Mary had a little lamb
A little lamb
A little lamb

When Mary’s parents posted pics of their kid cuddling with, uh, another kid, they got traction like you wouldn’t believe. Clicks! Likes! Shares! In the front seat, her parents talked in quiet voices about exposure, and leverage, and monetization schemes.

Mary had a little lamb

Mary wasn’t her real name, and her excitement about encounters with domestic feed animals was quickly dispelled. She continued to pose and giggle as instructed. At first because she soaked in her parents’ attention. Later, fear made her smile, and clutch whatever smelly, wriggling animal her parents ordered her to hug. No one threatened Mary with physical harm. No touched her inappropriately. But as her parents tried, without success, to recapture the charm of that first, viral image, Mary worried the only value she brought to her family was as a prop. Mary’s father circled his child, phone obscuring his face. “Relax,” he ordered Mary. “Hug the nice lambie and smile for Daddy, okay?”

Her fleece was white as snow.