Paws & Tales

Dave Karl: Hi, this is Dave Karl, creator of Paws & Tales. You might be surprised to know that each and every episode of Paws & Tales, the audio series, requires a bunch of actors, a writer, a score composer, a songwriter, singers, genius web people, and a master of snacks.

Okay, there is no master of snacks. That was just in my head. To get Paws & Tales out to the world, we are in need of folks who have a vision to reach families for Jesus just like we do.

If you'd like to help, just log on to pawsandtales.org and go to the donate button. A gift of any size will help us to introduce Paws & Tales to families around the world. Thank you for joining the club by helping us invite more folks to imagine God's love.

Insight for Living: Welcome to the world of Paws & Tales.

Ned: Wild Mountain can be a pretty dangerous place. You stay on the trails and stick with me.

Gooz: Adventures to be had there too.

Stacy: Come on, CJ, jump!

CJ: It's too far!

Stacy: It wasn't too far for me!

Insight for Living: Insight for Living is proud to present Paws & Tales.

Narrator: Howdy and welcome to Wildwood. The club has wandered into the woods just to the east of town and are playing a game of their own invention. That is to say, they are making it up as they go.

CJ: Ow!

Gooz: Yes!

Ned: I hate this game.

Stacy: Good job. Stacy, that's two points for you.

Gooz: I thought a direct hit was three points.

Stacy: Only if you get him in the head.

Ned: I want to play something else now.

Gooz: No, it's my turn. What do I do again?

Stacy: It's really quite simple. You run around and try to tag one of us. If you don't get someone in seven seconds, you have to pick up the paddle and smack the mud puddle with it. And then you climb a tree. Since I was the last smacker, I will then throw the rubber ball up to you, then you try to hit one of us with it.

Ned: When do we freeze? When she smacks the mud or when she climbs the tree?

Stacy: It's when, I think it was—

CJ: Can we play a game that at least one of us understands?

Stacy: When she smacks the mud. Ready, set, go!

Gooz: Okay, the paddle. Get the paddle!

Stacy: All right, now I'll smack the tree.

Gooz: Ow! That hurt.

Stacy: No, smack the mud.

Gooz: Oh, yeah. This is so ridiculous. Here we go!

Stacy: That was a great one.

Gooz: Yeah, I'd say the best mud smack so far this season. Now I—

Stacy: Climb a tree.

Gooz: Yeah, tree climbing coming right up! Here's the rubber ball.

Stacy: Got it. Freeze, you guys!

Ned: Like I'm running around anyway.

Stacy: Here we go!

CJ: Ow!

Stacy: Three points, Gooz. Right in the head. Your turn, Ned.

Ned: No, I'm done.

Gooz: You can't be done. You get to smack the mud. That's the part I like the best.

Ned: I have stood here and been hit with a ball five times. I can't run fast enough to play tag. And I'm a beaver. Hello, I can't climb trees. I've told you this now for the last time. Let's make a game we can all play.

Stacy: This is a great game. One more round.

Ned: No.

Stacy: Club vote. One more round?

Gooz: One more. I want to smack the mud again. One more.

Stacy: Done. One more round.

Ned: Not with me.

Stacy: You have to. We took a vote.

Ned: Your game is ridiculous. You know I can't play it and you took a vote? You think I'm going to go along with it because you took a vote? I've put up with this long enough. I'm done.

Gooz: You have to!

Ned: Nobody tells me what I can and cannot do. See you.

Gooz: Ned, come back! We'll change the game.

Stacy: Ned, you can't go that way!

Ned: Stop telling me what to do! I will go anywhere I want!

Stacy: You're heading into the old mine! No one can go in there!

Ned: I'll go where I want to!

Gooz: Ned, don't be a dolt! It's dangerous in there!

Ned: Just watch me.

Narrator: Ned has long had a problem with his temper. But this time, he let it all out.

Ned: Who's always first in line? Stacy. Who's always last? The slow and squatty beaver. I'm smarter than any of them, and I have to sit there and play the ridiculous games and listen to their silly schemes.

Narrator: There was no doubt in Ned's mind that he was about to go where he shouldn't ever go. The gate into the old abandoned mine was locked, and the signs on it were in big red letters.

Ned: Do not enter. Danger. As if I don't know what danger looks like. Come on, you piece of junk. Smack the mud. That's a great idea. Will any of them play a game I want to play? No.

Narrator: Ned walked on into the remains of Mr. Collins' old abandoned gold mine. After the accidents, no one had gone in there for how many years? Never was much gold found there anyway. Now it was just a bunch of rundown buildings, boarded up mine shafts, and places where the ground had caved in. This was truly the last place a youngster should be.

Ned: Okay, it's creepy. I'll give you that.

Timothy Owl: Oh, it's creepy all right. It's been creepy for years. No doubt about that.

Ned: You scared me to death!

Timothy Owl: Oh, ever so sorry. Last thing I had in mind. Timothy, Timothy Owl. Most folks call me, well, I guess they mostly call me Timothy Owl. Tell me, son, what are you doing here?

Ned: I guess you're going to tell me I have to get out.

Timothy Owl: Oh, no. I guess that a smart fellow like you has his reasons to be here. I just wondered if it was the—

Ned: What?

Timothy Owl: Well, the gold.

Ned: There's no gold here. That's why they closed it down.

Timothy Owl: Well, that's what they say, isn't it?

Ned: Yes, it is. What do you say?

Timothy Owl: Truth be told, it was the accidents. Ground kept caving in, unstable. There certainly is gold. Seen it myself.

Ned: Where?

Timothy Owl: Back in the— Oh, no, never mind. You don't want to go in and have a look for yourself. Too dangerous for a young one.

Ned: Now why can't you all just let me make my own decisions?

Timothy Owl: Fair enough. You seem like a bright boy. I'll show you where the gold is, and you make your own decisions.

Ned: That's all I ask.

Timothy Owl: In the mine shaft there. Follow me.

Narrator: All kinds of alarms were going off in Ned's head. Alarms that God put there. One that was telling him that he shouldn't have gone through that gate in the first place. Another telling him that this owl was not giving him very good advice. And lastly, an alarm that was telling him he should be hightailing it out of that mine shaft before he took another step.

Ned: Just how dangerous is it in there?

Timothy Owl: No idea, son. That's what makes it dangerous. I chased a mouse in there about a year ago and found— There it is, in that ore cart. That's gold in there. Seen it myself.

Ned: It's half full of rusty water or something.

Timothy Owl: Must have dripped from the ceiling. Probably just dirty water. Roll up your sleeve and let's pull out some gold.

Ned: So, if it is gold, then what? Do I just leave it?

Timothy Owl: What good would that do? No one is brave enough to come in here but you. I think you've earned it. Nothing like a little gold to help you do what you want.

Ned: Yeah, I bet no one told Mr. Collins what to do. Rich guys tell others what to do.

Timothy Owl: Never was a truer thing said.

Ned: What?

Timothy Owl: I'm just agreeing with you, son.

Ned: Here goes nothing. How far down?

Timothy Owl: Deeper, son.

Ned: It's weird. It's almost like it's getting warmer, almost hot.

Timothy Owl: Just your imagination. Deeper.

Ned: Hey, I think I feel a nugget! It's getting hot. It's starting to burn!

Timothy Owl: Don't give up now, son.

Ned: No, I can't! What's on my hand? It burns!

Timothy Owl: Did you see the nugget?

Ned: Yeah, it was gold, wasn't it? It's still burning. It's got to be some kind of chemical or something under the water. It stings.

Timothy Owl: Going to give it another try?

Ned: No! No, I've got to get home and wash this stuff off. It stinks.

Timothy Owl: Okay, you're the boss.

Ned: Well, how much do you think that nugget would be worth?

Timothy Owl: Hard to tell, son. Depends on the size and the quality.

Ned: Sun's bright out here. My hand! Oh, my! What's on my hand? It's red! It's stained red! What is this stuff? Get it off of me! Get it off of me!

Timothy Owl: Got to go. See you later, son.

Ned: Wait a minute! Where are you going? Don't leave me!

Insight for Living: Hi, I'm Jael from North Carolina. One of the many reasons I love to listen to Paws & Tales is because Ned the Beaver just cracks me up.

Dave Karl: Hello, Dave Karl here. Where does your kid listen to Paws & Tales? We'd love to know. You can upload a photo of your kids listening to Paws & Tales in the car, half-buried in pillows while coloring, or doing a puzzle. So many ways to listen. We will be posting a bunch of these photos on pawsandtales.org. Just think, your kid's photo could be on the wall of the clubhouse in Wildwood.

Narrator: Well, Ned ran all the way home as the sun was going down. He hid his hand in his shirt and ran straight to his bathroom and started trying to scrub the bright red, almost scarlet, stain off his right hand.

Ned: Oh, why did I reach in there? It's not coming off. Why did I go in that mine? Please, please come off. Please come off.

Timothy Owl: How's it going, son?

Ned: Terrible! Get out of here!

Timothy Owl: What kind of thing is that to say?

Ned: You talked me into sticking my hand in that stuff, and then you took off when I needed you.

Timothy Owl: Indeed not. I went straight off to try to find out what to do for your hand.

Ned: Well, what do I do?

Timothy Owl: Well, it seems that no one is quite sure what it is you've got.

Ned: Get out of here!

Timothy Owl: There's been some talk of poisonous chemicals left behind in the mine, you see.

Ned: Oh, great.

Timothy Owl: But nothing that would explain your stain.

Ned: I've got to get to my mom.

Timothy Owl: Think about this for a moment, son. You were trespassing, breaking the law. You were trying to steal gold.

Ned: But you said—

Timothy Owl: This is serious. If folks find out about this— I'd give it some thought before you go telling the world you're a criminal. You could be in a world of trouble.

Ned: What kind of trouble?

Timothy Owl: I've seen trespassers go to jail.

Ned: Oh, why did I listen to you?

Mrs. Beaver: Ned, are you singing in there?

Ned: No, Mom! I'm just talking. Talking to myself, I guess.

Mrs. Beaver: Well, come down. We're ready for dinner.

Ned: Okay, Mom. In a minute. What am I going to do?

Timothy Owl: Oh, settle down, just relax. I recommend that you wrap it up like a bandage. Tell people you fell on it or something, and just give it some time to wash off or fade away.

Ned: You think it'll fade away?

Timothy Owl: Oh, sure. Scrub it every day and it's bound to come off eventually. Just don't tell anyone. Wrap it up. Go get some dinner. Really, what other choice do you have? I'm just trying to help. I'll be off now.

Narrator: Well, Ned was about as scared as he'd ever been. Now if he tells his folks about his secret, the scarlet stain, he could get in a heap of trouble. If he keeps his secret, he could be, well, in a heap of trouble. Sin often works that way. Best thing to do at a time like this is to just confess and take your lumps.

However, the thing folks often decide on in this kind of mess is to keep their sin a secret and hope it all goes away. Almost never does.

Mrs. Beaver: Ned, sweetie, wake up. Breakfast is ready.

Ned: I'm coming!

Narrator: Well, Ned padded his way into the bathroom to take a look at his arm in the light.

Ned: At least it stopped stinging. Let's see if it looks any better. No! Oh, no! It's spread. It's going up my arm! Oh, no! Stacy! Stacy!

Stacy: Hey, Ned. Finished your homework last night? What's with your arm?

Ned: Oh, Stacy, I'm in big trouble.

Stacy: What happened?

Ned: I was in a mine shaft.

Stacy: The mining camp? You got hurt in there, didn't you?

Ned: Would you listen?

Stacy: Ned, what's the matter?

Ned: If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone?

Stacy: I don't know. How bad is it?

Ned: Stacy, I could go to jail. I need your help. Will you promise?

Stacy: I don't know. That kind of makes me a part of whatever you did.

Ned: Not if you help me take care of it. Promise. You're my only chance.

Stacy: I don't know.

Ned: Stacy!

Stacy: All right, I promise. What?

Ned: This.

Stacy: What is that? Blood?

Ned: No, no, it's stain. I went into a mine shaft and I fell and got this stuff on my hand and it won't wash off. And overnight, it spread up my arm. And I'm afraid if I don't do something, it's going to get all over me.

Stacy: What do you want me to do?

Gooz: Got you both! Gooz. What is wrong with your arm?

Ned: You make me so mad!

Gooz: What's on your arm?

Ned: Now you have to promise not to tell anyone.

Stacy: Did you promise, Stacy?

Ned: Yeah.

Gooz: Well, if you did, Gooz, promise.

Ned: Oh, I don't think this is such a good idea. I need my friends to help me.

Gooz: Oh, okay.

Ned: I fell in some stuff in a mine shaft.

Stacy: Let's go back to my house and I'll get some scrub brushes and maybe some stuff my dad uses to clean off his tools.

Ned: Yeah, yeah, that might help.

CJ: Hey, guys, you're going to be late for school.

Ned: Don't tell him anything!

CJ: What?

Ned: We promised not to tell anyone. I'm in trouble. I need help. Will you promise not to tell anyone?

CJ: No.

Ned: I knew he wouldn't help me.

CJ: Give me a break. I'll help. I'm just not making any promises about something I don't know anything about.

Ned: I don't need that kind of help.

Stacy: In here, guys. Gooz, get the water going warm. Ned, pick a brush.

Ned: Okay.

CJ: Whoa! What happened to your arm?

Ned: Why is he in here? Now he knows.

CJ: What is that?

Ned: Water's warm. He got it in a mine shaft.

CJ: Gooz! This is nuts, Ned. We need to get some help. We've got to go get Doc Lowell. There's poisonous stuff in those mines. That's why they're off-limits.

Ned: Oh, thank you for those words of caution. It's a little late, CJ. Now you have to promise.

CJ: Not a chance. I can't believe you guys. Shouldn't have promised.

Ned: Too late! Help me here.

Stacy: All right, here. Try this brush.

Gooz: This one might hurt.

Ned: Go ahead. Ow! Ow, ow, ow! I think I'm bleeding!

Stacy: Let me see. This is going well.

Gooz: Oh, no! Oh, no, it's on me! My fingers are red! Maybe it's just something that washes off.

Ned: It's burning! Get it off!

Stacy: I've got it too! CJ, I've got it too!

Insight for Living: Hi, this is Gooz, Stacy, and CJ from Ozark, Missouri. Don't go away, there's more Paws & Tales coming right up.

Dave Karl: Do you know what's the biggest problem? What to wear? I get so excited about going to school that I don't plan stuff out very well. I wore my shirt on backwards last week, don't you know?

Here is one of our newly made Paws & Tales T-shirts. It has the Paws & Tales logo on the front so you'll never be confused and wear it backwards.

Gooz: It would be so great if people could just go onto pawsandtales.org and order one.

Dave Karl: Gooz, I think you're a genius.

Gooz: I can feel it burning!

Stacy: You don't have it.

Gooz: I do too! Look at my hand!

Ned: Let me see.

Gooz: Don't touch me!

Ned: I'm not going to!

Gooz: Stop it! That's it, come on. We're going to get my dad.

Ned: No! I could go to jail.

Stacy: You've got to be kidding.

Ned: I trespassed. Do you really think anybody would put a third-grader in jail? Use your head. CJ, let's go, it stings.

Stacy: We're going to get my dad. Stay if you want. Come on, Ned, it's over.

Ned: I don't want to go to jail.

Stacy: No one is going to jail. Where does he get this stuff? Ned!

Ned: I'm coming!

Narrator: Well, Stacy's dad, Theo, took those youngsters straight over to Doc Lowell's office. Then he and Stacy went around to get all their parents. Doc took one look at the stains and knew just what to do.

Doc Lowell: Well, it's going to hurt to get this off. And the more of it you have, the more it's going to hurt.

Ned: Oh, that's just great.

Doc Lowell: I've got to finish up with another patient first. When your folks get here, I'll start treating each one of you.

Gooz: Oh, it stings! What if— what if it spreads and I get red all over?

Stacy: Gooz, it's going to be fine.

Gooz: What about clothes? If I'm all red, I'll never be able to wear pink again. The children will all be afraid of me. They'll tell spooky stories of the strange red weasel girl.

Stacy: Well, then they'll just add the word red to all the stories they're already telling. Gooz, you'll be just fine. Come on, sit down.

Mrs. Beaver: You were in the mining camp? Oh, no. Look at you. Let me see that arm.

Ned: Mom, it's okay.

Mrs. Beaver: It is not okay. Look at you! You had that last night, didn't you?

Gooz: It spread up his arm while he slept.

Ned: Enough, Gooz!

Mrs. Beaver: Don't you snap at her! Why were you in the mining camp?

Ned: I was just taking a shortcut home.

Stacy: You were not! Knock it off, Stacy.

Stacy: You knock it off! Look what's happened. You started this. You got us into it. Now we're infected and all you're worried about is yourself.

Gooz: He stormed off in a huff and wouldn't listen when we warned him not to go in there. He doesn't like it when you tell him what to do.

Mrs. Beaver: Don't I know it. Ned, do you see how your sin has caused trouble and pain for everyone?

Ned: Mom, it's not the end of the day.

Mrs. Beaver: I will not nix the sin talk. You did this to yourself, and it isn't over yet. With a sorry attitude like that, you are bound to do something like this again. Do you want that to happen?

Ned: No, ma'am.

Gooz: It hurts.

Ned: Sorry, Gooz. Sorry, Stacy.

Stacy: It's okay. I knew better than to make that promise. We should have just gone to get help.

Gooz: We promised Ned we wouldn't tell anyone about his— his arm. Then we got stained too.

Mrs. Beaver: Oh, goodness. You see how sin spreads? Doc Lowell can take care of the stain on your skin, but that's not where it's going to end. There needs to be some asking of forgiveness here too.

Ned: I said sorry.

Mrs. Beaver: You are a piece of work. You are only sorry you got stained. You've all done things you know were wrong and now you're feeling bad. But I don't see anything that even looks like repentance. Are you sorry you hurt God by disobeying Him? That's the issue here. Have you repented?

Gooz: Well, no. Not me.

Stacy: Me neither.

Ned: No, ma'am.

Mrs. Beaver: Maybe this would be a good time to pray.

Ned: Mom, it's not the right time.

Mrs. Beaver: Ned.

Ned: Okay.

Stacy: Dear Heavenly Father, I'm so sorry I made that promise to Ned. I knew better. Forgive me for going along with Ned. Help me to be able to do what I know is right next time I'm scared.

Ned: Nobody tells me what to do.

Narrator: Well, the rest of the parents came running and Doc Lowell did a real good job. It wasn't easy and it took some serious scrubbing and some medicine that hurt and bandages they had to wear for more than a week. When it was all said and done, the girls came out no worse for the wear. When their bandages came off, you'd never know that they ever had a scarlet red stain.

Ned, on the other hand, did not come out of it quite as well.

Doc Lowell: Well, Ned, it's still on your hand. Looks like we stopped it from spreading, though. I don't get it. The medicine seemed to do the trick for the girls. Must be something different about you, huh?

Ned: Yeah, I guess.

Narrator: Ned had that stain on his hand for a long time. Years, as a matter of fact. In the years to come, there were times when it spread and times when it went back to just his hand. But that's a story for another time.

Guest (Female): Remember that whenever we've done something wrong, forgiveness is only a prayer away.

When we don't do what we should

The Lord, He tells us not to run and hide

'Cause it never does any good

We'll just lose the joy that we had inside

But if we confess, He will forgive us

Give us a chance to start again

If we confess, then He can bless us

And cleanse our hearts within

He is faithful to forgive us if we confess to Him

The Lord never turns us away

He is always gracious, His love is strong

And His mercies are new each day

So we can trust His promise when we've done wrong

So if we confess, He will forgive us

Give us a chance to start again

If we confess, then He can bless us

And cleanse our hearts within

He is faithful to forgive us if we confess to Him

Since Christ is our Savior and we know we're Heaven bound

Oh, we should say that we're sorry, Lord

Whenever we have let Him down

Guest (Male): If we confess, He will forgive us

Give us a chance to start again

Guest (Female): If we confess, He will forgive us

Give us a chance to start again

Both: And if we confess, then He can bless us

And cleanse our hearts within

He is faithful to forgive us

Oh, yes, that's because He loves us

He is faithful to forgive us if we confess to Him

Timothy Owl: Well, the scarlet stain didn't spread like we'd hoped, but only because of CJ. That bear is getting to be a real problem. Yes. I think Ned might just become real useful. A lot of pride in that boy. Yes, sirree. Next time, we'll try something special.

Insight for Living: To order a copy of today's program, The Scarlet Stain, just log on to pawsandtales.org. The Scarlet Stain was written and directed by David Karl. The song, "If We Confess," was written by Sandy Howell and Nick Brown. Music was by Tim Hosman, and our sound designer was Eric Baez. Paws & Tales is an Insight for Living production.