

At the same time, my inside felt very proud to be recognized like this, as 'one of them'!

My new friends were cheering at me, and they were obviously very happy to have me in their midst.

Now, I was even more determined to prove that I could be a valuable part of our older kids group!

My chuckling friends crowded around me and playfully ruffled my unruly white hair; while Misha teasingly told me:

"Tomorrow, you don't have to beg any more for a slice of OUR meat, because you will have your own animal to prepare!

"Only, do you still want to be our Chief Cook and help us spice our food, now that you are going to roast your own animals?"

Laughing at Misha's pleading face, I teased him back:

"I surely hope you don't think you can get rid of me this easily... Of course, I will continue to help you! Now, come on, let's GO!"

"Not yet! Not everybody in our group is as quick as you are... We first have to wait for three more kids."

What? Our waiting group wanted to wait even longer, for three tardy lazy slackers who hadn't shown up in time?

Then, obviously, I had NOT been the slowest kid in our group, even if I had been a little bit late!

Thus, my waiting friends had not been waiting for ME, as I had assumed in my eagerness to join them...

Well, okay... Today, I had to learn that our world didn't always revolve around ME.

Finally, three yawning sleepyheads showed up from their caravans, and sauntered towards us.

They grinned sheepishly, while mumbling they were sorry for oversleeping...

Then, they just blended into our waiting group, acting as if this was their normal routine!

Feeling very surprised, I didn't understand how they could be so tardy, while our mysterious woods were waiting...

However, the other kids didn't seem to mind, and just started to walk towards our surrounding bushes.

The oldest kids disappeared first into one of the narrow winding paths, after beckoning the others to follow them.

All the others followed them, still frolicking and teasing each other, on their way creating a long and twisting line.

Feeling a little bit nervous, but also full of anticipation, I blended into our moving line, directly behind Misha.

Slowly, our moving line entered one of the mysterious paths that were leading towards our surrounding woods...

Of course, I had already entered our surrounding bushes many times, while looking for the tastiest herbs...

Only, until today, I had never followed our winding paths; and always stayed far away from our mysterious woods!

From a very young age, our grown-ups always told their kids to stay far away from our woods, to avoid encountering any nasty predators or dangerous animals that might show up...

We always had to be extremely careful; until we were much stronger, more experienced, and knew exactly what we had to do to fend for ourselves, if necessary!

If we accidentally met some unknown animal, we had to screech and yell as loudly as possible, while looking for a long and sturdy branch.

Then, we had to push the branch forcefully into any open mouth with nasty teeth that showed up, to hurt the attacking animal and chase it away before it attacked us...

Today, I finally found out that our winding paths through our surrounding bushes suddenly ended up in a huge clearing!

Slowly, our moving line entered the clearing; where everybody stopped, and waited until all the others had joined us...

Finally, for the first time, I was in the mysterious place where I longed to be for such a long time, our surrounding woods!

I stopped, looked around, and felt small and vulnerable...

Thousands of enormous trees majestically rose high into the sky, having their top branches entwined.

Their outspread treetops formed what looked like an enormous cathedral over our tiny heads, making me feel even smaller.

On its floor, the spongy ground and fallen leaves were dampening all of our sounds, creating an eerie silence.

Beneath my bare feet, the soft and mossy carpet felt like walking on some spongy moving cloud...

The sudden difference felt too overwhelming; and I almost forgot to breathe from the initial shock!

Ultimately, I was only four years and three months old; and I was the youngest kid and the smallest 'little runt' in our group...

Suddenly, I felt tiny and extremely fragile, while the shock slowly disappeared and my trembling body forced me to breathe again.

This overwhelming and impressive forest looked totally different from anything I had ever experienced...

For a moment, I felt a strong urge to cry; while I felt a few tears welling up in my eyes and dripping onto the ground.

However, immediately, I forced myself to be a real Big Boy, and not be some little crybaby!

What would my new friends think of me, when they saw their suddenly blubbering little Prince and Chief Cookie?

I regulated my breath, repressed my tears with all my might, and furtively looked at the other kids...

To my utmost surprise, everybody else seemed to feel totally at ease in these eerie surroundings!

They all acted as if entering this huge and impressive cathedral was nothing special to them...

Had all my older friends already gotten used to this splendid grandeur of our ancient forest?

I was sure I would NEVER get used to it, and always feel the same overwhelming awe...

Yet, I already missed my Dad, my Mom, or Michail, who always were near me, to comfort me when I needed them...

Should I turn around and go home, like a little crybaby who suddenly became homesick and missed his Mommy?

Only, then, I would no longer belong to our 'older kids', and have to play again with the 'toddlers'...

Hesitantly, I went to Misha, and silently worked my small hand into his much bigger one...

Misha looked at me; and smiled, while he gently squeezed my trembling hand and whispered:

"The first time is rather overwhelming, isn't it? Soon, you will get used to all these powerful energies, and they will no longer bother you.

"Now, let's follow the others towards our woods, and find out what we have caught in our traps."

Silently, I nodded my approval, while I forced my still wet face to produce a feeble smile...

Fortunately, Misha didn't think I was a little crybaby!

Stealthily, I wiped my tears away with the back of my free hand.

Then, having my other hand safely enveloped in Misha's much bigger one, we started to follow the oldest kids into our woods...