$ cat name1.txt
0. Amber BYU
1. Kim BGSU
2. Kim Washington
$ cat harm1.txt
0. J
1. B F K
2. A I J
$ 

##</code><code>##

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use 5.010;
use lib "template_stuff";
use steps1;

say "enter basename for file";
my $word = <>;
chomp $word;

# main data structure
my %vars = (
  name  => 'name1.txt',
  harm => 'harm1.txt',
  diff => 'diff1.txt',
  word  => $word .'.rtf',
);
my $rvars  = \%vars;
my $return = pop_texts( $rvars );
say "returned was \n $$return";
my $return2 = format_texts( $rvars, $return );
__END__ 

##</code><code>##

sub pop_texts {
  use strict;
  use 5.010;
  use File::Slurp;

  my ($rvars) = shift;
  my %vars    = %$rvars;
  my @name   = read_file( $vars{name} );
  my @harm  = read_file( $vars{harm} );
  for (@name) {
    s/\s+$/ /;
    my $int = s/^(\d+\.)(\s+)(\w+)(\s+)(\w)(.)/$3$4$5/;
    say "int is $int";
    say "six was $6";
  }
  for  (@harm) {
    my $int = s/(^\d+\.)(\s+)(\w)(.)/was harmed by $3$4/;
    say "schmint is $int";
  }


  my $text1 = '';
  for my $i ( 0 .. $#name ) {
    $text1 = $text1 . $name[$i] . $harm[$i] . "\n";
  }
  my $reftext = \$text1;
  return $reftext;
}

##</code><code>##

$ perl hears1.pl
enter basename for file
rt7
int is 1
six was Y
int is 1
six was G
int is 1
six was a
schmint is 
schmint is 1
schmint is 1
returned was 
 Amber BU 0. J

Kim BSU was harmed by B F K

Kim Wshington was harmed by A I J