She had to walk to school and she didn’t want to go,
She wanted to stay home and play out in the snow.
It was winter’s coldest day and the walks were slick with ice,
She had only fallen once, but she had to get up twice.

When she finally got to school, she was very very late,
It was almost ten o’clock; school starts at half past eight.
She had made up her excuse but she hadn’t thought it through;
This is what she told the teacher, even though it wasn’t true:

“I really tried to hurry but the sidewalk was so slippery,
Every time I took two steps, I would always slide back three.”
The teacher said, “Your math is pretty bad my dear.
If you lost a step each time, how did you manage to get here?”

Well she wasn’t good with figures but she was pretty swift,
Thinking up excuses had been her special gift.
“Well I took so many steps that finally I lost track,
I thought I’d best go home so I turned and started back!”