for Nathan Smith — although not for any particular reason

Lisa and Loew were poor, poor, poor. Not so poor as all that — they had between them five dollars! — but poor enough for credibility.

Loew got hungry. “I’m hungry,” he said, and ran his hands over his vast belly. His belly gurgled and wurbled and Lisa giggled.

“I’m hungry, too,” she said. “But, Loew, we don’t have any food! We don’t have any money to buy food!”

Loew thought about this. It was certainly a problem. His belly spoke to him, loud as a crying baby. “We’ll make… stone soup!” he said.

“Yay!” said Lisa. “I love stone soup!”

They went out and they found three large and interesting-looking rocks. Then they stole a cooking pot from the Salvation Army. “We’ll bring it back,” Lisa shouted at the guards who chased after them. Lisa was a fast runner! The guards were left behind, panting and wheezing.

Loew made a fire on the bank of the river. Lisa filled the pot with river water. Loew dropped the rocks in the pot, one, two, three. Soon the water started to boil. Lisa sniffed the pot appreciatively. “Smells good, Loew!”

“Looks good, Lisa!”

Soon the stone soup was done. “Oh boy oh boy,” said Lisa and Loew, and danced around and hugged each other. Stone soup! They were happy.

They took turns drinking from the pot, until the soup was all gone. Loew smacked his lips. Lisa looked worried.

“I don’t feel so good, Loew,” she said.

Loew looked a little green, too. Uh oh!

There was dysentery in that water! Poor Lisa and Loew.