A long time ago, animals looked different. Kangaroos had no tails, and wombats had high, round heads.
Mirram the Kangaroo and Warreen the Wombat were good friends who lived together in a bark hut built by Warreen. Mirram loved sleeping under the stars and often teased Warreen for preferring the warmth of the hut.
"Sleep outside with me!" Mirram would say. "The fresh air and stars are wonderful."
"It's too cold and wet outside," Warreen would snuffle. "I like my warm fire."
Mirram kept taunting Warreen until one night, the wombat agreed to try sleeping outside. He soon got cold and waddled back inside, much to Mirram's amusement.
When winter came, the winds grew harsh. Mirram, sleeping outside, endured the cold rain, telling himself he wasn't afraid. One stormy night, he could bear it no longer. Soaked and freezing, he hopped to the hut and banged on the door.
"Let me in!" he screamed.
"No! There's no room!" yelled Warreen.
Angry and shivering, Mirram forced the door open. "I'm inside now, and you can't throw me out!"
Grudgingly, Warreen let him sleep in a damp corner by a hole in the wall. The fire went out, and Warreen slept soundly, even laughing in his dreams, which made Mirram furious.
In the morning, stiff and sore, Mirram took revenge. He dropped a large rock on Warreen's head, flattening his forehead. "For not helping me! Now you will always live in a damp hole to remember this night."
Their friendship ended. Warreen planned his own revenge. He made a spear and, when Mirram was washing, threw it with all his might. It struck the base of the kangaroo's spine and stuck fast.
"From now on, that will be your long tail!" Warreen yelled. "And you will never have a home!"
And so, to this day, wombats have flat foreheads and live in dark, damp burrows, while kangaroos have long tails and sleep outside under the stars.