One sunny afternoon, a donkey named Desmond was feeling a little bit blah. "Hee-haw," he sighed, which for Desmond meant, "I wish something exciting would happen!"

As he trotted through the woods, his big ears twitched. What was that? Lying near a bush was a magnificent lion's skin! A hunter must have left it behind. Desmond's eyes lit up. "Aha!" he thought, which for Desmond meant, "I have a brilliant idea!"

With a bit of wiggling and jiggling, Desmond managed to pull the lion's skin over himself. It was a bit loose, and the mane tickled his nose, but when he peeked at his reflection in a puddle, he gasped. He looked quite fierce!

Feeling brave, Desmond pranced out of the woods and into a field where some sheep were munching grass. When they saw the "lion," their fluffy tails shot up. "Baa!" they cried, and scattered in all directions. Desmond puffed out his chest. This was fun!

Next, he strolled past a group of cows. They took one look at the shaggy mane and let out a nervous "Moooooo!" before lumbering away as fast as their legs could carry them. Desmond felt very important. "Even the big cows are scared of me!" he chuckled to himself (a sort of rumbly, hee-haw chuckle).

He paraded around, enjoying the feeling of being the king of the field. All the smaller animals scurried away when they saw him. He felt so powerful, so grand! He wanted to roar like a real lion to complete the effect.

Just then, a clever fox trotted by. The fox looked at the "lion," then tilted its head. Something seemed a bit off. The "lion" was strutting in a very donkey-like way.

Desmond, bursting with pride, decided it was time for his mighty roar. He took a deep breath, opened his mouth wide, and let out the loudest, most impressive sound he could muster.
But instead of a "ROAR!" out came a very familiar, very loud... "HEE-HAW! HEE-HAW!"

The fox's ears perked up. The sheep stopped running. The cows peeked out from behind a tree.
"Wait a minute," said the fox, a grin spreading across its face. "That roar sounded suspiciously like a bray!"

As Desmond brayed again, full of excitement, the lion skin slipped a little, and one of his long donkey ears popped out. Then the other.

The animals started to giggle. Then they started to laugh. The "terrible lion" was just Desmond the donkey in a costume!

Desmond felt his face grow warm under the lion skin. He quickly wriggled out of it, feeling rather silly.

The fox chuckled kindly. "You gave us quite a scare, Desmond! But a lion's skin can't hide a donkey's bray for long."

Desmond learned that day that trying to be someone you're not might be fun for a little while, but it's always best, and much easier, to just be yourself. And being a friendly donkey, he realized, was actually pretty great.

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