Amos Goes to the Black Forest

By Eva Markert

Amos would actually rather go to the sea with his parents, but he also enjoys being in the Black Forest. There, people can go on unusual walks, play adventure mini golf, meet bears and wolves, or even go sledging in the summertime! And there are two more special reasons why Amos will never forget this holiday in the Black Forest.

Fifteen stories for the little ones

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Mar 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781071534830

Book preview

Amos Goes

to the Black Forest

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Stories for the Little Ones

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by

Eva Markert

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Translated by Eric Wood

Anti-Sick Candies

Amos’s dad enters the nursery room. So, he says, now we just need to take Toby, Conrad and Louis to Amelie’s, and we’ll be done with our travel preparations.

Mum spent all afternoon packing suitcases, for tomorrow they are off to the Black Forest. They will be staying at a hotel there for two weeks, and because Amos’s hamster Toby and Dad’s budgies Louis and Conrad can’t be left alone for that time, his cousin Amelie and her mum will be caring for them.

You’re lucky, Amelie sighs. You still have everything ahead of you.

Amelie had just recently spent two weeks in the Netherlands on the North Sea. She really liked it there. I wish I could go again right now, she tells Amos.

Actually, Amos would also rather go to the sea. It’s sure to be nicer there than in a dark, black forest.

He tells his Dad this on the drive back.

He laughs. Of course there is a lot of forest in the Black Forest, he replies, but it is not necessarily dark and black. There are also mountains, meadows, lakes, scenic spots... You are sure to like it.

Amos thinks that sounds good, but before he arrives in the Black Forest, he has to get through the long drive there by car.

If only I didn’t always get sick in the car, he says to his parents as they take him to bed this evening.

Don’t you worry about that, Dad comforts him. We’ll manage it.

It’s important that you get to sleep quickly now, so that you won’t feel sick, Mum opines.

Easy for her to say! Amos would like to fall asleep quickly, of course, but the more he tries, the less it works.

The next morning, he is already feeling a little sick when he gets up. He doesn’t want anything for breakfast. His parents say that he must have a bite to eat anyway. He chokes down a rusk and some grated apple.

How long will we be driving? he inquires as they get into the car.

A few hours, Mum answers. We’ll make regular stops, of course.

Mum is driving. Dad sits down in the back beside him. He has a few plastic bags with him just in case.

As the car begins moving, Amos realises right away that it isn’t going to go well. He leans back and closes his eyes.

Hey! Dad elbows him. Eyes open. Look ahead, out the window.

Amos stares straight ahead. There is nothing exciting to see, just cars. And the queasiness isn’t getting any better.

It isn’t helping, he complains.

Dad gives him a piece of gum that is supposed to help against motion sickness.

Amos chews a while, but the gum doesn’t taste good, and he has a funny feeling in his throat because he is chewing. It seems to him as though it is only making it worse for him. He spits the gum out.

Dad looks at the time. The first leg is almost over, he announces. We’ll take a break at the next rest area.

The thought that he will be able to get out soon helps him immediately. The queasiness is almost gone – until he has to get back in the car after a walkabout at the rest area. It smells funny in the car, even though the window is open. The air alone is enough to make him feel sick again.

Mum has hardly driven onto the motorway when he moans: Dad, I feel ill.

Dad looks at him. There is only one thing left that can help, he says and searches in his pocket. The Fail-Safe Anti-Sick Candy.

Do you think we should give him such a thing? Mum dubiously asks.

Absolutely, Dad replies. If this won’t help, nothing will.

And he explains to Amos: This is the most effective medicine for motion sickness there is. We have always called it Anti-Sick Candy. I also used to suffer from motion sickness, you know.

He finds one of these candies in his pocket and unwraps it. You’ll see, he tells Amos, it tastes quite good. You wouldn’t believe that it’s such a good medicine.

He pops the hard candy into Amos’s mouth. It tastes sweet and like caramel, really delicious. And it really works from the first moment.

While Amos is sucking on the candy, Dad tells him about the past, when he was a boy. He and his parents frequently went to the Black Forest on