Once upon a time there was an old book,
and inside this old book there was a fox,
and this fox lived inside a library,
at night, with no one around, he'd sneak out
to play with other animals hidden
by day, at night, they could frolic and say
what they thought of the world behind closed doors,
what they thought of the old librarian,
what they believe the world outside is like.
At dawn, all the animals would return
to their respective books, hidden away,
old, dusty, forgotten by their readers.
One day, a girl with golden piggy tails
entered the library just before close,
as her tummy didn't feel well at all.
Her mummy was nowhere in sight, at work
along with her papa, so after school,
she would stay with a friend until night time.
But one day, she decided, after school
she would play in the park, to the dismay
of her friend's parents who were left confused.
Little Penny, for that was her name, felt
unwell after eating a bag of worms,
not real worms, of course, but gummy fruit worms.
Penny went to the loo to do her thing,
when the librarian checked to make sure
no one was there, she didn't see Penny.
And as Penny was too busy to know
the library was closing, bolted shut,
she was left to do her thing in the dark.
Went she finished, she washed her hands and left
the washroom, she found everyone was gone,
even the old lady librarian.
Penny didn't know what to do, she tried
the door but it was bolted shut, she tried
the windows but they were too big to lift.
So she sat down at a table and slept;
around midnight, she awoke with a start,
somebody was asking her a question.
"What is the square root of sixteen?" She looked
up and saw a brown fox on the table,
quickly scurrying to the ground and back.
Was this a dream? Penny couldn't be sure,
but she knew the answer to his question,
and quietly whispered the number, "four".
Everyone on the floor ducked as a ball,
a golf ball to be exact, flew across
the room over everyone's lowered head.
The fox, dressed as a Scottish golfer, said
"Correct!" "How many feet are in a mile?"
"Five thousand, two hundred and eighty feet."
"Correct again!" The fox said. Then he asked,
"How many pennies are in a dollar?"
"That's my name!" Penny got all excited.
"That is incorrect," said the fox. "No, no,
the answer is one hundred," said Penny,
but my name is Penny and I am lost.
Then the fox said, "Correct, correct, correct."
"But what's that have to do with why you're here?"
Penny replied, "I don't know why I'm here."
"I ate some gummy worms and felt unwell."
"I'm sorry, Penny, but what can I do?"
"I am just an imaginary fox."
Then Penny cried and fell asleep. She woke
up at dawn, the fox long gone, and the door
unlocked and wide open. So Penny left.
She walked home only to find police cars
outside her house; she was scared, but went in
to hear her mom call out her name, "Penny!"
Hugs and kisses, so happy she was home.
After that night her dad bought her a phone.
Her parents overjoyed that she was safe.
But Penny went back to the library
to see if she could find the fox. Nowhere!
Never again did she see the brown fox.
She told the librarian what happened,
but the old lady could never believe
such a tall tale from such a little girl.
Indeed, no one believed a word she said
about that strange night, nobody knew what
she went through, maybe it was just a dream.
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