There was a boy who watched the sheep upon the hillside green, The loneliest young shepherd that the village folk had seen. He sat beneath the open sky from morning until night, With nothing but the wind and wool and fading autumn light.

He thought a little trick might bring the villagers his way, So he cried out "Wolf! Wolf!" across the meadow bright as day. They came with rakes and lanterns and they hurried up the hill, But all they found was silence and a boy who just sat still.

The boy just laughed and watched them walk until they all were gone. He thought it was a funny game, a clever little jest, But something small inside his chest sat heavy in his breast.

A second time he called them out with panic in his voice, And once again they dropped their work -- they felt they had no choice. But when they found no wolf again, the baker shook his head. "We cannot keep on coming, son," was all the baker said.

The boy sat quiet after that, alone upon the hill. The evening shadows grew around, the air turned sharp and chill. And then he heard a rustling in the bushes, low and near, And yellow eyes came gleaming through the darkness, cold and clear.

"Wolf! Wolf!" he screamed with all his might, his voice rang through the air, But not a single lantern came, not one soul climbed the stair. The village heard him calling but they shrugged and shut their doors. "He's only playing tricks again," they murmured from their floors.

The boy ran down the hillside fast and herded what he could, He saved a few but lost the rest, and sat there in the dawn, And understood that when trust breaks, the helping hands are gone.

He walked into the village square and spoke with trembling voice, "I broke your trust. I told you lies. I know I made a choice. I cannot make you trust me now with just a single word, But I will show you day by day -- the truest voice you've heard."

And so the boy kept watch each day and only spoke the truth, And slowly, gently, brick by brick, he offered them the proof. That trust is not a gift you're given once and then you're done-- It's something that you build and keep, like rising with the sun.

The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf