Harry AnderS

We reached our destination just in time, and I parked our car. Little Harry jumped out, and headed directly for Peter's shop; followed by us at a short distance. He opened the door, and politely let John and me enter the shop first, before going in himself. Next, we looked around, but the store seemed to be empty... Little Harry's sudden disappointment was palpable, and he almost started to cry. Then, a familiar voice sounded from the workroom in the back of the store: "Just a minute, please

After our shared cuddle, John and little Harry wanted to play outside. Both of them offered me a big kiss and another hug, and told me they would be home before lunch. They went upstairs, to put on their shoes and fetch their skateboards. Then, they went outside through our backdoor, to have some fun. I went to my desk in the living room, and tried to set up my old but still trustworthy computer. All the cable modem lights blinked, and I checked and double-checked all the wiring, but my Inte

Early in the morning, I woke up, still feeling tired. The bright morning sun peeked through a crack in our curtains, and tickled my eyes. However, I wanted to have some more sleep, grunted, and tried to shift away from the irritating assault... Immediately, a heat radiating small body followed mine until it glued itself to me again, on its way uttering protesting sounds. I started to laugh, and turned onto my side to have a look at it. Again, my little soul mate had crawled into my bed durin

At eight o'clock, our doorbell rang, loudly reverberating through the hallway. I felt a bit annoyed and angry with myself, for again forgetting to buy a new one! Maybe, I could try to suppress its too harsh sound, by pushing a wad of paper into the irritating thing? I decided to give it a try, first thing in the morning... Little Harry woke up, jumped off our couch, and raced to the front door. I heard him open the door, cheerfully greet Christian, and politely invite him inside. Again, I fe

Mark and Marrie showed up in our driveway; giggling and pushing each other. They saw us, sitting on our porch, and raced towards us. Proudly, they showed off their new clothes and haircuts, by turning around a couple of times. Both of them looked really nice, and I told them so. Marrie beamed at the well-deserved compliment, and told us: "Mom asks you to come over; and we will help you move Harry's stuff to his room." John showed a sour face, shivering at the thought of having to deal with E

After some time, I tried to remember where the supermarket was. John had told me; but I had been too busy feeling happy about little Harry calling me 'Dad'... Feeling a bit embarrassed about my forgetfulness, I asked: "John? Where do I have to turn now? Is it to the left or to the right?" "Just drive straight, forgetful old man, to the next square..." I drove to the next crossing, and immediately saw the gigantic square and a huge supermarket. I turned our car into the square, where I enter

I woke up, still having my arms around my boys and holding them close. Slowly, I opened my eyes, remembering everything from my induced trance, and still feeling on cloud nine. At the same time, both boys stirred, opened their eyes, and squinted at me... Little Harry got a naughty smile on his face, and teased me: "You fell asleep, because you are an old sleepyhead." "You fell asleep too, because you are a young sleepyhead!" John teased little Harry, tickling his ribs. "This makes you our tee

We entered the kitchen, still laughing and trying to bump into each other. Being barefooted, I was very happy to have at least some carpeting on the floor. Little Harry let go of me and looked around critically, with a pensive look on his face as if he tried to remember where everything was. He went to the refrigerator, opened it, and peeked inside. He closed its door, disappointedly shaking his head: "Your fridge is bigger than Jack's, but there's almost nothing in it. What do you have for b

The bright morning sun started to peek through a crack in our curtains, and tickled my eyes. I woke up, yawned, stretched out lazily... and stared into a pair of very bright blue eyes, silently hovering over my face! They looked like bottomless deep orbs, radiating a lot of intelligence, pride, fun, and love, all at the same time. I could easily disappear into them; and continued to stare into their depths, almost losing myself! Little Harry had positioned himself on top of me, looking at me w

Our street was almost dark, except for a couple of faintly illuminated circles below the glowing lampposts. Little Harry still clamped my head with his small hands, slowly swinging his dangling feet. As we approached our house, his swinging became less and less; until, at last, he stopped completely. Apparently, he had fallen asleep on my shoulders, but his little hands were still gripping my hair. Slowly, I started to doubt again. For heaven's sake, what was I doing? Here I was... a retired

Halfway through the evening, my doorbell suddenly rang. I bolted upright in shock, trembling all over and fervently rubbing my eyes. What time was it? How long had I been dreaming? Who the heck would try to pay me a visit at this time in the evening? My living room was already getting dark, so I switched on a couple of lamps. Next, I stumbled to the front door and opened it, ready to brush off the unwelcome visitor I hadn't invited. Standing directly in front of my door, I saw John, fidge

My kitchen felt a bit empty; now that John had left my house, to talk to his little brother and try to bring him here. I sat down on one of the empty folding chairs, absent-mindedly staring at the playing sparrows in my backyard that were still chasing each other through the bushes. Still basking in my heartwarming feelings, I started to reflect on what had happened during my talk with John. It certainly felt good, to have such a friend around. Suddenly, I sat up in surprise; perceiving that,

I staggered towards my couch in the living room, and slumped down onto it. Feeling desperate, I buried my head in my hands... All the long forgotten memories of my youth started to flash back into my mind, tumbling over each other and making me shudder with horror. Almost hyperventilating, and trembling all over, I didn't know what to do. This was too much for me, after all those years of denial and desperately trying to forget everything about my horrible fate... I was fourteen years old; and

A retired Dutch psychotherapist meets a severely burnt little Gypsy boy, and takes him into his house. The boy turns out to be the vanished Heir to the Throne.

"You KNOW that Dad told us never to speak to a stranger!" "Yes, but I only want to know who lives in Harry's house now." "Come on, let's have a look. After all, he IS our new neighbor." "I think he looks like and old man, with his gray beard..." "Now, look at that... The old grandpa fell asleep!" A couple of neighborhood children seemed to be curious about who this 'old man' and 'old grandpa' could be... But, how the heck, did they know my first name? The first day of the rest of my new life