#!/usr/bin/env perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use feature qw(say);
use Tie::File;

my $file = q(data.txt);
my ( $start, $end ) = ( 1, 3 );

tie my @array, 'Tie::File', $file or die $!;

for ( $start .. $end ) {
    $_ = -$_;
    say qq($_: ), $array[$_];
}

untie @array;

__END__

karls-mac-mini:monks karl$ ./tie.pl
-1: cuke
-2: nose
-3: baz

karls-mac-mini:monks karl$ cat data.txt
foo
bar
baz
nose
cuke