Maybe something like this?

my @one = ('$apple', '$pear');
my $two = '$orange';
eval "$one[0] = 'hello'";  # evaluates  $apple = 'hello'
eval "$two = 'goodbye'";   # evaluates  $orange = 'goodbye'
print "$apple $orange";    # hello goodbye
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(Note the single quotes in '$apple' etc. With double quotes, the (empty) global variable $apple would be interpolated.)

Update: Another way would be to use symbolic references:

use strict;
use warnings;

my @one = qw($apple $pear);
my $two = '$orange';

our ($apple, $pear, $orange);
{   no strict 'refs';
    ${substr $one[0],1} = 'hello';    # ${'apple'}  = 'hello';
    ${substr $two,1}    = 'goodbye';  # ${'orange'} = 'goodbye';
}
print "$apple $orange";   # hello goodbye
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(You'd need package variables and no strict 'refs' in this case, though)

oo crazy cool.. Two questions though: what might be a 'good' place to use this? and does it run under 'strict'?
........
Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others.
-- Groucho Marx
.......

and does it run under 'strict'?

It would run under use strict, if you declare the variables, e.g.

my ($apple, $pear, $orange);        # lexicals

# or

our ($apple, $pear, $orange);       # lexically scoped package variabl
+es

# or

use vars qw($apple $pear $orange);  # global package variables
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what might be a 'good' place to use this?

There are almost certainly better ways to approach virtually any typical problem you might have... :)