The Yearling

I was wandering through the woods one day,
in up state New York.
When I came upon this young girl.

She was a quick young girl,
Who didn’t say much,
But whispered a lot.

She had long blond hair,
Blue, blue eyes,
And rose bud cheeks.

I asked her, her name,
And she said it was…
Yearling.

So I asked Yearling,
“What are you doing in these woods,
all by yourself at your age?”

You see Yearling,
She seemed only
9 or 10 years old.

So Yearling said,
“I’m picking Strawberries,
for my Grandmother.”

So I thought to myself,
What a nice girl,
to do, something like that for her Granny.

So I asked Yearling where she lived,
And she told me,
That she couldn’t tell me.

She was right to tell me that.
After all she didn’t know me,
And she was only 9 or 10 years old.

So Yearling said she had to go,
And I said I wanted to ask,
One more question.

So Yearling,
All curious,
Asked what?

So I asked Yearling,
My final question.
How many strawberries did she pick?

Yearling looked at me confused,
Then she got a little mad,
And said, I don’t know, does it matter.

So I looked at Yearling,
And said, don’t worry,
Just go home to your Grandmother’s house,
And bring the strawberries to her,
When you get there,
Count how many there are,
And write down the number.
Then eat three.
Then ask your Grandmother if she can guess,
How many you collected.

If she can guess the correct original amount,
Tell her the truth,
That you ate three first.

If she guesses the correct amount,
After you ate the three strawberries,
Lie to her.

If she guesses any other amount,
Just give her the strawberries,
And smile.

Then I told Yearling goodbye,
And told her to have a good day,
And I hoped to see her one day.