Over the centuries we’ve seen countless examples of humankind’s fascination with youth, or to be more specific, humankind’s fascination with trying to be forever young. There’s the quest for the mythical ‘fountain of youth’, a spring that supposedly restores youth to those who drink from it or bathe in its waters; there’s J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, a novel in which the titular character staves off growing up by remaining in the magical “Neverland”; today Americans spend billions of dollars each year trying to reverse the effects of aging. 

Well, on today’s episode of The Apple Seed we' re bringing you stories featuring young people who would gladly trade places with an adult, if only to escape “The awkwardness of youth”. In fact that’s what we’re calling today’s episode. You’ll hear stories from Bill Harley and Don White, as well as a couple of Junior High and High School reflections from our Producer, Jeff Simpson, and Sam Payne. 

On today's episode, enjoy the following:

“Forget That Girl” by Bill Harley (23:12)

For many decades, two-time Grammy Award-winning storyteller and musician, Bill Harley, has been entertaining audiences well-familiar with “the awkwardness of youth”. In our first story today, Bill shares an experience from his days at Delaware Trails Elementary School in Indianapolis, involving his quest for coolness and his struggles to communicate with girls. From a collection of stories entitled, “Cool in School”, here’s “Forget That Girl”. 

“Junior High School” by Don White (6:27)

Don White describes the woes of what is arguably one of the most awkward times in a young person’s life. From a collection of stories entitled “More Alive”, here’s “Junior High School”. 

“I Would If I Could” by Jeff Simpson (7:17)

Apple Seed Producer, Jeff Simpson, often looks back at a particularly awkward experience, involving the opposite sex, and wishes he would have acted differently. And he’s willing to share that experience with us here on The Apple Seed. He only asks that you don’t judge him…or pity him. Here he is with a story he calls, “I Would If I Could”. 

“Camelot” by Sam Payne (13:45)

When it comes to Junior High and High School, Sam seems to have fared much better than Jeff. In fact, in an episode of The Apple Seed featuring stories about the awkwardness of youth, this may be the one entry where things turned our well for our protagonist. Which in this case is a confident young Sam Payne, the star of his High School musical, "Camelot".