High up on a sunny hill, where the grass grew soft and green, lived a young boy named Leo. Leo’s job was to watch the village sheep. Every day, he’d take them up the hill to munch on the tasty grass. But watching sheep, Leo thought, was a bit… well, a bit boring. The sheep just went "Baa!" and ate, and "Baa!" and slept.

One afternoon, Leo had an idea. A cheeky, not-so-good idea. "I know!" he thought. "I'll make things exciting!" He took a deep breath and shouted as loud as he could, "WOLF! WOLF! A big, scary wolf is chasing the sheep!"

Down in the village, the farmers and woodcutters heard his cries. "Oh no!" they said. "Leo needs help!" They dropped their tools and ran up the hill, huffing and puffing, ready to scare away the wolf.

When they reached the top, they saw… no wolf. Just Leo, rolling on the grass, laughing. "Ha ha! I tricked you!" he giggled. The villagers were not happy. "Leo," said one kind woman, "that's not a funny joke. We were worried." They grumbled and went back down the hill.

A few days later, Leo was bored again. The sheep were still just munching and baa-ing. "I'll do it again!" he decided. "It was so much fun last time!" So, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "WOLF! WOLF! The wolf is back! It's even bigger this time!"

Again, the villagers heard him. Some of them hesitated. "Is he tricking us again?" one asked. But others said, "What if it's real this time?" So, a smaller group of villagers hurried up the hill. And what did they find? Leo, laughing even harder than before. "You fell for it again!" he chortled.

This time, the villagers were very cross. "Leo," said the village elder, "if you keep telling lies, no one will believe you when you tell the truth." They shook their heads and marched back down, feeling quite annoyed.

Then, one quiet afternoon, as Leo was half-asleep under a tree, a real shadow fell over the flock. A big, grey wolf with hungry eyes and sharp teeth crept out from the woods! It licked its lips and started to stalk the plumpest sheep.

Leo jumped to his feet, his heart pounding. This was no joke! "WOLF! WOLF!" he screamed, his voice trembling. "A real wolf! Help! Please, help me!"

Down in the village, the people heard his shouts. One farmer looked up. "Oh, that's just Leo," he said, and went back to his work. "He's trying to trick us again," said a baker, not even bothering to look up from her bread. "He won't fool us a third time," they all muttered. No one came.

Leo shouted and shouted, but his cries were ignored. The wolf chased the sheep, scattering them all over the hillside. Poor Leo could only watch, tears streaming down his face, as the wolf caused chaos among his flock.

When the wolf finally disappeared with a sheep, Leo slowly gathered the frightened ones that were left. He felt very sad and very foolish. He knew then that the villagers were right. Because he had lied before, no one believed him when he finally told the truth. And that, Leo learned, was no fun at all.

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