The Stone Soup Factor: Part Three

Overcoming Challenges: The Awakening and a Triple Miracle

"Paece," Yoj said excitedly, "Look, I found some baby rabbits!"

Yoj, Lily and Paece had climbed up the mountain slope to the place on the mountain where Yoj snared the last rabbit, hoping to be able to catch another one for Gran. So far, Yoj had not seen evidence of any rabbits and thus, he could scarcely believe what he saw. 

Suddenly, he realized that there would be no scarcity of rabbit meat for his family, as he had found what appeared to be a whole family of rabbits.

"I wonder where the mother and the father are, Paece?" he said, looking around.

Paece stood there momentarily, looking at the baby rabbits, totally fascinated with them. He did not say anything at all, which really did not surprise Yoj, as Paece had not spoken one word since Lily had found him the evening before.

"Lily, come and see all the baby rabbits!" Yoj called out to her. He bent down and picked up one of the furry, little rabbits and held it in his hands. It seemed so tiny. He placed it in Paece's small hands.

"Be careful," he cautioned Paece. "Hold him tight, but not too tight."

Yoj looked around, but there was no sign of the baby rabbit’s parents anywhere.

"Maybe it was the mother rabbit that I caught the other day?" Yoj wondered silently. "Oh no, it can't be! Maybe there is no father here, either?"

"Beautiful." said Lily, as she gazed at them in total amazement. "This is absolutely wonderful!" she said, stroking the fur of several other baby rabbits. "You are just so sweet!"

"We are going to take these little babies to Gran," said Yoj. "She will know what to do with them. Take a look around and see if you can find any more babies."

Yoj pulled off his jacket and put five of the baby rabbits they had found into it, and tied the sleeves together to form a basket. Paece seemed to know just what to do and placed the sixth one in the jacket basket. Lily found one more baby rabbit in the bushes nearby, so all together, there were seven of them. She kept that one in her hands and snuggled her face up close to it.

"Good thing I found you, little one. Wow, seven babies!" Lily said to Paece. "I am going to need your help to take care of all these baby rabbits."

Suddenly, for the first time since she had found him, she saw a glimmer of light flicker in Paece's eyes, as if somehow he had just awakened from a deep sleep. Paece was coming back to life. Both Yoj and Lily knew that he was probably still in a state of shock. They wondered what had happened to him and if he was going to be all right.

"I wonder how old they are," Yoj said, as he looked at the baby rabbits and then at Paece. "Maybe they are a couple of weeks old, at the most!"

Suddenly, Paece held up four fingers on his right hand.

"Four?" asked Yoj. "Four weeks? The rabbits are four weeks old?"

"Maybe," said Lily. "Four?" she asked him.

Paece nodded his head, but he still did not say one word.

"Are you four years old?" Lily asked him gently, suddenly realizing that he might have understood the word old. "You are four years old."

Again, Paece nodded. Then he pointed to the baby rabbits and shook his head.

"You don't know how old the baby rabbits are," Yoj said.

Paece shook his head.

"Lily, this is wonderful! I can see that Paece is trying to communicate with us. I was starting to wonder if he ever would. Let's go and tell Gran. Paece, do you want to carry one of the babies?"

Paece shook his head again.

"That was definitely a no," said Yoj. He was relieved to find out that his new, little friend was beginning to answer questions. "All right, I will carry them."

Lily put her baby rabbit in the jacket basket, as well.

"Gran! Gran!" hollered Yoj, as all three of them approached the cabin, a while later. "Gran, I have a wonderful surprise for you.”

“Gran!" he called out again, but no one answered.

"Gran must have gone into the village," Yoj decided. "Now what do we do?" he asked Lily.

"Let's find something and make a bed for them," said Lily, taking over like a mother hen. "Paece, help me find some straw, all right?"

Paece nodded, as if he understood her every word. He ran over to the corner of the garden and grabbed a 

handful of golden, yellow straw. He carefully placed it into the jacket basket.

"Why doesn't he say anything?" Yoj asked her a later, when the baby rabbits were all snuggled in the wooden box they had found and lined with straw.

"I don't know," said Lily. "Paece understands what we are saying, Yoj,"

Gran called out to him from the distance, as she approached the cabin, a couple of hours later. "Yoj! I have some good news. Come and help me."

Yoj ran down the hill towards her. She was carrying a large, white bag of flour. 

"This is great, but it is too heavy for you to have carried all this way. You should have waited for me to come and help you with it. Where did you get this, Gran?" he asked.

Gran took a moment or two to catch her breath and then said, "It is so amazing. The men dug their way through the rocks into the flour mill, through one of the back doorways. The mill is still going to work, as the grinders are not broken. There is going to be enough flour for everyone in the village. It is a miracle!"

"I am so glad!" said Yoj. He was immensely relieved. "That is the best news yet!"

"Gran, I have a surprise for you too. Come and see."

The bag of flour was too heavy for him to carry alone, so Gran took one end of the bag and Yoj took the other. Together, they carried it the rest of the way up the hill to the doorway of the cabin.

"Lily, we have flour and the mill is all right," Yoj called out to Lily, as soon as he saw her and Paece. They were feeding the baby rabbits.

"Thank God," said Lily, as she remembered how hungry they had been. "If only I could tell my mom," she thought to herself, but she decided not to spoil their surprise for Gran. "I sure hope my mom has enough food."

"Look Gran," Lily said, as she led Gran over to the box where the seven baby rabbits were snuggled close together in the straw.

Gran almost burst into tears.

"Wonderful!" she said, finally getting her emotions under control. "We are going to have to build a rabbit hutch. Maybe we will start a rabbit farm, right, Paece?"

She did not want to tell Yoj and Lily that there was a rumor in the village that Paece might have been orphaned. A young couple had been visiting in the area and they had a young child with them. No one knew if they were dead or alive, or if they had left the village. Either way, it appeared that Paece was all alone, at least for now.

To her utter astonishment, Paece nodded his head. He did not say one word, but he did not have to say anything. Gran knew immediately that he had awakened.

"Gran, Paece is four years old, right Paece?" said Yoj.

Paece nodded his head, looking directly at Gran. Then, he held up four fingers.

"My goodness," said Gran, a moment later, as she regained her composure. "Imagine that, a triple miracle! I have three children, seven rabbits and a whole bag of flour! What a wonderful day this has been!"

Off in the distance, there was the echo of a sweet violin playing a mountain melody.

"Everything is going to be all right," Yoj assured Lily and Paece.

"Yes, it is," echoed Gran. "We are going to make sure of that."

 Overcoming Challenges: The Awakening and a Triple Miracle

"Paece," Yoj said excitedly, "Look, I found some baby rabbits!"

Yoj, Lily and Paece had climbed up the mountain slope to the place on the mountain where Yoj snared the last rabbit, hoping to be able to catch another one for Gran. So far, Yoj had not seen evidence of any rabbits and thus, he could scarcely believe what he saw. 

Suddenly, he realized that there would be no scarcity of rabbit meat for his family, as he had found what appeared to be a whole family of rabbits.

"I wonder where the mother and the father are, Paece?" he said, looking around.

Paece stood there momentarily, looking at the baby rabbits, totally fascinated with them. He did not say anything at all, which really did not surprise Yoj, as Paece had not spoken one word since Lily had found him the evening before.

"Lily, come and see all the baby rabbits!" Yoj called out to her. He bent down and picked up one of the furry, little rabbits and held it in his hands. It seemed so tiny. He placed it in Paece's small hands.

"Be careful," he cautioned Paece. "Hold him tight, but not too tight."

Yoj looked around, but there was no sign of the baby rabbit’s parents anywhere.

"Maybe it was the mother rabbit that I caught the other day?" Yoj wondered silently. "Oh no, it can't be! Maybe there is no father here, either?"

"Beautiful." said Lily, as she gazed at them in total amazement. "This is absolutely wonderful!" she said, stroking the fur of several other baby rabbits. "You are just so sweet!"

"We are going to take these little babies to Gran," said Yoj. "She will know what to do with them. Take a look around and see if you can find any more babies."

Yoj pulled off his jacket and put five of the baby rabbits they had found into it, and tied the sleeves together to form a basket. Paece seemed to know just what to do and placed the sixth one in the jacket basket. Lily found one more baby rabbit in the bushes nearby, so all together, there were seven of them. She kept that one in her hands and snuggled her face up close to it.

"Good thing I found you, little one. Wow, seven babies!" Lily said to Paece. "I am going to need your help to take care of all these baby rabbits."

Suddenly, for the first time since she had found him, she saw a glimmer of light flicker in Paece's eyes, as if somehow he had just awakened from a deep sleep. Paece was coming back to life. Both Yoj and Lily knew that he was probably still in a state of shock. They wondered what had happened to him and if he was going to be all right.

"I wonder how old they are," Yoj said, as he looked at the baby rabbits and then at Paece. "Maybe they are a couple of weeks old, at the most!"

Suddenly, Paece held up four fingers on his right hand.

"Four?" asked Yoj. "Four weeks? The rabbits are four weeks old?"

"Maybe," said Lily. "Four?" she asked him.

Paece nodded his head, but he still did not say one word.

"Are you four years old?" Lily asked him gently, suddenly realizing that he might have understood the word old. "You are four years old."

Again, Paece nodded. Then he pointed to the baby rabbits and shook his head.

"You don't know how old the baby rabbits are," Yoj said.

Paece shook his head.

"Lily, this is wonderful! I can see that Paece is trying to communicate with us. I was starting to wonder if he ever would. Let's go and tell Gran. Paece, do you want to carry one of the babies?"

Paece shook his head again.

"That was definitely a no," said Yoj. He was relieved to find out that his new, little friend was beginning to answer questions. "All right, I will carry them."

Lily put her baby rabbit in the jacket basket, as well.

"Gran! Gran!" hollered Yoj, as all three of them approached the cabin, a while later. "Gran, I have a wonderful surprise for you.”

“Gran!" he called out again, but no one answered.

"Gran must have gone into the village," Yoj decided. "Now what do we do?" he asked Lily.

"Let's find something and make a bed for them," said Lily, taking over like a mother hen. "Paece, help me find some straw, all right?"

Paece nodded, as if he understood her every word. He ran over to the corner of the garden and grabbed a 

handful of golden, yellow straw. He carefully placed it into the jacket basket.

"Why doesn't he say anything?" Yoj asked her a later, when the baby rabbits were all snuggled in the wooden box they had found and lined with straw.

"I don't know," said Lily. "Paece understands what we are saying, Yoj,"

Gran called out to him from the distance, as she approached the cabin, a couple of hours later. "Yoj! I have some good news. Come and help me."

Yoj ran down the hill towards her. She was carrying a large, white bag of flour. 

"This is great, but it is too heavy for you to have carried all this way. You should have waited for me to come and help you with it. Where did you get this, Gran?" he asked.

Gran took a moment or two to catch her breath and then said, "It is so amazing. The men dug their way through the rocks into the flour mill, through one of the back doorways. The mill is still going to work, as the grinders are not broken. There is going to be enough flour for everyone in the village. It is a miracle!"

"I am so glad!" said Yoj. He was immensely relieved. "That is the best news yet!"

"Gran, I have a surprise for you too. Come and see."

The bag of flour was too heavy for him to carry alone, so Gran took one end of the bag and Yoj took the other. Together, they carried it the rest of the way up the hill to the doorway of the cabin.

"Lily, we have flour and the mill is all right," Yoj called out to Lily, as soon as he saw her and Paece. They were feeding the baby rabbits.

"Thank God," said Lily, as she remembered how hungry they had been. "If only I could tell my mom," she thought to herself, but she decided not to spoil their surprise for Gran. "I sure hope my mom has enough food."

"Look Gran," Lily said, as she led Gran over to the box where the seven baby rabbits were snuggled close together in the straw.

Gran almost burst into tears.

"Wonderful!" she said, finally getting her emotions under control. "We are going to have to build a rabbit hutch. Maybe we will start a rabbit farm, right, Paece?"

She did not want to tell Yoj and Lily that there was a rumor in the village that Paece might have been orphaned. A young couple had been visiting in the area and they had a young child with them. No one knew if they were dead or alive, or if they had left the village. Either way, it appeared that Paece was all alone, at least for now.

To her utter astonishment, Paece nodded his head. He did not say one word, but he did not have to say anything. Gran knew immediately that he had awakened.

"Gran, Paece is four years old, right Paece?" said Yoj.

Paece nodded his head, looking directly at Gran. Then, he held up four fingers.

"My goodness," said Gran, a moment later, as she regained her composure. "Imagine that, a triple miracle! I have three children, seven rabbits and a whole bag of flour! What a wonderful day this has been!"

Off in the distance, there was the echo of a sweet violin playing a mountain melody.

"Everything is going to be all right," Yoj assured Lily and Paece.

"Yes, it is," echoed Gran. "We are going to make sure of that."

Taking Delight in Life: La Joie de Vie, the Joy of Life

Taking a delight in life is something that the youngest child or the oldest adult can do. It does not involve effort of any kind or even participation on any level; does it? It does require a degree of awareness. However it is expressed can vary, but the French would say "la joie de vie", or the joy of life.

Unfortunately, there are millions of people, who never appear to be taking any delight in their lives, even while others do. If they experience the joy of life, no one would ever know it. If anything, they wear a mask of displeasure, while those who delight in life manifest their pleasure in their eyes and by the expressions on their faces. They show a high level of gratification and satisfaction in what they see, hear or do.

Everyone has the power to bring delight to someone else, but few know that they can exercise that ability. A young child quickly learns that he or she can delight his or her parents by reacting in a positive way to something. If that delight is re-enforced by acknowledgement from the parents, the child moves on to delight them further at every opportunity. In fact, delighting them increases his or her delight.

An older child finds that by playing in some way with an adult, the adult realizes a degree of delight also. It increases his or her delight and the play continues further. A young girl or boy finds that he or she can delight another sibling, or a friend and finds delight in doing that. Both of them enjoy life.

The delight phenomenon continues into the time when a child is older. Perhaps a child in school delights his or her teacher by achieving high grades, or doing something extraordinary in a competition. Because the teacher responds with delight, it re-enforces that pattern of delight and be delighted.

A young groom does his best to delight his bride and vice versa, but it does not stop there, once the phenomenon has been awakened. It will continue throughout the lives of the couple, their children and their children's children. Every life that they touch will know a degree of delight.

What happens when no one discovers that taking a delight in life is fun?

I can reflect back and see many times in my life, where I was personally taking a delight in life, but those around me were not taking delight in theirs for whatever reason. I have to ask myself, could I have brought more delight into their lives? I probably could have and should have, but I did not realize at that time, that I had the power to do so.

I do know that growing up in a large family, as one of the older siblings I learned how to bring delight into the lives of children. They also brought a lot of joy and delight into my life. 

Like everyone else, there were times that were not joyful, too. Children have a way of catching measles, mumps and whooping cough. Life is not always a bowl of cherries for everyone, particularly when there are large families involved.

I recall the twinkle in my father's eye. Somehow, he always managed to smooth things over even when times were rough. He knew how to bring delight into his children's lives and so did my mother. As a result, we learned how to bring delight to them, as well as to one another and to the lives of others.

Life can be delightful, but one has to be prepared to delight others and to be delighted in return, or vice versa. Just a brief reflection on la joie de vie.

By the way, have you delighted someone today? The day is not over yet!

Love: Inherent Implosion

"Try my inherent implosion theory on that one," said Morgan, a budding, young architect, pointing her index finger towards the new city, just beginning to grow in leaps and bounds. Many huge buildings were already towering tall on the horizon, especially a new one under construction.

It appeared that it was going to be the talllest of all of the buildings in the city. Its shiny, glass front seemed to bounce brilliant, rainbow colors all around, like wonderful beams that radiated from the heart of a diamond exposed to a brilliant light.

"Isn't it marvelous, Todd?" she asked the young man, standing beside her. She smiled at him. He was a new architectural graduate and she was in love with him, even though she was reluctant to tell him.

"It is so beautiful already and it is not even finished yet." He knew that this was her first project and it was nearing completion.

"Inherent implosion theory?" the young man asked, looking at her new architectural marvel, rising high into the sky. "Are you serious? What on earth are you talking about?"

"I am serious. Look me straight in the eye and tell me that this building does not have any inherent implosion potential."

"Inherent within any structure, is its potential for implosion, I guess."

"There is a lot more to it than that. Figure this out if you can. How can an architect guarantee the future of anything in our era, or in any other? Look at the cost of the property alone in this city, or in any growing city." 

Morgan smiled again. 

"Who can afford to buy it much less build on it, unless of course the insurance coverage would pay for the cost of new development, as well as the construction thereof? The cost of replacing it would be horrendous."

"Gee, you are cute when you smile," Todd said, not really taking her theory seriously. "Maybe I should ask her tonight," he thought to himself.

"What better way to make certain that there will be another structure on this same site within x number of years?" Morgan continued. "That way architects will always have employment."

"Inherent implosion potential would suggest that it is already there."

Todd opened his eyes wider, putting his hand up over his eyes to reduce the intensity of the setting sun's rays. "Maybe I should look a further into this. You are really serious," he said aloud, looking straight into her eyes. "And you have beautiful eyes."

Morgan nodded. 

"This phenomenon of implosion, my implosion theory is not a new one. It is a phenomenon that has been in existence ever since the building of the Tower of Babel, or probably even before that, but maybe on a smaller scale."

"I think I should ask you to marry me," Todd said aloud. "Woman, you have to be some kind of a genius to even think like that. I know that I want to keep you around for a while," he said, smiling at her. "Maybe it will be forever."

Morgan laughed. 

"Oh, come on now, take me seriously."

"I am serious," said Todd, getting down on one knee. "Morgan, I love you more than anyone else in the whole world. I really do want you to be my wife."

"Do you realize that this means that every single structure ever constructed has the same inherent potential for implosion? Everything that is built or will be built in the future, already has within it the possibility of collapsing? Everything including sky scrapers, other towers or buildings, castles on the Rhine, bridges, dams, even space stations. It is just a matter of time. This means that we will always have employment. More structures to design, more buildings to build."

"Was that a no'?" Todd wondered, remaining silent for a brief moment. "How do I get you to take me seriously anyhow? I want to get married and settle down, maybe raise a few children. Don't you?"

"I wonder if there is an intentional inherent implosion factor or a non-intentional one in everything? How would we ever know?" 

Morgan appeared to be thinking aloud.

"There is only thing that does not have inherent implosion potential."

"What is that?" Todd was beginning to wonder if Morgan had even heard one word of what he had said to her.

"Love. Love is the one thing that stands forever. It does not have inherent implosion potential." 

Morgan smiled at Todd as she awakened to the reality of his proposal. 

She nodded again.

"Now we are getting down to brass tacks," said Todd, suddenly realizing his own dream was about to come true.

Christmas Tales: The Computer Glitch That Almost Stole Christmas

Santa Claus knew he had just experienced a failure in his new, computerized, children's gift programming project.

"You will have to help me," he said, sadly. "Please." He stared at his computer for a moment. He was never comfortable having to ask anyone for help.

"Help you?" replied a young, computer technician, named Tim. "Santa, how can I help you? You are always the one who helps everybody. "Do you need help with your computer?"

"Yes, I do, Tim," said Santa. "I don't know what to do. I am in big trouble this year. We gave all of our reindeer the year off because we were planning on doing an international, electronic gift project for the children, this year."

"An electronic gift project for children?" asked Tim quietly, realizing that Santa was very serious. In fact, he was much too serious for this time of the year. Generally, he was a jolly man, always joking with others and laughing. "Come to think of it," thought Tim, I have not heard one "Ho, ho, ho!" from Santa, for a long time. "Want to sit down and tell me all about it?" asked Tim, as he put his arm around Santa's shoulder to comfort him.

Moments later, Tim grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the computer, while Santa pulled up another beside him.

"This looks like the best computer system on the market," he said.

"It is," replied Santa proudly, but very sadly. "But I think that our computer program or the entire computer system has crashed."

"Oh, no!" replied Tim, horrified at the thought. He knew that Santa had been working on a secret project for some time. He did not know what it was, but he knew that it had something to do with Christmas. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Yes," Santa said, hanging his head low. He looked like he was ashamed. "I don't think that the problem is the computer. It is the computer program I have been working on with some of my older elves who are trained as computer programmers. I did not want to tell anyone about it because it was supposed to be a surprise."

"The computer program is creating a problem?" Tim asked. "I am a computer person, but I don't know anything at all about this program."

"The computer program has some kind of a glitch. It is simply not doing what it was supposed to do. That means that unless we can get this computer program up and running, the children all around the world won't get any Christmas toys or presents this year, at least not in time for Christmas." Santa looked like he was about to cry. He was wiping his eyes and sniffling.

"What do I do now?" Tim wondered. He knew that Santa would not have called him unless he really needed some computer advice. "How do I help Santa, God?" he prayed silently. "Please show me what to do. I am only an inexperienced amateur when it comes to computer programming, Santa. Remember that I am just a technician," said Timothy. "I don't know if I have either the expertise or the genius mind that it will take to re-program your computer program in time for Christmas, but how much time do we have?"

"Not much time at all," said Santa. He had the worst gloom and doom expression that Tim had ever seen on his face. "All of my children's Christmas toys and gifts are at stake, and so is my reputation as Santa Claus. How on earth did I ever get into this pickle?"

"How many children's gifts are there?" Tim asked quietly.

"Too many," said Santa. "I knew I should never have let myself get talked into doing this electronic gift project, but in reality, it might have worked. I wish I was doing my Christmas thing the normal way. Even though it was a lot of work, at least it worked."

"What other options are there?" Tim asked, realizing the seriousness of the situation. Not waiting for Santa to answer, he asked him, "What time do you normally start your work for Christmas Eve?"

"I have to fly out of the North Pole in the early part of the afternoon, at the very latest, when we make the reindeer deliveries." Santa shrugged his shoulders. "This year, we were going to deliver all of the toys and gifts electronically. I was going to have Christmas off in order to spend some time with my family. I knew that this was not a good plan, right from the start. Do you have any idea how old my reindeer are? They are almost obsolete now. So am I."

"So are some computers and computer programs." Tim responded. "Did you think of a Plan B, just in case Plan A did not work?" asked Tim, looking straight into Santa's eyes. He looked like he was going to cry again, as there were huge tears welling up in his eyes. "I can't bear to see Santa cry," he thought to himself.

"I figured that that we might be able to re-harness the reindeer, but I think they have already gone south for the holiday. They have never had a year off, in who knows how many years. They deserve a good rest. I knew that I never should have let them leave. Oh, how I wish Rudolph was here. I could always count on that red-nosed reindeer and the others, too."

"Is there any way that we can get hold of them, just in case?" Tim queried. "That would be the best solution to the problem. Did the elves make other gifts, by any chance?"

"I don't think we can reach the reindeer, but Mrs. Santa Claus is trying to contact them. Yes, we do have gifts to spare, after all the elves have made extra toys for years, just in case of an emergency. I have always had a back up plan that way."

"All right, don't panic, Santa. First, we'll take a look at your computer program and see if there is anything that can be done, but I think we might be running out of time. We'll figure something out."

"There just has to be something we can do. We cannot just cancel Christmas because a computer program has crashed. We cannot let a computer glitch spoil Christmas." Santa smiled faintly at Tim. "Maybe there is hope yet?"

"Santa, you are the one who taught me that there is always hope. Computers and computer systems crash all the time," replied Tim, wishing he had more time to try to resolve the programming issue. "Do you have any contact with the original programmers, or any way to reach them? If they told me what to do, I might be able to fix this program. I will work at it for as long as it takes to get it up and running."

"No, I think they all went south, too. They figured that their work was finished. They have been working so hard to get this program working. We thought it was perfect. At least, it seemed that way."

"Perfection is in heaven," Tim replied, smiling at Santa. "Even I know that."

"What am I going to do? Children will never believe in Santa Claus again." Santa thought about it for a moment and then said, "I wonder if we could get all of the children in the world to brain storm together and help us to find an answer for this problem."

"Brain storm with all the children in the world?" said Tim. "That might work."

"The power of love can resolve anything," Santa said, becoming very serious.

Just as Santa said the word love, there was a horrific noise on the rooftop. Santa stood there stunned, not knowing what the sound was, or where it was coming from. Of course, Santa, being Santa, had never heard reindeer hoofs landing on a rooftop before. He was always with the reindeer on the rooftops.

"What on earth?" Tim said. "I recognize that sound!" He breathed a sigh of relief.

"I knew you would need us," said Rudolph, a few moments later. In fact, I was sort of hoping that you would have to do your Christmas toy delivery the same way that you always do it."

"Thank you for coming back," said Santa, breathing a huge sigh of relief, when he realized his problem was over.

"We never left," replied Rudolph, smiling. "We guarantee that we will get the toy delivery job done and properly, too. We are not replaceable by a computer program or a computer system, at least not yet." Suddenly he realized that he was embarrassing Santa. "Ten years down the road, maybe computers will work perfectly."

"Maybe never," said Tim, smiling at the twinkle in Rudolph's eye.

"Rudolph, you are the best! Thank you ever so much!" said Santa. "Let's go and talk to Mrs. Claus, right now. Thanks Tim!"

"I am coming to help," said Tim. He knew that Santa would need all of the help that he could get to be out of the North Pole in time for Christmas all around the world. "I am so relieved that I did not have to do anything with this computer program. The programmers can fix it when they get back. Maybe it will work by next year. We will have a very Merry Christmas this year!" He chuckled to himself, "Imagine that, a computer glitch that almost stole Christmas."

The Stone Soup Factor: Part One

The Lucky Stone

"What kind of a stone is this?" Yoj asked, as he bent over to pick up a very smooth, round stone. "I have never seen anything like this before." All of the other stones in the area were large jagged rocks.

"Wonder how it got here?"

Yoj was a young boy, who spent most of his days on the mountain slopes looking for food to take home for his grandmother, a crippled and arthritic, elderly woman, who had taken him in when his parents died in a landslide. The landslide had erased most of the village and many of the families were destitute, as the mine that had sustained the village had to close, as well.

"I am going to save that stone," he decided, as he put it into his pocket and continued to hunt for berries. Even the blueberries were very scarce that year.

"Why are we all so poor," he wondered. Then, he hollered, "Why are we all so poor?"

"So poor.....so poor.....so poor?" the sound echoed through the mountain peaks, as if mocking his words.

He reached into his pocket to see if the stone was still there and it was. He rubbed it and said to himself, "This is my good luck stone. I am not poor," he decided. "I am rich. I have my good luck stone in my pocket."

He headed down the mountain with the pail of blueberries he had just picked. Tonight, he decided, they would have blueberry pancakes for dinner.

Meanwhile, his grandmother was trying to find something, anything to make soup with, so that she could feed her grandson and herself. She placed a big pot of water on the fire in the fireplace. She had nothing to put in it, other than some salt. She tossed the salt into the pot and almost burst into tears, just as her grandson walked through the doorway carrying a pail of berries.

"What's wrong, Gran?" he asked her immediately, sensing something was wrong.

She smiled at him with tears in her eyes and accepted the pail of berries graciously. "That won't make soup," she thought to herself, but at least the blueberries would taste good in pancakes. She had no flour to make pancakes that night either. "What are we going to do?" she asked herself.

"I have an idea," Yoj said, as she told him of their plight while they sat together drinking mint tea and cleaning the blueberries. They picked out all of the twigs and leaves carefully. The berries were very sweet, but they were small compared to other years.

"We will have stone soup, tonight," her grandson promised, as he tossed his new treasure into the salty water in the soup pot. "I will be back."

He really had no idea what he was going to do. He knew that there was little food anywhere in the village. He kissed her on the cheek and smiled his sweetest smile, as he headed out the door and down the pathway to the village.

As he walked down the hill, he passed an elderly, gray haired man carrying a little, wooden box.

"Stop by and see my Gran," he said to the old man. "We are having stone soup for dinner tonight."

The old man beamed, lifted his hat and waved. "I'll do that," he said. "What is stone soup? I don't think I ever had any before at your Gran's." He shook his head, but Yoj had already disappeared down the mountain pathway.

At the first doorway he came to, he saw a little girl named Lily. "Come by my Gran's for stone soup later, and tell your mom to come too!" She jumped for joy and ran to tell her mom. "What does stone soup taste like?" she hollered after him.

"It's really great! Just come by and you will see," Yoj hollered back happily. "If nothing else", everyone will have a good laugh," he thought to himself.

"Don't forget to bring your bowl!" he suggested, as an after thought.

Every person who he met in the village was invited in the same way. No one said they could not, or would not come. In fact, everyone seemed thrilled to be invited.

Yoj headed back home.

"Now what do I do?" he wondered, having a few second thoughts about what he had just done. He had invited the whole community for dinner, knowing that his grandmother did not have even flour to make pancakes.

"I am really dumb," he decided. "What a foolish thing to do."

Later on, one by one, the neighbors arrived and every single person who came brought something. The first young man on the scene had managed to catch a rabbit on his way. It was not long before he had cleaned it and prepared it for the soup pot.

"It almost got away," he said sheepishly.

The first, old man he had invited brought a box of mixed spices, the only treasure he had in the world. It was something given to him by his son for his birthday, just before he had lost him, as well as his entire family, in the landslide.

Lily brought one big, red onion that she dug out of an old garden behind their house. Her mother had found some carrots there too, under a heap of rubble. Another neighbor had some parsley, not much, but just enough to add some flavor to a pot of soup. A second little girl brought a head of cabbage she had found in a field.

Bit by bit, as the neighbors arrived, the soup pot was filled with turnips, potatoes and just about anything else that a person could ask for to make a hearty pot of soup. Someone even brought some dried beans and other lentils.

One short, bald middle-aged man carrying his mandolin told the tale of how he had run out of his house and had grabbed it, as the rocks hammered on the roof of his house. "I don't have anything to contribute to the soup," he said sadly.

"Would you play for us?" Yoj asked him, quietly. He knew how beautifully the man could play.

The man's eyes beamed as he started to play his favorite mountain melodies. One by one, the neighbors began to sing and got up to dance with each other and the children.

The stone soup started to smell good, as it simmered on the fire. Under the direction of Yoj, the young boys ran around gathering firewood and stacked it high for Gran.

In the crowd that gathered, there were a few tears shed, but the light of life began glowing in the eyes of many of the members of the community, even in the eyes of some who had not smiled for a long time.

One of the teenage girls, the second last to arrive, came carrying a cup of sugar. It had been outside on the doorstep when the landslide hit her home. She had saved it. The last couple to arrive came carrying a bag of flour. No one knows who brought the oil, the butter or the baking powder, which seemed to appear from nowhere.

The women began making blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup, as the soup continued to simmer.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Yoj called out in his gentle voice, a little while later. "I know that you do not know why you were invited to dinner tonight, but thank you for coming. My grandmother is a good cook and thanks to all, we have a huge pot of stone soup and blueberry pancakes to share. I hope that you all enjoy your dinner."

His grandmother could scarcely believe what had happened.

"Bless you all and bless this food," he continued.

"Now we must begin to re-build our village," he continued. "Re-build our lives, re-build our homes, rebuild our mine, re-build our hopes and dreams, just simply re-build."

Gradually, the neighbors began to understand why they had been invited to dinner. They were served one at a time, sat down to eat and began to discuss the merits of his plan.

Finally, Yoj sat down and began to eat his own bowl of stone soup. He was the last one to be served. It was actually very tasty. When he got to the bottom of his bowl of soup, guess what he found?

"Oh, there you are," he said to himself. "My lucky stone."

His grandmother's eyes twinkled in delight, as she saw him pick up the stone and wipe it off. She watched as he began to polish it with the corner of his worn shirt and then put it his pocket.

"The stone soup factor," she told him later, as the thought echoed through her mind. "Build and rebuild, has always been our way." She knew that it would not be easy, but with a community pulling together, it was possible. After all, they had done that before, as had many mountain communities that had met the same fate. "I will have to remember the stone soup factor", she repeated as she drifted off to sleep. "Maybe we should start a stone soup factory, too." In her thoughts and dreams, the village and even the mountains echoed and re-echoed, "Re-build....re-build....build....build....build."

As Yoj stood on the side of the mountain and gazed at the stars, he caught sight of one falling star, with a very long fiery tail.

"Now I know how you got here," he said to the smooth stone in his hand. "You really are my lucky stone."

The Stone Soup Factor: Part Two

Struggles in Life: Fire in the Stones

Yoj looked downwards as he was about to head down the mountainside. He asked himself silently, "How are we ever going to get over this tragedy?" The mudslide that devastated their village recently had left many people totally destitute, homeless and unemployed. Yoj was one of the lucky boys who had been taken in by an elderly woman who lived in a cabin, on the outskirts of the village.

"Dad and Mom, I miss you so much!" Tears welled up in his eyes. "I cannot believe that I will never see you again." He held back the tears. "It is a long walk. I had better get going, or it is going to be dark by the time that I get back to the village." he said to himself. "Oh, no!"

At his foot, he saw a round stone. It appeared to be the same one he had found on the mountain, the last time that he had been up here. For a moment, he thought that he might have dropped his lucky stone. Had it fallen out of his pocket?

Suddenly, he realized that this had to be another stone, as it was a slightly different color. It looked like the other one, but this was a deeper grayish-green color.

"Aha!" he said to himself, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the other one. "Now I have two lucky stones." He grasped one in each hand and then looked at the two of them together. "They are almost a perfect match." He smiled as he thought about the first stone and the stone soup. "That worked."

He clapped the two stones together and the sound echoed and re-echoed through the mountaintops. "I like that," he decided. Then, he rubbed the two of them together, faster and faster. Suddenly a little spark of light flew from the stones.

"Fire in the stones," he hollered, excitedly.

"Fire in the stones," the mountains hollered back.

Yoj listened carefully, as there seemed to be another sound echoing too, almost like the cry of a child. "Fire in the stones," he called out again, but only the mountain answered his call, this time.

"I wonder who that was?" he wondered and decided to head back down the mountain.

He looked at the rabbit that he had just snared. 

"I have to get you to Gran. Sorry, my friend, but we have to eat. I hope you didn't leave any little ones. No, on second thought I hope there is a huge, rabbit family, up here. I think there just might be. Besides that, Gran is going to need something warm for the winter. Your fur will make her happy."

"Thanks, mountain!" Yoj hollered. "Thanks mountain, mountain, mountain" the echo resounded, clearly. "Fire in the stones, but I wonder how those stones ever got up here."

"Gran, we are having rabbit tonight," Yoj yelled to her, as he saw her working in the new garden plot, which he had started for her, just a few days earlier.

Bit by bit, people in the village had been finding things, by digging in the rubble from the mudslide. Yoj had found a shovel. He was determined to put it good use and decided that he would find work digging gardens for other families.

"Great! I found some bean seeds, too," she called out to him. "Pole beans, the long green ones that turn green when you cook them. You will have to cut some long stakes for me, but not tonight."

She looked at the rabbit. 

"Poor dear," she said to herself. "Be careful how you clean that rabbit and don't tear the fur, Yoj. I may have to help you with that." She knew that he may not ever have skinned or cleaned a rabbit before. "I will show you how to stretch the fur."

"I found another stone," he said, pulling them both out of his pocket and showing them to her proudly. "Listen."

He banged the stones together, but this time the sound was muffled by the cabin. There was no echo in the distance. Then, he rubbed them together very quickly and sparks flew in every direction.

"There's fire in those stones," Gran said, looking at him very seriously. "Take good care of them."

"Don't worry, Gran, I will, and I will look after the rabbit for you, too. Finish planting your bean seeds before it gets too dark. Tomorrow, I will find some long stakes for you and we will have beans in a few weeks."

"Want to tell me the story about 'Jack and the Bean Stalk' again?" he called out, as he headed towards the cabin to clean the rabbit.

"Sure, that is an old folk tale from this part of the mountains. I know you love that story. Imagine that, two lucky stones now!"

Yoj was always amazed that Gran had said almost exactly the same things that he had said. It was almost as if she could read his mind. "Two pots of stone soup?" he wondered.

Just as Yoj was heading into the cabin, he heard Lily's voice calling from the distance.

"Yoj, wait!" she cried out to him again. "I need your help."

It looked like she was carrying a young child in her arms. He quickly ran towards her and took the child from her arms. He could see that Lily was exhausted from carrying him.

"Who is this?" Yoj asked her, as she caught her breath. The barefoot child was no more than three years old. He looked very tired and dirty. His hair was full of sand and twigs. His clothes, covered with dried mud, were badly torn.

"I don't know," Lily replied, as she sat down on a log by the cabin. "I think he might have been one of the children visiting our village with his family, when the mudslide happened. I found him by the cistern. But I saw no sign of his parents, or any other family members, so I decided to bring him here."

"Oh, no," thought Yoj.

"My mom has gone down the mountain to see if she can find work. I don't know when she will be back. I told her I would be all right, but I am scared. I did not know where else to go. Can we stay here for the night?"

"We have a little loft in the cabin. I am certain that Gran won't object. We can go and find his family in the morning. We will try to find out if they are still alive and if they are not, we will figure out what to do. Any idea what his name is?"

"No," replied Lily. "He has not spoken one word. Maybe we should try to get him to eat and drink something?"

"We will call him Paece," for now. "Let's get him cleaned up."

Just then, Gran came up to the three of them. "Come inside," she said gently. "We will take care of him, right Yoj? Both of you!"

"Right," replied Yoj, putting his arm around Lily. "Yes, we will take care of you both."

"Now I really need those two lucky stones with two more mouths to feed," he said to himself.

"And I will try to help you both, too!" Lily replied gratefully, wondering if the child would ever talk and how they would ever find enough food to feed all four of them.

Yoj knew exactly what they would be doing with the rabbit skin and now was extremely grateful that he had caught one. 

"We will be just fine," he assured Lily, but inside he knew that their lives were not going to be easy.