Fox was in a wickedly tricky mood. So as he walked along the path that led him through the forest he was on the prowl for some delicious fun.

He licked his lips just thinking about the mischief that he could get up to. This search for entertainment did not take too long, because as he was lurking around the bushes and sneakily peeking behind the nearby rocks, he spied a still, unmoving figure in the distance. Fieldmouse was not the hardest target to find as it happened. She was sat on a log right next to the path and whistling happily to herself.

Fox decided to creep quietly up to the daydreaming animal and then, when in position, he shouted loudly her ear, 'What are you doing?'
'Ohhh…Ooo!' Squealed the shocked, shaking Fieldmouse.
'Sorry to startle you,' the grinning Fox chuckled.
'Ohh…that's okay,' assured Fieldmouse, who was trying to calm herself down.
'What are you doing?' Fox repeated.
'Errm, I'm just waiting for Mole and Hedgehog. We are going to play some games.' Fieldmouse explained.

Fox glanced around to see if the other two animals were around. Seeing that they were not he asked, 'Are they late?'
'I'm not sure,' came the uneasy response. 'I think that we arranged to meet here, but I might be wrong.' As Fox nodded his head to show that he was listening, he was busy thinking up plans of what he could do to be unkind to the lonely figure in front of him.
'Are you alright?' Enquired Fieldmouse to the dazed fox.
'Yes, sorry.' Fox said, as he shook his head to wake himself up from his mean ideas. 'I was just wondering. Do you want to come and play with me instead?'
'Oh, thank you very much Mr Fox, but I shall wait here to see if my friends turn up.' Came the sensible answer.

Fox wasn't impressed with this response, so had another go at persuading Fieldmouse to join him. However, after the vulnerable animal again failed to react to these tempting offers the fox gave up and left the solitary figure to wait for her friends. Just before he headed off Fox told Fieldmouse that if he saw Mole and Hedgehog then he would send them to her. On hearing this, Fieldmouse shouted her thanks to him and then watched as the kind fox continued along the path.

The sulky fox got bored as he carried along the path; well, it was just so empty and deserted. To make the journey more interesting, Fox decided to again explore the trees and bushes that were near to the path. He was determined to find a target that was going to be more willing than that wise fieldmouse had been. Unfortunately for the cunning character, there was nothing hidden up the trees or inside the bushes. Now in a foul mood he was just about to give up and leave. It was then that his luck changed, this was because his ears suddenly picked up the sound of two victims nearby. On detecting this noise, the thrilled fox got back on to the path and eagerly raced up to the crossroads, ready to meet Mole and Hedgehog who were coming up to it from another path.

'What are you two up to?' Fox enquired to the two figures as he casually wondered past them.
'We are going to meet Fieldmouse to play a few games,' explained Hedgehog.
'Fieldmouse?' Questioned Fox.
'Yes, why have you seen him?' Mole asked, sensing that Fox had something to share.
'Oh yes.' Fox remarked as he pointed down a path. 'I have just seen him sat on a log down there. Go about twenty steps down and you'll see him.'
'Well, thank you very much.' Mole and Hedgehog jointly said before leaving.
As the two cheery friends headed along the designated path, Fox waved to them. He watched as they disappeared into the distance and then turned to face the path that Fieldmouse was really down. As he strolled off Fox slyly smirked, before whispering 'Liar, liar, I'm on fire.'

'Come on, hurry up!' Mother Chicken shouted back to her chicks.
'But we're tired.' Came the exhausted chorus from behind her.
'Not long to go.' Mother Chicken reassured them, as she glanced back to face the long line of wearily waddling chicks.

Suddenly, all of the chicks squealed and hid behind their mother. On seeing this nervous reaction, Mother Chicken turned to find out the reason for this alarming behaviour. The reason was soon apparent; Fox was coming and coming fast. As he got nearer and nearer Mother Chicken turned to face him eye to eye. She took her position, then stood firm and strong. Her final act was to add extra protection for her young by opening out her wings as wide as possible to keep them all hidden from view. Fox was approaching the knee wobbling chicken at lightening speed. But instead of snarling or growling he was yelling something at her. As he got closer Mother Chicken realised that the words were 'Quick! Quick!'

Then, instead of grabbing Mother Chicken and racing off like had been expected, the fox screeched to a halt in front of the chicken and screamed at her 'Stop! Stop! Fire! Fire!' The poor fox had to put up with two violent strikes of wing waving and beak pecking before Mother Chicken stopped to check what had been said. The confused chicken took a second to go over what she had heard before flapping 'What…What are you on about?'
'Your house! It's on fire!' Fox shouted in her face before collapsing to the ground.

While Fox was heavily panting and trying to get his breath back, Mother Chicken was totally befuddled. She spun her head swiftly from side to side. One moment she was checking on her anxious, trembling chicks, the next she was looking in the direction of home imagining what it looked like. The confusion only left her when Fox got up, grabbed her and bellowed 'Look go…Now! All of you…Go!'

Mother Chicken needed no more persuasion. She budged her petrified chicks past Fox and cried out 'Come on dears, we must rush home!' As the chicken family scurried off, they shouted back to Fox 'Thank you! Thank you! But please, please hurry with help!'
'Don't worry, I will!' Fox assured them as he set off in the opposite direction. However, as soon as he turned the next corner and glanced to check that the chicken family were out of sight he jumped on to the grass. He then spent the next few minutes rolling on the ground laughing hysterically and cruelly. His trick had worked perfectly. As he got up and started to slowly move off he craftily chuckled 'Liar, liar, you're not on fire, but I am.'

On his journey Fox could not stop laughing at how sly he had been. He was only interrupted from these cunningly proud moments when he heard the sound of nearby talking.
'Come on, you just need to try and get a little bit higher.'
'Are you sure?'
'Yes, come on. You can do it.'
Fox slowly and silently moved forwards to investigate what was going on. When he knew that he was really close, he pushed through a bush to sneak a peak at who the conversation was between. What he saw was Robbie the Rabbit and Sarah the Squirrel playing. They were obviously trying their hand at a spot of climbing. Sarah was stood on a rock that was about half way up to the summit, whilst Robbie was one rock below her.
'Come on, you were so close.' Sarah urged her fellow climber.

Robbie listened carefully to the instructions that Sarah proceeded to give, and then he prepared himself to join his friend on the same rock. He swung his arms, bent his legs, took a deep breath and then leapt high up into the air to meet Sarah face to face.
'Hello you.' Sarah said as she welcomed him on her rock. 'You need a rest?' She asked. Robbie gently nodded as he puffed out a large amount of air. Fox continued to silently watch on from the bush. It was incredibly uncomfortable for him, what with the spikes digging into his sides and the leaves tickling his bottom and feet. Fox wanted to move, but he knew that he had to cope with this awkward situation for now. Well, if he had tried to wriggle into a better position then he would have definitely caused suspicion, and for now he only wanted to observe the two animals because he had not yet come up with a tasty plan.

Robbie and Sarah carried on, oblivious to the fact that they were being spied on.
'Next one?' Sarah checked with her partner.
'Oh yes, I'm ready when you are.' Robbie enthusiastically answered.
Sarah successfully showed Robbie how to do it on her first attempt. Unfortunately, try as he could, the next steep, jagged rock proved too difficult for Robbie. Even the extra encouragement and direction from Sarah didn't help him this time.

Fox moved from under the bushes, he was now ready to use the opportunity to his advantage.
'Are we having difficulty?' He shouted up to the two frustrated animals.
'Just a bit.' Robbie replied.
'What's the problem?' Fox yelled back.
Robbie spent the next few minutes explaining the trouble. Even though he knew exactly what the problem was Fox pretended to be very interested and concerned with how to help Robbie achieve his target.

When Robbie had finished, Fox decided to give out his own advice. He told Robbie that he was being silly and not using his head properly. Or, more precisely, his ears properly.

On seeing that Robbie and Sarah did not understand him, Fox proceeded to tell the two animals a story about some rabbits that he had met. The story described in detail how these rabbits had been trapped in a hole and were struggling to get out of it before some killer dogs attacked them. With his audience engrossed, Fox explained how an amazing escape took place.
'Well these rabbits panicked so much that their ears began to flap and flutter in every direction. They were just so full of fear. What happened though, was that the flapping and fluttering got so fast that they actually began to float up into the air and bit by bit flew up and out of the hole.' After leaving enough time for the gasps of astonishment and expressions of wonder from the two young animals, Fox carried on. 'You see, they never knew until that moment that they could in fact fly. After that they never had any problems. When the they got stuck in a hole, caught in a ditch or stuck halfway up a mountain they were able to escape.' He finished his story with 'They were so lucky to survive, but they did. If they had not found out at that moment, then they would have been dead.'

When the story had been completed, Robbie and Sarah stared at each other before looking back at Fox and laughing hysterically at him. However, this laughing stopped when they both saw that Fox was not joining in with the laughter. Instead he was looking back at the both of them very seriously. After the momentary silence that followed, Fox insisted that what he had told them was the complete and utter truth. Sarah and Robbie were not convinced. So the next exchanges of discussion involved Robbie and Sarah explaining why it was so impossible and Fox maintaining that it could happen.

Finally, the two climbers gave in and accepted that maybe it was true, and that maybe, just maybe, it might work. After much persuasion Fox even convinced Robbie to try it out. He directed Robbie to the edge of the rock that he was on. He then described how if Robbie walked off the rock and then quickly fluttered and flapped his ears that he would soar above Sarah to the top of the mountain. Sarah tried to interject and put a stop to this, but a mix of Fox interrupting her and Robbie being too dazzled with what he was hearing meant that she was never going to stop the experiment. In the end she gave up.
'Are you ready?' Fox checked.
'Yes!' Bellowed Robbie.
'Right then.' Fox said, trying to hide his smile 'Three…Two…One…Jump!' And with that Robbie stepped off the ledge and began to ferociously flap his ears. Then at great speed the trusting rabbit plummeted down to the ground with an almighty CRASH!
'Robbie! Robbie!' Yelled Sarah, as she raced down the rocks to check on the severely hurt rabbit. 'Are you alright?' She asked fearfully.
Robbie just slightly nodded his head as he looked at her and then pointed down to his bleeding right leg and then tenderly tapped the top of his head. After lots of agonizing movements and screams of pain Sarah lifted Robbie up and then helped him hobble home.

As Sarah left, she glanced around trying to spot where Fox had gone. It was no use; he was already well away and crumpled up on the forest floor in fits of laughter. The image of Robbie falling was going through his mind again and again. It was the most hilarious scene he had ever witnessed. Eventually, Fox found enough energy to heave himself up from the grass and then he headed off home. He was very content with how his day had gone. So, as he sauntered through the forest, he merrily sang 'Liar, liar I'm really on fire.'

That night while Fox was relaxing, the rest of the animals gathered to discuss what had happened during the day. After the three traumatising experiences were repeated in detail, a discussion took place about what to do. The animals that had been affected were obviously upset and wanting Fox to face the severest of consequences. Well, all of them, except Mother Chicken who waited for quiet before calmly giving her own opinion. 'If we do something against Fox, then he will just come up with another plan to get us back.' She then stopped to make sure that everyone agreed with this point. On seeing that they were she continued. 'So instead, I think that we should come up with an idea that is kind and thoughtful which might involve him, so that he gets to understand us.' After this, Mother Chicken repeated her action of checking to see that everyone was again in agreement with her.

Now that they were all of the same opinion, the only thing to do was to come up with something that would tempt Fox to join them. It took a while, but eventually it was decided that a party would be thrown to cheer the whole forest up. A party that everybody, including Fox was going to be invited to.

On the day of the party Fox was sat at home thinking through two thoughts. The first one was that he should go to the party because it could be pleasant for him to meet different animals and have a laugh with them. However, the other one was that the invitation was really a cruel trap that the rest of the forest animals had set for him to fall in to. As he considered his choices, he had visions of him being stood alone in an empty room, feeling extremely foolish.

This second thought continued to play on the mind of Fox. In the end, it occupied his attention so much that it meant that he wasted his night trying to work out if the invitation in front of him was a nasty trick or not. At the same time, the other animals were having great fun at the party where they sung, danced, chatted, played games and ate as much party food as they could.

The lie had only happened in the liar's mind.