diff --git a/chicken.pl b/chicken.pl
index 2e0a6dd..84763e4 100755
--- a/chicken.pl
+++ b/chicken.pl
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/perl -w
+use strict;
 use Getopt::Long;
 use constant USAGE => <<'eof';
 
@@ -11,29 +12,44 @@
 
 our %OPT;
 
-my $opt_numberOfWords = 0;
-my $opt_enumerate     = 0;
+my $opt_numberOfWords      = -1;
+my $opt_numberOfWordsRange = '15-75';
+my $opt_numberOfWordsRangeStart = 0;
+my $numberOfWords          = 0;
+
+my ( $f, $t ) = ( 0, 0 );
+my $opt_enumerate = 0;
 
 GetOptions(
-    'numberofwords|nw=i' => \$opt_numberOfWords,
+    'numberofwords|nw=s' => \$opt_numberOfWordsRange,
     'enumerate|en=i'     => \$opt_enumerate,
 ) or die USAGE;
 
-my @WORDS
-    = ( "puk", "pukaak", "cluck", "cluckity", "bwak", "waak", "bok", "bwok", "cluck-a-buh-gawk", "cock-a-doodle-doo", "bwwwaak", "gobble", "honk");
+my @WORDS = ( "puk", "pukaak", "cluck", "cluckity", "bwak", "waak", "bok", "bwok", "cluck-a-buh-gawk", "cock-a-doodle-doo", "bwwwaak", "gobble", "honk" );
 
 my @PUNCTUATIONS = ( ".", "...", "!", "?" );
 
-my @PARAGRAPH_SIZES = ( 15, 30, 75 );
+if ( $opt_numberOfWordsRange =~ m/^\d+$/ ) {
+    $opt_numberOfWords = $opt_numberOfWordsRange;
+}
+elsif ( $opt_numberOfWordsRange =~ m/^\d+-\d+$/ ) {
+    ( $f, $t ) = split( /-/, $opt_numberOfWordsRange, 2 );
+}
+else {
+    print STDERR "wrong format for --numberofwords\n";
+    print STDERR "should be either 'n' or 'n-m'. ( '-nw 50' or '-nw 30-90''\n";
+    exit;
+}
 
 my $enumerate = ($opt_enumerate) ? $opt_enumerate : 1;
 
 for ( my $e = 0; $e < $enumerate; $e++ ) {
-    if ($opt_numberOfWords) {
+
+    if ( $opt_numberOfWords >= 0 ) {
         $numberOfWords = $opt_numberOfWords;
     }
     else {
-        $numberOfWords = $PARAGRAPH_SIZES[ int( rand( scalar @PARAGRAPH_SIZES ) ) ];
+        $numberOfWords = int( rand( abs( $f - $t ) + 1 ) + ( ( $f < $t ) ? $f : $t ) );
     }
 
     # generate paragraph, with random words, capitalization, and punctuation.