Dussehra was around the comer. Like every year, this year too, the inhabitants of Sonavan were preparing for Ramlila. Tino the Elephant was to direct the play. He was to announce the actors selected to play the characters.

Tino announced, “This time Ricky the Horse will play Ram, Oreo the Rabbit will play Laxman and Sophie the Cow will play Sita. Jeffrey the Monkey will play Hanuman and Barry the Bear will play Ravana.”

Monty the Monkey was disappointed that he didn’t get selected for the role of Hanuman. He asked Tino, ‘’Tino, will you please let me play Hanuman this year?”

“You always forget dialogues and you want to become Hanuman? I don’t want the audience to throw tomatoes at us. If you want, you can be a part of the monkey army,” said Tino. All the animals started laughing.

The rehearsals started the very next day. Tino gave the script to each actor and said, “Everyone has to remember their dialogues well. The king of the jungle, Corin, will be here to watch the play. We will have to work very hard and give our best performances.”

Tino bought different masks for Ram, Lakshman, Sita, Hanuman and Ravan and handed them over to Kitty the Cat. She was given the responsibility of the costume designer.

Tino said to Kitty, “All the characters should look real, Kitty. It’s your responsibility to do that.”

“Don’t worry, Tino. All the characters will look just like the characters,” Kitty enthusiastically said.

Monty was not acting in the play but he would come by and watch the rehearsals every day.

There were just three more days remaining for Dussehra. The stage was ready for the play and seating arrangements were made.

Tino said to all the actors, “We will have the final rehearsal tomorrow and we will perform on the stage itself.”

The next day, all the characters came for the final rehearsal. The stage was decorated and many animals from the jungle came to watch the rehearsals. Monty sat right in the front and was really excited to watch the final rehearsal of the play.

The play was about to start. Tino was standing behind the curtains and was holding a sheet that had all the dialogues.

During a scene, Tino intervened and asked Barry to stop. Tino said, “Barry, your voice has to be stronger. The audience has to be scared of you.”

After some time, it was Hanuman’s scene. Tino attached an extra tail on Jeffrey’s tail for it to look more real. He stuck an extra cloth with oil on it.

Just when Jeffrey was busy playing his part, his extra tail accidentally lit the curtain on the stage. There was fire on the stage. Everyone started running around.

“Fire! Fire!” all the animals yelled out.

Ricky hurriedly informed the fire brigade.

Tino looked around and said, “Where is Jeffrey?”

“I think he is caught in the fire and might be still on the stage,” Oreo said.

Everyone was worried. Just then, Monty picked up a few mats that were lying around. He quickly soaked them in water and ran towards the stage. Monty wrapped a mat around himself and got on the stage. He noticed that Jeffrey was lying unconscious there. Monty picked Jeffrey up on his shoulders and wrapped him up with a mat and safely brought him down.

The wet mats saved Monty and Jeffrey from burns. Monty placed Jeffrey on the ground, but Jeffrey was still unconscious. Tino sprinkled some water on Jeffrey’s face and he woke up. Jeffrey’s hand was slightly burnt and so he was soon sent to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the fire brigade had reached. After half an hour, the fire was in control.

Tino patted Monty on his back and said, ‘’You saved Jeffrey’s life today. We are indeed thankful to you. This Dussehra would have been otherwise sad.”

A dejected Sophie said, ‘’What about our play now? Jeffrey is injured and our stage is destroyed,”

“We worked so hard on it,” Barry said. 

“We will rebuild the stage. But who will play Hanuman now? It will take a few weeks for Jeffrey to be better,” Tino said.

Monty said, ‘’Tino! If you don’t mind, I can play Jeffrey’s part.”

“But how will you say the dialogues? How will you act?” Tino asked.

“Don’t worry about that. I know all the dialogues. I used to watch the rehearsal every day,” Monty excitedly said. He then started saying all the dialogues.

Tino was surprised and happy at the same time. He hugged Chimpu. All the others picked Monty up and welcomed him in the play.