Dr Embers on Location - The Magic Stone Stew (special)

Dr Embers has just moseyed in from the West...
Tonight's tale follows a lone Texas Ranger and his faithful horse, Friday, as they ride into a town on the brink of its greatest trial. Faced with the gravest threat the townsfolk have ever known, the Ranger carries no rifle, no grand army... only an ordinary stone and a quiet confidence that it may yet save them all.

How can a single stone stand against such a danger? Well, you'll have to gather around the campfire to find out.

The Fire is Lit!

Follow the journey on Instagram: @Doctor.Embers
Speak with me directly: doctor.embers@outlook.com

If something you hear stays with you,
 you are always welcome to share it —
 a thought, a reflection, or even a story of your own.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Well, howdy there folks. Dr. Embers here. If you don't mind, I'm not gonna do the whole story in that accent because that's about all you're gonna get out of me. However, as you can see, I have just mosied in from the west, and while I was out there riding on my lonely horse called Friday, I found a story, and I thought I might tell you all about it. You see, the time was that there was this Texas Ranger riding the lonely prairie plains. And he started getting a bit tired and the sun was coming down low. So he moseyed on into this small little town. He rode up to the first house. Now you see, Texas Rangers back in those days, because they were so amazing lawmen, because they kept law and order in the West, all the towns would very much welcome them in. They want Texas Rangers there because when they're there, the bandits don't turn up. So goes up to the first house and knocks on the door. And this woman opens up the door about this much.

unknown 1:07

Looks around.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Who do you want? Oh, well, I'm I'm a Texas Ranger. I'm riding through the plains and I've just come to Don't ask me why this Texas Ranger sounds like an upper class English gentleman. Not quite sure, but we're gonna roll with it. Anywho, I'm a Texas Ranger and I'm just riding through the lonely plains. I'm just trying to find somewhere to sleep for the night. Nothing here for you! Shuts the door in his face. Well, happened before, but perhaps he's having an off day. Let's try the next house. Go on to the next house and knocks on the door. No answer. Knocks again. No answer. But he knows there's somebody in because he can see somebody peeking. Behind the curtain. Bit weird. And he goes around all the houses of the town. He even tries the salon. The bar. And it's closed. What kind of pub is closed in a one-horse town? Well, he thinks, what am I going to do? So he knows what to do. He goes up to his horse and he takes down an iron pot. Just a small little iron pot. And he puts it on the ground. Right in the middle of the high street. And he looks down at the pot this way and that way. And he thinks, hmm, hmm. Now curiosity really does win out. Because this small little boy came up and said, What are you doing? Well, says the uh says the Texas Ranger, I I'm just thinking about making some magic stone stew. It's a magic stone stew, but the thing is, I need some uh I need a fire to make a magic stone stew, and I'm just trying to think about how to do that. Oh, oh, I can help you with that, says the little boy. I know where I can get you a fire. I could go to the blacksmith and and bring you back some embers and get you a fire going. Well, thank you very much. So brings back the fire and they build it up in the middle of the town, puts the thing on, and he says, Oh, well, I'm gonna burn my pot unless I've got some water. Just then, a little girl squeaks up, oh, oh, oh, I could get you some water. I know where to go, I'll go to the bathhouse. Off she goes to the pot, fills it up with water, comes back, and they set it down on the fire and it starts to bubble away. Rather lovely. And so he selects a stone and plunks it into the water, takes a spoon, pops it into the water. That is delicious. Oh, that is a gorgeous pot of magic stone soup, but do you know what would make that taste nicer? If we had some beans, some good baked beans. Well, then this time more and more of a crowd has started to gather. What is this strange person doing? The stranger in the town. And he heard a voice. Oh, oh, I've got some beans, I can put get some beans for you, and another voice. Oh, I I've got some uh I've got some vegetables, I gotta go and get some vegetables for you. Oh off you go. So off they go, and you go get some vegetables and beans and bits and pieces. And he put it all into the pot. And by now, it's smelling beautiful. He stirs it around and he takes a taste. Oh, oh, this is gorgeous. Oh but when I was in the big city, well, we had some magic stone soup there, and in the big cities, they have meat. Well, they were not gonna be outshined on that. And so one cried, I've got some beef you can have. I've just slaughtered one of my cows. He's been nicely matured, I've got some beef. I'll get you some beef. So bring along some beef, and they drop down into the pot as well, and it all starts to bubbling away and things, and then somebody else brings some spices, and somebody brings some tomatoes, and they start putting in a tin of tomatoes and a tin of this and a tin of that, and all sorts of wonderful dried good stores are in there, and now it is smelling divine. Well, says the ranger. I this tastes delicious, but and I'd love to share it with you. But the thing is, I'm only a Texas Ranger, and my horse can only carry so much, so I've only got one little tin plate and one spoon to eat it with. Oh, oh, says somebody. I've got some plates. Let me go get some plates for you. And somebody says, Well, I've got some tables, and before you know it, down the whole of the high street ran an entire table, down the whole length. Table after table after table, cloths came out, and in the middle was the magic stone stew, and then somebody started bringing some cornbread as well. Somebody brought some barbecue, someone brought some Texas ribs, uh, someone brought some Rocky Mountain oysters. And if you don't know what they are, check them out online. I'm not gonna give you away the little secret. And they started bringing all of these lovely foods out, and they're all sitting down, chatting away. And after a while, one neighbour would turn to the other and say, I'm really sorry that I backed into your horse. And the other one would say, Yeah, I'm really sorry when your horse threw a shoe that like I wasn't there to help you. And another one says, Yeah, I'm really sorry about your outhouse that we didn't help you fix the roof on that outhouse. And they all started to apologize and all started to go in together, starting having a great time, and a big party came out of nowhere. Sure enough, the Texas Ranger managed to find somewhere to stay that night. Now, if you've ever been to Texas, you will know that the best time to ride is early in the morning or in the evening, because it can get really hot in the middle of the day. So up early comes the Texas Ranger, and he gets his horse, and he swings his leg over the horse, about to ride out of town. And a little boy says, Mister, mister, mister, y'all gone and forgotten your stone. He looks down at a little boy, and he says, You keep it. And the next time the people of this town forget their manners, forget to apologize, forget to be polite to strangers. Y'all just make them some magic stones to be. And that is the story The Magic Stone Studio. You you folks have a lovely evening.