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.