I am only a little Gypsy 1 - Reincarnation, does it exist? - 14. Chapter 14. Michail's marriage; and using black magic.

A few months after living through my Beautiful King Monarch Butterfly adventure, my Big Friend Michail finally decided to marry Felicia, after quite some time of being 'engaged'. Immediately, all of us came together and organized a Big Feast, while all the women in our secluded camp contributed some nice looking goodies or tasty snacks. Soon, several filled platters showed up and were set out onto our hastily arranged circle of wooden tables. Of course, I too raced around the circle and tried to help everybody wherever I could!

When all our tables were covered with copiously filled platters and many cups of brightly colored lemonade, we first had to sit down on our usual benches, to listen to my Grandma marrying the happy looking pair. All our children had also left their games and crawled onto one of the inviting laps, to be cuddled and feel loved. This time, I sat on the lap of Pietro, our technical man, because a small girl had already occupied my Dad's lap, and another girl sat on my Mom's lap. However, I wasn't jealous at all. Just live and let live!

My Grandma married the happy pair by ceremoniously binding their hands together with two colored ropes, symbolizing they wanted to be a couple. Next, she blessed them in the name of our Beloved Ancestors and our Highest Supreme Being. Now, the happy bride and groom embraced and kissed each other, to seal their vows. To end the ceremony, Michail and Felicia freed each other from their colored ropes, knotted them together, and threw them into our still faintly glowing campfire. While the brightly flaring ropes ascended towards our highest Supreme Being, they were now a married couple!

My Grandmother returned to her own Royal bench and looked around with a happy face, while our violin players started to play their most beautiful songs full of love and happiness. Now, everybody else rose from their own benches and queued up, to congratulate the newly married couple and to wish them all the best. Of course, I too stepped into the quickly forming queue, directly behind Pietro, and waited until it would be my turn. For a split second, I hesitated... Should I congratulate only Michail, or his new spouse as well? How would Felicia react if I congratulated her too? I was still sure she didn't like me at all...

Then, it was my turn, and I just stepped towards them. Showing them my politest face, I congratulated both my Big Friend AND his new missus, and wished them all the good luck in the world. Totally unexpectedly, Felicia embraced me and offered me a tiny kiss on my cheek, her first one ever! Suddenly feeling confused, I forgot to kiss Felicia back. Up to now, I never thought she would ever like me, not even the tiniest bit...

Michail started to laugh at seeing my suddenly confused face and teasingly ruffled my unruly blond hair, while I wiped the unexpected kiss from my cheek and slowly turned around. First, I needed a moment for myself, to regain my posture and get rid of my strangely upset feelings. 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 brightly colored snacks. Yummy! Those colored snacks tasted a lot better than the so-called 'healthy meals' my Mom always cooked! Still munching on a tasty goody, I sauntered already towards the next table.

A few older 'minors' had been joining me along the tables, where they were carefully choosing what kind of snacks they wanted to taste. After they stopped, I just went on and popped even more tasty snacks into my mouth. Until one of the oldest 'minors', Misha, tried to warn me not to eat too many of those yummy tasting goodies:

"You better don't eat too many snacks at once, because they might upset your stomach and make you throw up."

Being 'pigheaded' as I was, I only laughed at Misha's warning, while I just popped even more tasty looking pastries into my mouth. Why would I listen to this older kid? As a Big Boy, I was now my own boss, and I was mature enough to be able to decide for myself!

Half an hour later, I suddenly raced into our surrounding bushes, to let my upset stomach throw up most of the eaten goodies! Of course, my always-wary Mom followed me immediately. First, she waited until I had emptied my upset stomach, before she cleaned my dirty face with some water and a few tufts of grass. Then, she wanted to take me to our Wise Woman, because she thought I could be ill...

However, I assured my Mom that everything was still perfectly okay with me. I had only eaten too many snacks; but I wanted to stay outside and have even more fun for the remainder of the day, or until my body would start feeling too tired or too sleepy. Shaking her head, my Mom returned to our Royal bench and sat down, next to my silently chuckling Dad. Fortunately, my wise Dad didn't comment but only wisely kept his mouth shut.

In the meantime, the same group of older 'minors' approached me again, and Misha started to tease their clearly too pigheaded little Crown Prince:

"We DID warn you not to eat too many snacks! Clearly, you are still too little to walk around on your own..."

Feeling offended and also angry because they were laughing at me, I glared at Misha's broadly smiling face and rebuked:

"You are only jealous of my bright brainiac brain, because I am the fastest developing child in our community."

Chuckling at seeing my indignant face, Misha responded:

"You surely are the fastest puking child in our community!"

This time, my too angry 'bright brainiac brain' just couldn't come up anymore with another caustic response. Not knowing how to respond to Misha's teasing, I turned around and angrily stomped away. Feeling frustrated, I trotted to our own Royal caravan and kicked its front door a couple of times. Fortunately, the kicking helped, so that my flaring anger subsided and finally went away. Of course, Misha and his friends had been right, but I just didn't want to admit it.

Pigheaded? Who? Me? Hmm...

Suddenly feeling ashamed, I returned to the still snickering group of minors, and offered them my well-meant excuses. Although they started to blush and reacted timid, they also accepted my apologies. Their oldest minor, Misha, even told me they didn't really mean it and only wanted to have some fun with their too stubborn little Prince.

Yeah, well... Obviously, I still had to learn quite a lot more, before they really accepted me! Fortunately, Misha smiled at me and also ruffled my unruly blond hair, to let me know that everything was still okay. Together, we strolled back towards the tables, to drink some more colored lemonade and perhaps find any leftover snacks.

Next to our big tree, a few 'infants' had already started to gather their friends, this time to play their usual games of '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 the games I had been staring at so many times before, whilst being still a 'toddler' and silently sitting on my wooden bench...

Of course, now that I no longer needed to wear a diaper during the day and was clad just like all my other friends were, wearing only brightly colored summer clothes, I now legally and officially BELONGED to our 'infants'! Therefore, I quickly trotted towards them and joined MY already growing group. Again, all the other infants just accepted me as being 'one of us', exactly as they had done during our cold winter.

Before we started, an older kid first gathered the few 'newcomers', and explained their simple but still very important playing rules to us. During our games of hide and seek, every hider should hide only within the appointed borders, and nobody was allowed to go away or to enter any of our caravans without warning the others first. Anyone who didn't obey our important rules without a solid reason, would be excluded from our group and 'banned for life'... Yeah, well, the older kid was smiling all the time, and therefore didn't seem to be too serious about his silly threat.

By reciting a funny 'dipping rhyme', we had to choose the kid who would be our first seeker. All our seekers had to stand still next to our big tree, of course with tightly closed eyes, and very slowly count to twenty before they reopened their eyes, left our big tree, and started looking for their cleverly hidden friends, to tag them by calling their names. Our first appointed seeker went to our big tree, closed his eyes, and started to count to twenty; while everybody else quickly swarmed out around our wooden benches and caravans, to find a good hiding place where they hopefully could make themselves invisible.

Because I had never played any of those games of 'hide and seek' before, I first looked around at what the others were doing. Then, I saw a small but usable hole at the base of one of the surrounding shrubs, trotted to it, and wriggled my tiny body into the small hole. Quickly, I covered the few still visible parts of my arms and legs with some fallen leaves and a little bit of forest litter. Whilst trying to duck into my hole as deeply as I could, I also regulated my breath to calm down, forced my body to lie absolutely still, and started to wait...

Finally, I was playing my first game of 'hide and seek'! From my hiding place, I peeked at our first seeker who had already stopped counting and now started to look around. Almost immediately, he tagged the first kid who clumsily tried to hide behind one of the open cartwheels. Then, he found and tagged one of our girls and another small boy who tried to hide together behind a wooden table. Patiently, I waited, until it would be my turn to be found and tagged. When would our experienced seeker see and tag ME? Hopefully, my body wouldn't be too visible in such a small and also rather tight hole...

After several minutes of seeking and walking around, our first seeker had already found and tagged all the other hiding kids, except for what he teasingly called 'our littlest runt'. Very much to my surprise, even after quite some time of searching and looking everywhere, our very experienced seeker still couldn't find and tag ME! At long last, the more and more frustrated looking seeker stopped searching and timidly asked the already tagged others:

"Are you sure our little Prince understands our rules? Perhaps, he is hiding outside the appointed borders, or he has secretly entered one of our caravans. Ultimately, he is the smallest kid in our group of infants ever! How old is that tiny runt anyway?"

One of the other kids started to chuckle while he responded:

"Unfortunately for you, I have seen where our little Crown Prince hides, and therefore I assure you that he isn't doing anything wrong! Clearly, your so-called 'tiny runt' is hiding too well for you and for your clumsy efforts to find and tag him."

"Yeah, well... Sorry for being too 'clumsy', but I give up, because our little Crown Prince seems to be hiding too clever for me."

Immediately, all the other kids swarmed out and started searching for me; except for the few ones who had already seen me and thus knew where I was hiding. Everybody else started to scurry through the bushes, crawl under the wooden benches, and seek under and even on top of the surrounding caravans. In the meantime, I secretly bit my tongue and even had to hold my breath from trying not to snicker out loud at their rather clumsy efforts to find me...

After quite some time, one of our searching girls finally found me, although accidentally, because she suddenly stumbled across one of my cleverly covered legs! Triumphantly, I showed up from my hiding place and wiped the fallen leaves and forest litter from my by now painfully stiffening body. Immediately, all the other kids crowded around me. Enthusiastically, they congratulated me, high-fived me, and assured me I was a surprisingly good hider for such a 'tiny runt'. Was I really sure that I was playing this game for the first time? Very much to my surprise, all our infants suddenly wanted to be my 'friend', even our still frustrated looking first seeker...

Because I won this game of 'hide and seek', I could now decide to be our next seeker or to appoint somebody else. Of course, I happily went to our big tree and closed my eyes. Fortunately, my parents had already taught me how to use all my fingers twice to count to twenty. Therefore, I touched my ten fingers one by one whilst counting from one to ten, and then I did it a second time whilst counting from eleven to twenty. After arriving at twenty, I reopened my eyes, left our big tree, and started to look around.

Very soon, I found our first hider who clumsily tried to hide behind an open cartwheel. Because I didn't know his name, I only touched our big tree while pointing at him and shouting "you there!" With a suddenly sour face, the tagged boy showed up and told me his name, Jonno, so that I could remember him for a next time. Fortunately, I had an excellent memory and never forgot any new names or faces.

In no time, I had found all the other hiding kids and tagged them, of course also because my inherited 'Shaman abilities' were helping me tremendously by sensing their surrounding energy fields, so that I already knew in which direction I had to look for their hiding auras! Again, all our tagged infants high-fived me and assured me that their 'littlest runt' had turned out to be a truly excellent seeker as well. This time, everybody wanted to be my friend even more... Well, I would be able to live with that! Feeling truly proud of myself, I appointed our next seeker, and we went on with our games.

From now on, playing 'hide and seek' became my most favorite game. Very much to my happiness, my 'little runt' body was able to crawl into even the tiniest holes, plus I was also able to lie or sit perfectly still for quite some time, by regulating my breath and thus forcing my tiny body to stay calm and concentrated. Time and again, our frustrated seekers couldn't find me, and they had to ask the already tagged others to help them. The few times when I was our seeker, I always found our hiders almost immediately, by using my inherited 'Shaman abilities' to trace their surrounding auras.

Accidentally, I found out that I was able to make my hiding body invisible for our more and more frustrated looking seekers! By using my concentration as a switch, my inherited Shaman inside was able to switch on some strange but also extremely usable 'ability' that very effectively blurred the vision of whoever started searching for me. That way, our frustrated seeker always totally overlooked me, unless he or she accidentally stumbled upon my still cleverly hidden body and finally was able to see and tag me.

Vaguely, I remembered I had developed this useful ability during one of my past lives, wherein I had been a 'little trapper boy' and had taught myself sneaking towards a wary prey, to catch it before it saw me and fled into some dense undergrowth. Hilariously, during my present life, my inherited ability didn't seem to know the difference between a fleeing forest prey and my desperately searching infant friends!

All day long, we continued to play our games of hide and seek, until, at long last, our camp became too dark and our parents called us towards our caravans to eat dinner and then prepare for bed. Of course, before we went home to fill our hungry stomachs and to get some much-needed sleep, we first promised each other to restart our games first thing in the morning, immediately after we woke up, dressed, and had filled our by then again hungry stomachs!

That night, at first, I couldn't sleep from being too agitated, and therefore just started to find out what exactly had happened to me and to my strange but certainly usable 'Shaman abilities'. Had I really been able to blur the vision of our seekers, so that they couldn't find me anymore? However, before I could decide, I was already falling asleep...

The next morning, immediately after restarting our usual games of hide and seek, I tried to find out first what could be happening to my inherited Shaman abilities while they purposely blurred the vision of our seeker. Therefore, I just squatted down behind an open cartwheel, without hiding at all. Very much to my surprise, I almost immediately found out that I was able to switch my strange ability on and off on purpose, by using my conscious will as a switch. I also found out that I could deceive my searching friends by 'tuning in' into their minds, access their visual brains, and wipe out my own picture. That way, they always overlooked me totally, even when I was in plain sight!

For the next couple of hours, I had the fun of my life, because none of our seekers was able to find and tag me anymore, unless I generously allowed them to see me again... Then, my fun started to disappear, because I couldn't use my 'normal' abilities anymore, and I also started to feel like an outcast. Wasn't I cheating terribly on my still unsuspicious friends, by deliberately using my powerful Shaman abilities on them? Yet, my 'pigheaded' streak plainly refused to give up its unexpected fun, so that it just wouldn't stop anymore. Clearly, my stubborn inside just wanted to WIN all the time! Or, could my built-in 'little trapper boy' have something to do with it? Now and then, I thought I felt his presence in my stomach, chuckling at sensing my uneasiness and feeling my feeble attempts to stop my suddenly more and more annoying 'Shaman frauds'...

At last, my strange abilities were becoming too obvious, because a few kids plainly refused to play our games of hide and seek anymore. Until now, our seekers had always been able to find even our most successful hiders within a reasonable amount of time. Now, all of a sudden, they just couldn't find their too cleverly hiding 'littlest runt' anymore. Now that their little Crown Prince had been winning all their games, their former fun was gone, so that they started to mope and angrily walked away.

Surprisingly, nobody around me ever found out what exactly I had been doing all the time! None of our regular seekers ever found out how I was able to disappear from their vision, although, every time they looked at the place where they knew I could be hiding, my too stubborn inside immediately concentrated on them and blanked their visual minds, by wiping out my own picture!

Only our Wise Woman seemed to know what I was doing, because she stared straight at me with her piercing dark eyes, while she slowly shook her head as if trying to warn me. During a short pause, she also called me towards her own bench. Invitingly, she patted the empty space next to her, to make me sit down and listen to her words. With a very serious sounding voice, she bent over towards me and whispered into my ear:

"Please, be very careful with those powerful Shaman abilities, and always listen to your 'own heart' first before using any magic tricks. You are quickly developing into an extremely successful Shaman, but unintentionally you could harm your playing friends, by using some dangerous kind of 'black magic' with your exceptional powers."

Suddenly feeling very strange and nonplussed, I responded:

"How do you know what I was doing? I am sure I've never told anybody about this before! And, how could I ever 'harm' my playing friends? I am only wiping out my own picture from their minds or blurring their vision, so that they cannot see me anymore..."

"To be honest, I've once used exactly those same tricks when I was still young! Fortunately, reading thoughts or blurring visions is relatively harmless. However, your steadily developing Shaman powers could easily go too far and then cause some serious damage, like an everlasting headache or a nasty eye cataract. Therefore, I am warning you in advance to refrain from using any dangerous kind of 'black magic' before it might be too late."

Feeling severely shocked, I left our Wise Woman and retreated to my usual bench, to think this over first. Oh my, what had I done... Fortunately, I knew already that our 'own heart' always connects us to our Highest Supreme Being, so that it can only act out of Pure Love and never does any harm to anybody. Therefore, my 'own heart' would never allow me to use any 'black magic', but it would always warn me to act solely out of Pure Love and Compassion! Besides, my own Inside also knew for sure that my Most Important Task on our Planet Earth would be, bringing much more Real Love and Cosmic Light to the confused people around me. Thus, being an Apostle of Love, I also had to use my Cosmic Shaman abilities accordingly!

Now that I had thought this item over until everything was clear to my human mind, I also started to think further. Until now, I never knew that my inherited Shaman abilities could be any DANGER to my innocent friends! Of course, I loved everybody in our camp dearly, and I absolutely didn't want to cause anybody any harm at all! But, what had I been doing during the last few days, albeit unwittingly? Still feeling shocked into my deepest core, I immediately decided to be quite a lot more careful with my strange 'gifts'. From now on, I would always listen to my 'own heart' first, before again using any of my steadily developing Shaman powers. Until now, I never knew that they could work against me, by harming my innocent 'victims'...

Feeling more or less satisfied with my decision, I returned to our Wise Woman and again sat down next to her. Not surprisingly, she had already picked up all my thoughts, because she started to smile broadly. Unexpectedly, she hugged me fiercely, and then told me she would be very happy to be my 'special friend' and 'personal advisor'! From now on, I would always be welcome in her humble caravan, and I could always ask her any important questions that bothered me or that could require her professional answer!

Still feeling strange, I returned her fierce hug, left her caravan, and slowly sauntered into our surrounding bushes. For quite some time, I sat down on my old stump, whilst trying to listen to my 'own heart'. Slowly, I started to understand that cheating on my friends was NOT a proper way of playing our games of hide and seek, unless our rules explicitly allowed me to do so. Unintentionally, I had broken my friends' valuable trust in me, by manipulating their visual minds without their consent. How would I ever be able to make this up to them?

Feeling truly ashamed, I decided to stop using ALL of my quickly developing 'special Shaman abilities'. From now on, I would play 'hide and seek' with my friends only by cleverly hiding, without any more cheating by wiping my own picture from their visual minds or blurring their normal vision, and also without any more searching for their hiding auras in case I would be our next seeker. Finally feeling satisfied with my decisions, I left my old stump and quickly returned to my still playing 'fellow infants', where I just blended into their group, as usual.

That same afternoon, my suddenly surprised looking friends found out that their searching capabilities seemed to have grown quite a lot stronger than they had been before! All at once, they were able to find their 'littlest runt' much more easily, although I still stayed one of their very best hiders and seekers ever. Well, I had only stopped cheating on them...

Soon, my friends even started to tease me, because their seekers were suddenly able to find me too easily! Even the hitherto moping kids forgot about their jealousy, quickly returned to our group, and happily rejoined us to partake in our games of hide and seek again. Today, I had learned that playing without cheating could be quite a lot more fun than always winning had been! Again, I had learned a valuable lesson, and, again, I had bettered myself. Fortunately, all the kids in our 'infant group' still wanted to be my friend, because I still was and stayed their very best hider and seeker ever.

That same evening, my parents told me they had observed my playing from behind our caravan windows. Although my new friends clearly accepted me as already being 'one of them', I was still the tiniest child ever that accompanied their group of infants without immediately being rejected; probably because my proud demeanor was already extremely mature for such a 'tiny runt'. Yet, I was still the smallest kid ever that was allowed to join them. Therefore, they hoped that my tiny body would start growing soon. Otherwise, they wanted to take me to our Wise Woman, to ask for her advice.

Well, I would be able to live with that! Looking much happier, my Mom brought me to bed, where I fell asleep almost immediately. Soon, I started dreaming of being a big boy that was already allowed to join our 'minors' into our outstretched surrounding woods and dense forests, so that I could catch and roast my own edible animals...