An amazing thing happened recently: a work of fiction was emailed to us.
Clients who have been renting motorhomes from us for several years in a row, and travelling as a family all over Europe, found the courage to confess their literary weaknesses.
Father, husband and part-time driver turned out to be an aspiring writer. And so funny is he at it, that there is no strength to resist and not to share with you the amazing stories that he throws to us in the e-mail box.
Probably no one else has agreed to publish these stories but us, but there is a chance that we will be the exclusive rightful owners of Conan Doyle’s future. At any rate, we encourage and stimulate such creativity, and invite you to join in.
Perhaps this is the first step on the road to fame.
Here is the first in a series of essays about the adventures of Ralph the Doberman.
Mountains, bears and our hero Ralph
My family and I have long dreamed of travelling around Europe in a caravan. One evening, as we were having tea, my wife, as usual, was looking something up on the internet and suddenly exclaimed excitedly:
– What if we hire a motorhome caravan? Look, this company Flying Dog Caravans has absolutely wonderful cars!
A week later we were on the road in a modern caravan with the Flying Dog logo on the side. I was driving, my wife sat next to me with a map (which she sometimes followed) and our kids – ten year old Nicholas and six year old Kate – sat in the back arguing over who would play on the tablet first. Of course, we had our faithful Doberman Ralph with us. He had settled into his new den so majestically that it looked as if he had just rented a van and was now driving our adventure.
And?
After a few days of travelling through Slovakia and Hungary, we arrived in Romania. The Carpathian Mountains with their dense forests and views of the peaks were like something out of a fairy tale. A few kilometres from Brasov, we decided to spend the night in a small campsite at the edge of the forest. Everything was perfect: silence, fresh air, just the sounds of nature.
I parked the caravan, set the table in the fresh air and the whole family indulged in a delicious dinner. Ralph lay quietly beside us, keeping an eye on the children who were secretly feeding him ham.
Late in the night, however, we were awakened by a strange sound. There was a muffled clattering and scraping, as if someone were approaching the caravan. Ralph immediately jumped up and stood at the door, growling softly.
– What was that?’ – whispered his wife, peering out from under the sleeping bag.
– I’ll take a look,’ I replied, reaching for the torch.
I carefully pulled back the curtain on the window, and the torch almost fell out of my hand. Two huge dark silhouettes were moving near the caravan! One bear was already rummaging through the rubbish bag I’d foolishly left outside, and the other was sniffing at the door.
– Romania! There are bears here! Why did you leave the rubbish in the street? – whispered my wife, a little angry but more frightened.
Ralph, as if he knew for sure that the door was unlocked, pushed it open and ran out like lightning. I didn’t even have time to react. He stood in front of the caravan, puffed out his chest, tensed his whole body, and made a deep, threatening sound that sent shivers down my spine.
The bears remained standing. Obviously, they hadn’t expected anyone to obstruct them so boldly. One backed away slowly, the other began to back away uncertainly, keeping his eyes on Ralph.
– What shall we do?’ – Whispered the wife.
– ‘Let’s switch on the light. And the pipe! – I suggested.
I switched on the lights, flashers and blew the horn for good measure. The whole campsite was flooded with lights and rumbles. The bears were obviously not prepared for such a commotion. They stood still for a while, but then they ran into the woods and disappeared among the trees.
When it was all over, Ralph went round the tent once more, as if to see if everything was all right, and then quietly went inside. The children hugged him, his wife patted him on the shoulder and said:
– Ralph, you’re our hero!
– Without you we probably would have gone crazy with fear,’ I added, scratching him behind the ears.
In the morning we packed up and set off, leaving the Romanian mountains behind. But I will always remember that evening. Ralph is more than just a Doberman. He’s a hero who can scare even a bear without a tail!’
