Shiny Red 

     In our own backyard there were two apple trees.  One of them had yellow apples on it, while the second one had red.  One day a sad thing happened.  Lightning flashed across the sky and cracked one tree in two.  

     My father said , “We must cut the tree down.  There is only one good branch left.”

     “Daddy can we save the branch,” I asked?

     “Well, I think there is a way to do it, but we have to cut the branch down anyway and graft it into the other one.”

     “But Daddy won’t our red apples then turn yellow if we put them on a yellow apple tree?”

     “No, they can’t.  They will always remain red.”

     “Why, Daddy?”

     “Let me tell you a story and then you will understand.  One day a Black man went into the hospital.  He was in an accident and lost a lot of blood.  Then a White man came with the same blood type, and he donated it to the man.  When the man got well and left the hospital, he did not turn White.  So you see the new branch receives only the clear sap from the yellow apple tree and it did not change the color of the apple skin.”

     “Daddy, is this another one of your made up stories?  I liked it.

 “No sweetheart, I was that man.”                                         By Don Ford