and suck in the sweetness.
Indulgence:
His secret place was a discarded rodeo trailer that had no wheels. It was rounded in front, resembling an ancient chariot. A big steer was hooked to the trailer in its rodeo days and it was painted a bright red and decorated with white skull and crossbones.
It was a faded pink now and had been parked by the cow barn for years. Skippy first found it playing Hide and Seek, but soon it became his “secret place.”
With two just-turned-red apples bulging from his pockets, he slinked into the shelter of the trailer. Tiny teeth broke the slick skin of the apple and sugary juice ran down his face. Although he did not know any Scripture, he understood “Stolen bread is sweet.”
A second apple met its fate as the well-hidden boy wiped his face and leaned contentedly against the concave front of the trailer.
Consequence:
The apple juice had not quite dried on his plump cheeks when he heard his grandmother’s call. Skippy dragged himself from his secret place but quickly heightened his pace toward his grandmother to feign innocence. He had never seen his grandma look so stern.
“What made you do such a trick?”
“I dunno.”
“You will need to ask Mrs. Montgomery to forgive you. She won’t look at you the same anymore.”
“Why?”
“Why?—What if people stole from each other all the time? What kind of world would we live in? And what about your reputation? Do you want to be known as ‘Skippy, the thief?’”
“How did you know, Grandma—who saw me?”
“Who saw you isn’t the issue, young sprout! As a matter of fact, we all saw you—the Montgomerys, Mr. Marsh, the Kidd family—and God saw you.”
“He did?”
“Mrs. Montgomery uses those first-ripened apples to make apple butter. You eat it on your biscuits during the winter. She thinks she is paying you back for all your kindlin’ gatherin’.”
“She does?”
Days turned into weeks and weeks into a month. Skippy was hoping that Grandma had forgotten his trip to the Montgomery’s for the confession. But it was not to be; Grandma never forgot anything.
“Sonny Boy—come go with me. Mrs. Montgomery has asked to see you.”
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