EQUIPMENT: A metronome, a microphone
Setting: The metronome is placed near the microphone so that the sound will be amplified. The narrator speaks into the microphone off stage.
NARRATOR: (As metronome begins ticking) Oh, no. Don't turn around. There aren't any actors here...just a voice and a clock...a voice and a clock. (Pause for ticking) You seek the actors are you...and the only stage-setting we need is a boy, and you can't see him because he is a mile away...or 10 miles away...or the boy in your mind.
That boy in your mind...he's a Cub Scout...or is he? He's a boy in a den...or is he? He's in uniform and he's growing in character and developing in citizenship and he's having fun... or is he? Or is he the boy you didn't reach quite far enough to touch? (Pause) Well...you say we've reached him? That's that!
We've done it, folks! Another Cub Scout! We've done our job!... But have we? Let's see...let's check it out.
Adventure... fun... comradeship... exciting new things to do... recognition... a chance to grow... the real Cub Scout program! Look at the boy... the one you have in your mind. Does he just belong to a pack?
Or does he really get the Cub Scout program? Only you can answer that. You... and the voice... and the clock... (pause)... and the boy.
There stands the boy: He is 8 or 9 or 10. No. Wait a minute. He's 8, 9, 10, but he doesn't just stand there. Remember the clock?...(pause).. with each tick of the clock he is getting older.
When you're 30 or 40 or 50 that tick is pretty distinct, isn't it? But when you're 10, time goes rather fast...and when you are 8, the only time there is now! We can circle the globe in a few days. The atom explosion takes 1/16 of a second. That doesn't leave much time, does it? So that's where the voice comes in...the voice in the back of your head that says: "We can't wait too long to reach out and touch that boy... and when we've touched him, we can't wait too long to reach out and give him the real thing. And when we do give him the real thing, we can't stop too long to pat ourselves on the back, because that boy has a younger brother, or a friend next door. Our community, our nation, and the future of the world stand here beside us with the voice...the clock...(pause).. and the boy." God give us the strength to do the job.