Being angry all the time made him very hungry. On his wrist was a golden watch tied tightly with a shiny yellow ribbon. All the animals would scurry away when he looked at his watch – they knew it was his dinner time. His tummy would rumble and he would bare his teeth. Nobody liked him.

One morning, after a restless sleep, he noticed tufts of scarlet hair all over the rock he had been sleeping on. He patted his head and realised the hair had come from his mane. He growled, ”Why is my beautiful scarlet hair dropping out?“

Although he was puzzled, he was hungry too and he went looking for food.

“Hoo, hoo, ha ,ha!” the monkeys giggled as they jumped around in the crooked trees, “You look silly”.

“Grrrrr, I don’t want anyone to see me like this!” Roary growled. He ran to a nearby cave and stayed there until it was dark. He was so tired and hungry, he fell asleep.

After a couple of hours he woke up with a jump. To his dismay, he saw more scarlet hairs on the cave floor. He felt his head, and knew there weren’t many left.

“I’m not going back to sleep, my mane will fall out and then EVERYBODY will laugh at me!”

He paced back and forth all night, but the more angry he got the more his hair fell out. By sunrise, all his mane had disappeared and he was crying his eyes out.

“What am I going to do?” he grumbled, standing up and stomping to the water hole. “I need somebody to help me get my mane back!”

Next he tried the village where all the humans lived, but when they saw him coming they ran as fast as they could to the nearest crooked tree.

Then he tried the beach, but when the creatures in the rock pool saw him coming they scuttled away to the nearest crooked tree.

Roary sat down on a rock, put his face in his hands and groaned. Out of the blue, a brave boy approached him, with a beaming smile on his face.

“I suppose you’ve come to poke fun at me,” he growled. The boy stepped backwards but the smile didn’t disappear.

“No, I just wanted to help. When I saw you in the village you looked different…”, the boy’s voice trailed off.

“Grrr, I’ve lost my mane and I want it back!” Roary shouted, “Nobody will help me, they just run away.”

“Hmmm, you need to try to be more pleasant. You are seen as angry and selfish,” the boy dared to say.

Roary looked up. “Will YOU help me find my mane… please?” As the boy smiled and nodded, the lion linked arms with him and they went back to the cave.

“This is where all my beautiful mane fell out,” he said gravely.

The boy looked very thoughtful. “To be honest, I don’t think we can put your original mane back on, but we may be able to find alternatives. Let’s go back to the beach and see what we can find,” he said, smiling reassuringly.

On the way Roary asked, “What’s your name little boy?”

“Joe,” the boy replied, “After my grandpa. See – you are getting more friendly by the minute!” he smiled.

When they arrived at the beach the boy stood very still – he’d had an idea. Joe grinned and ran off. Roary called after him but there was no reply. Suddenly, something wet and slimy dropped on Roary’s head.

“Yuck!” Roary shouted, spinning around to see Joe standing on a high rock with a pleased look on his face.

“There you go, a new mane,” he said proudly.

“No way, it’s too wet and slimy.” Roary complained, bowing his head as seaweed goo dripped down his face.

Next, they tried the twigs from a tall crooked tree, but Roary complained again. “Ouch! They’re too sharp and prickly.”

So they carried on and soon came to a halt in front of an enormous birds’ nesting area. Above the nests there were large bee hives, dripping with honey.

“Stand under the bee hives.“ Joe ordered.

“But it’s dripping with honey.” Roary complained.”

“Thats the point!” Joe replied, pushing him under the bee hives. Grabbing a handful of bird feathers from the nests, Joe stuck them neatly on Roary’s head.

“Urghhhh, it’s too sticky and tickily.” Roary shuddered. “I give up Joe, we’re never going to find a new mane.”

Roary rubbed off the sticky mess from his head and sat down next to Joe, who was humming a cheery tune – he hadn’t lost hope and was determined to help his new friend. Both their tummies rumbled and Joe noticed Roary look at his watch.

“Wait a minute, I’ve had another idea!” Joe exclaimed. He grabbed Roary’s paw and together they ran back to the village. When they got to a small shop Joe told Roary to stay outside. It was a long time before Joe came out, carrying lots of bags, bursting with ribbons.

“Brilliant – but what gave you the idea?” Roary asked.

“Your watch – the ribbon on your watch!” Joe replied as he tied the ribbons onto Roary’s head.

Roary shook his head hard to check they wouldn’t fall out. He liked the rustling sound of the ribbons. It made him smile and he felt different.

“I feel so joyful! This is much better than being angry all the time. I must go home right now and put right the things I have done. I’ll help all the birds I have hurt, pay for all the food I have stolen and I’ll never bite anyone ever again!”

With that, he gave a little jump and trotted into the sunset, his ribbons streaming behind him.