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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for July 2, 2010
“Children Should Not Have to Carry Such Burdens”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
(begin music)
Maple leaves cartwheel across the sidewalk.
A little dog runs to the chain link fence and barks.
She shoves her hands into her coat pockets, and keeps walking.
Her backpack slips off her left shoulder, again, so she does the dorky thing and puts both arms through.
She looks at the sidewalk with intense concentration, but her little glasses slip down her nose. She pushes them back and looks up for a while, but thinking weighs her head down, and she resumes looking at the sidewalk.
Children should not have to carry such burdens.
How long has school been out? She can’t tell, it’s so gray. Everything gray.
Teenage boys drive past and yell at her, words lost in the wind.
She stops at the corner church – a beautiful church, but all white – and wipes the specks from her glasses. Was it rain or tiny flakes of snow? Not really cold enough for snow, but maybe it is up there in the clouds.
And then she remembers.
The sack on the counter.
Children should not have to carry such burdens.
A young woman walks out of the church, talking on her phone. “Mom!” she waves, snapping her phone shut. Coatless, she runs like a girl to the SUV as it stops at the curb, and off they go.
She turns and walks back.
But she knows.
She knows the light will not be on.
She could stay out until dark, it didn’t matter. The light would not be on.
A balloon tied to a mailbox.
Happy Birthday.
She looks up the concrete steps into the brick home. It sounds like a playground, and every light in the house is on.
She turns back to the sidewalk and notices that yes, it’s starting to get dark.
But not at the birthday house. It was probably never dark at the birthday house.
And sometimes it wasn’t dark at home. Sometimes every light was on there, too.
But that was the problem. You never knew.
Well, she used to not know. She was just a stupid little girl back then. She would bring friends home after school and…stupid, just stupid.
A car flicks on its lights, and now she can see the spits of moisture in the air. Her coat is warm, but not waterproof.
But who knew? The day started sunny enough. Sunshine in the window. Mom making breakfast and singing with the radio. A beautiful day.
And then she had seen it.
What – are you trying to hide it behind the blender? Really? I’m ten not three.
The sidewalk is running out, daylight is running out, and she is hungry.
One, two, three houses down, then a dark space.
She enters, but there is no greeting.
In the kitchen there is no meal.
She sits, backpack pressing her forward. Toward the sack. Empty.
Thinking weighs her head down, and it rests on the cold table.
Children should not have to carry such burdens.
(long fadeout of music)
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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