I am only a little Gypsy 1 - Reincarnation, does it exist? - 12. Chapter 12. My caterpillar 'friend'; new winter clothes.

A few months later, FALL set in, so that the already lowering sun wasn't able anymore to heat the by now constantly blowing mountain wind sufficiently. From now on, all our kids had to dress into much warmer clothing when going outside, and even I was now wearing a nicely colored pullover on top of my diaper. Suddenly, my hitherto steadily fattening caterpillar stopped eating, probably because it didn't feel hungry anymore. Could it be ill, or had it caught a sudden cold, and would our Wise Woman be able to brew some sour tasting tea for it, to cure it? Well, let's wait until the next day shows up...

The next morning, before eating breakfast, I first went outside to take another look at my probably ill 'caterpillar friend'. Fortunately, and very much to my happiness, during the night, my clearly healthy caterpillar had unexpectedly spun a silky filament from its backside and firmly attached itself to a thick branch! Hanging upside down, it was now starting to spin sort of a silky cocoon around its fattened caterpillar body, just as my wise Dad had already foretold.

Of course, from now on, I sat totally glued to the strange but truly interesting spectacle, during the entire day. Only reluctantly, I left my place, to eat my Mom's healthy breakfast and have my itchy diaper replaced. After that, I immediately returned to my steadily working caterpillar friend, to go on watching it spinning its silky cocoon that already became much thicker and stronger... What a clever idea, for such a small creature, to spin such a sturdy filament and hang upside down, so that no hungry predator with sharp teeth would be able to reach it and eat it while it was this vulnerable! When would it start its 'metamorphosing' process and turn into an enormous butterfly, as my wise Dad had already foretold it would do, once it would be safe for any hungry predators or birds of prey in its sturdy cocoon?

After three days of arduous work, at last, my caterpillar's sturdy cocoon seemed to be ready, because its already less visible inside had stopped spinning and just hung upside down. During the next few days, its hitherto silky colored cocoon became much darker, until I could no longer see its no longer moving and seemingly sleeping inside. Now, according to my Dad, I only had to wait until next spring showed up, which would be a few months after I celebrated my second birthday. Again, I would have to be patient, although my by now more than over-curious inside nearly couldn't wait to greet my hopefully metamorphosed new 'butterfly friend'...

A couple weeks after my caterpillar friend had spun itself into its sturdy cocoon, another cold and snowy winter showed up, while an icy wind started blowing down from our surrounding mountaintops. That morning, several small snowflakes were already whirling down outside our windows; making me stare at them in rapt and feeling fascinated. Immediately after hurriedly eating my Mom's healthy breakfast and donning a clean diaper, I raced to our front door, to go outside and start playing with the little bit of whirling snow. Only, very much to my dismay, my Mom stopped me just in time and told me to stay at home because of the too cold winter weather!

Of course, I protested fiercely, because I had wanted to go outside anyway. No too cold winter weather or too wary Mom could ever stop me from taking another look at what my still metamorphosing caterpillar had been doing during the night. What if some nasty predator or bird of prey had found its cocoon and eaten its inside? Besides, up to now, every single morning, I had left our caravan and looked at my cocooned caterpillar friend. Now, I suddenly had to stay at home, only because the outside air could be too chilly? No way! Feeling determined not to let any cold winter weather or wary Mom spoil my day, I just stomped towards our front door, to go outside and take a closer look at the steadily whirling snowflakes anyway.

Although my Mom still tried to stop me because she wanted to tell me something important first, my wise Dad only chuckled at seeing my angry tantrum. Helpfully, he even opened our front door and let me through! Because I was still stubbornly determined and also didn't want to listen to my disappointed looking Mom, I just trotted outside and jumped off the few steps into the cold mountain wind. As usual, my wise Dad turned out to be absolutely right. Within a second, I got goose bumps all over my suddenly shivering tiny body, while the already icy cold mountain wind tried to choke my throat. As quickly as I could, I turned around, retreated inside, and attached my freezing body to my still chuckling Dad, to let him make me warm again.

From our living room, I heard my Mom muttering about her son acting too 'pigheaded'... Too pigheaded? Who? Me?

After finally my slowly warming body stopped shivering, I left my still chuckling Dad and climbed onto our couch in our living room. Curiously, I stared outside at the still whirling but already lessening snowflakes. I also stared at our steadily growing group of 'minors' who clearly were waiting for the last lazy ones to show up. This morning, all of them were clad in beautifully colored warm winter garments, obviously to protect them from the already freezing cold winter weather. Soon, all our 'minors' lined up and slowly disappeared towards our surrounding woods, as usual, probably to start searching for the last edible nuts and any cleverly hidden animals in hibernation.

Only our group of 'infants' stayed in our camp, this time also clad in brightly colored winter garments. Obviously, they were still trying to gather the already lessening snowflakes, to make snowballs out of them and throw them towards each other. A few infants saw me looking at them, smiled broadly at me, and then waved at me. One of them even threw a snowball towards our window that kept sticking for a few seconds before it slowly sunk down. Now, I wanted to join my 'infant friends' outside even more, so that I could throw my own snowballs! Unfortunately, my 'toddler' body was still clad in only a diaper and a pullover, and not in some much warmer winter garment...

Suddenly, my 'brainiac brain' came up with what sounded like a brilliant idea! Immediately, I turned around and asked my still muttering Mom:

"Mom, could you please clad me in some warm winter garment, just like my friends are wearing, so that I can join them outside and help them by throwing my own snowballs?"

Surprisingly, my Mom only stared at me with a sad face, as if she couldn't understand why I even dared ask her such a question. At the same time, my Dad shook his head and looked at me as if he could be angry. After an awkward moment of silence, my Dad explained:

"My dear son; your Mom and I had already planned to clad you in a brand new warm winter garment before you went outside. Only, you didn't want to listen to us and seemed to have another plan..."

What? Did I hear this correct? Had my Mom tried to stop me from going outside because she had wanted to dress me in something warm first? While my parents looked at me with still disappointed faces, I started to feel more and more ashamed. This time, I had really acted too 'pigheaded', and I had really been too impatient for my own good! Again, I had to learn another very important lesson, this time about listening first before coming to an incorrect conclusion and throwing such a 'childish' tantrum...

Feeling ashamed of my really too stubborn behavior, I bowed my head in submission and mumbled:

"Sorry, Mom and Dad, for thinking you wanted to keep me inside to protect me from the too cold winter weather. Therefore, I reacted too childish and didn't want to listen to you. Please, Mom and Dad, forgive me for being too pigheaded, and I promise I will really do my utmost to change my too stubborn behavior from now on..."

At that moment, my suddenly very proud looking Dad plucked me from the floor, scooped me into his strong arms, and held me very close to his chest while he almost cheered:

"Thank you, my dear son, for letting us see who you are in reality! Both your Mom and I are again proud of you, because you are willing to change both yourself and your too stubborn behavior for the best. Therefore, let's clad you into the watertight coat, warm jeans, and shiny winter boots we have already bought in advance, so that you too can go outside and play in the newly fallen snow."

Very much to my happiness, my lovable parents weren't angry with me anymore. My Mom took me to her own bedroom, where she dressed me into the most beautiful winter clothes that I had ever seen! Vaguely, I remembered the first time I had to wear a heavy and musty smelling Royal garment, quite some time ago. Then, I had protested fiercely, wanting my Mom to remove the itchy thing immediately. Now, again wearing such thick and heavy clothes was a very strange feeling, as if my skin suddenly felt too tight and itchy. However, this time, I just accepted them, because I knew I HAD to get used to wearing my warm winter clothes during our too cold winter weather. Plus, I still wanted to take my daily look at my caterpillar friend in its cocoon that hopefully soon would 'metamorphose' into an enormous butterfly and then flap away to make little baby caterpillars.

Immediately after my Mom had dressed me, I pranced towards our hallway and looked in our wall mirror. This morning, I had seen a small toddler with light brown skin, unruly blond hair, and bright blue eyes, wearing only a diaper and a brightly colored pullover. Today, I looked at a little stranger I had never seen before! The new boy was wearing a beautifully colored watertight coat, very nice looking dark blue jeans, shining red plastic boots, and a pair of brightly colored warm mitten. I liked the new boy at first sight and winked at him, and the little stranger in our mirror winked back at me immediately.

My Mom started to chuckle at seeing my prancing in front of our mirror with a proud face, while she asked me:

"Your beaming face means you really like your new clothes?"

"Oh yes, Mom, I like them very, very much! Thank you very much again, and I am still a bit sorry for being too pigheaded."

"I understand, apology accepted, and I am now sure that you have learnt this lesson well. Therefore, just go play outside in the freshly fallen winter snow, and have fun with the other kids!"

After first hugging and kissing both my Mom and my Dad, I went outside with a proud face. Would our infants now take a look at my beautiful new clothes and perhaps feel a bit jealous? Instead of going outside immediately, I first looked around curiously... Very much to my disappointment, the whirling snow had already stopped, and most little snowflakes were already melting away. All our infants seemed to have left our campfire, probably to gather the last handfuls of snow outside our circle of caravans. Well, the cold winter weather had just started; and I was sure that, soon enough, much more snow would fall from the still clouded sky, exactly as it had done last year.

Last winter, I had been a not even one-year-old toddler who had to stay home because he still wet his diaper during the day and certain body parts could be freezing. Now, I was a much bigger boy, nearly two years old, and I still wet my diaper but only if I felt agitated or forgot to pee in time. Besides, now that I was wearing those beautiful warm winter clothes, my diaper was effectively hidden underneath my new jeans, so that nobody could see it from the outside!

Feeling truly proud of my brand new winter clothes, I decided to go to Michail for an unexpected visit. Therefore, I went to his caravan and climbed the few steps to his front door. Politely, I knocked on his door, expecting my Big Friend to show up and admire the brand new boy he hadn't seen before...

However, when Michail's front door opened, only Felicia showed up in the doorway, looking surprised at seeing ME, while she glared at me with a suddenly disturbed face. Clearly not appreciating my unexpected visit, she grunted:

"Yes? What do you want?"

Not feeling fazed at all, I first smiled at her and then asked:

"Is Michail inside? I want to show him my new clothes..."

"Michail and I are too busy, so just go home and forget it!"

Fortunately for me, my Big Friend showed up already, first shoved his angrily pouting girlfriend aside, and then exclaimed:

"My dear Prince, today, you look absolutely FANTASTIC! Or, are you a new boy I have never seen here before? Who are you?"

"Michail, you are silly! Of course, I am still the same little Crown Prince Harold, and only my new clothes are new."

"Oh yeah, now I see... and those new clothes surely look GREAT on you! Do you want to come in and drink hot chocolate?"

For a second, I hesitated. Then, I saw Felicia's still angrily moping face, and therefore answered politely:

"Thank you for inviting me; but another day will be fine, because this morning I feel more like staying outside."

Fortunately, my Big Friend seemed to understand my hesitancy, because he smiled broadly at me and told me to have fun outside and come back another day. By reading my Big Friend's mind, I sensed that, although he certainly didn't appreciate Felicia's behavior, he also didn't want to fight her...

Together, they returned inside, while I turned around and went to our surrounding bushes, to take another look at my hopefully still metamorphosing caterpillar in its cocoon. Surprisingly, I was already getting used to wearing my new winter clothes. Although I had been wearing them for only a few minutes, they were already feeling nicely warming and truly cozy! Therefore, from now on, I would never again protest if my Mom would tell me again to wait because of the too cold winter weather.

In our surrounding bushes, my dormant caterpillar cocoon was still untouched. My two little bird friends had already disappeared towards a warmer tropical place, probably taking their offspring with them. Most trees and bushes were already losing their remaining dead leaves, so that our Mother Nature started looking strangely gloomy. Because the melancholic surroundings made me feel a bit depressed, I left our bushes and sauntered back to our faintly glowing campfire. Feeling bored, I climbed onto one of the wooden benches, next to two parents who were sitting there with their own 'toddlers'. Of course, I had seen both diaper-clad kids before, but I had always been too busy to pay any real attention to them. Now, for the first time ever, I tried to talk to the young girl and to her slightly older brother.

Almost immediately, 'talking' to both toddlers turned out to be a real disaster! The youngest girl just sat on her Mom's lap; all the time sucking on her thumb whilst looking rather dumb. I asked her a few simple questions, but she only stared at me, sucked even harder, and clearly didn't want to respond at all. Chuckling inwardly, I secretly thought that this little girl really 'sucked'!

All the time, her older brother had been playing with a small dinky toy, by shoving it around and around on their wooden bench. In the meantime, he had been producing rather silly sounding noises... Well, I surely hoped that talking to this slightly older boy would be more entertaining! Tentatively, I asked the still playing boy what he was doing, but he only answered to my easy question:

"This is my new caw. Vwoom, vwoom..."

Feeling perplexed and totally out of words, I could only stare at my 'fellow toddler' and his extremely silly behavior. Could this rather dumb acting boy really be older than I was? Although he had to be over two years old, he was talking and playing like some brainless little baby; plus I was sure I had never seen such dull and uninterested behavior before! Or, could both silly toddlers be a little bit 'retarded', as Michail once told my Dad that some uneducated 'gadjo' children seemed to be? Or, involuntarily shivering at the unwelcome thought, could this silly behavior be USUAL behavior for 'normal' Gypsy toddlers of already more than two years old? If so, then I absolutely didn't want to be one of them, or to befriend any of them!

At the same time, something important started to dawn in my bright brain that involuntarily made me shudder at the unwelcome thought. If really this toddler was showing 'normal' behavior for being around two years old, then my own brainy behavior REALLY had to be extremely precocious for my age! Plus, this could also explain why I always wanted to play with only our 'infants' and hopefully soon our 'minors', and never even looked at any 'fellow toddlers'. Perhaps, I really was a way too intelligent little brainiac? Although, technically, I too was such an around two-year-old little toddler, both my inside and my deep baritone voice were feeling like being MUCH older! Could my 'Very Wise Old Soul' be in the way, by making me act much more mature than my real age would require?

Now that I had met those silly 'fellow toddlers', I certainly didn't want anymore to be such a precocious 'brainiac', or such a bright and extremely special 'child prodigy'. Up to now, being such a 'special' child had only brought me lots of extra trouble and misery! Inwardly, I wanted to be only a 'normal' child, like all the other kids of about my age seemed to be. Being a 'brainiac', 'impatient', and 'pigheaded', like I always seemed to be, had already made my life quite a lot more difficult than it should have been! Why couldn't I just sit still on one of our wooden benches and suck on my thumb, or just play with some dinky toy and make those silly noises? Now that I thought about it some more, I didn't even have a dinky toy!

Feeling more and more depressed, I greeted both parents and their 'sucking' toddlers, slid off their wooden bench, and sauntered back to my hibernating caterpillar in its sturdy cocoon. Involuntarily, I felt a little bit jealous of its much easier way of living. Couldn't I spin myself into a cocoon and hang upside down for the next few years, so that I could metamorphose into a more 'normal' child and perhaps immediately be a 'minor'?

Still moping and sulking, I entered our caravan and crawled onto my Dad's cozy lap, to be held and comforted. Fortunately, my wise Dad didn't ask anything but only let me be myself, so that I could go through my own emotional things, as usual. That same evening, I also decided to go to bed earlier, to get rid of my annoying depression...

The next morning, very much to my delight, during the night, our entire camp had already been covered with a thick blanket of blinding white snow! Immediately forgetting my depression, I raced towards my sleeping parents and almost forced my demonstratively yawning Mom to prepare her 'healthy breakfast' and help me put on a fresh diaper and my brand new winter clothes in a record time.

Teasingly, I relayed to her the wise words I once had heard from my Dad:

"Come on, Mom, hurry up! Life is too short to waste it..."

Chuckling at seeing my eager face, my Mom quickly left her bed and prepared her healthy breakfast in a real record time. Next, she also helped me put on a fresh diaper beneath my beautiful new winter clothes, so that I could go outside and join our already playing infants in the freshly fallen blanket of blinding white snow.