Pal lies in his basket in the kitchen and chews on a bone. Arthur ties his shoes.
Arthur: There are some things you do by yourself, like brushing your teeth or tying your shoe.
D.W. walks into the picture looking miffed.
D.W.: Or eating all the pancakes!
Imaginary flashback: Arthur eats a whole stack of pancakes in one bite. D.W. comes in with maple syrup.
D.W.: Did you just eat all the pancakes??
Arthur: Not all of them.
He holds up the plate on which a small crumb is left.
D.W.: Hh!
The flashback ends. Arthur opens the refrigerator.
Arthur: But there are some things you need a friend for, like playing ball or doing homework.
Flashback: Arthur does his homework in the treehouse while Buster reads a comic.
Arthur: What's eight times nine?
Buster: Hm... 273.
Arthur: Two hundred and... Wait! What?! That's not right!
Buster: You didn't say you wanted the right answer.
The flashback ends. Arthur takes a carrot out of the refrigerator.
Arthur: But if there's one thing I’ve learned. If you're looking for a lost bunny, you're gonna need some very special help.
~~~
Title Card: Larry loses the leash
~~~
In preschool, D.W. looks into the cage of the school rabbit Larry.
D.W.: And I'll tell you stories and braid your fur and let you sleep on my pillow...
The Tibbles talk to Miss Morgan.
Timmy: How come D.W. gets to take Larry home?
Miss Morgan: Because it's vacation week and she volunteered.
Timmy: But we volunteered too.
Miss Morgan: Well, I just though that the Reads’ house might be... er... a little more peaceful.
The bell rings.
Miss Morgan: (relieved sigh) Okay, everyone, time to go!
She picks up the rabbit cage and walks to the door with D.W..
Miss Morgan: Let's get those coats on!
Tommy: I can't believe she's trusting D.W. with an innocent little bunny.
Timmy: She's gonna mess up. I know it.
~~~
At home, D.W. excitedly runs into her room followed by Arthur with the rabbit cage and Mrs. Read.
D.W.: Over here! On my desk!
D.W. pushes a toy rabbit off her desk and Arthur puts the real rabbit there.
Mrs. Read: Caring for a pet is a big responsibility, you know.
D.W.: Not for me! Larry and I are best buddies.
Arthur: You know, liking Larry isn't the same as taking care of him. You have to feed him and clean his cage and keep his water fresh...
D.W.: You are not the bunny sitter! I am!
Mrs. Read points to a sign on the cage.
Mrs. Read: It says here: Do not remove Larry from his cage unless he is safely secured.
D.W.: Mom, trust me. I will be the best bunny sitter in the whole wide universe.
Mrs. Read hands her a bag of dry rabbit food and leaves.
Arthur: Do we have any carrots?
D.W.: Arthur! Bunnies don't eat carrots! They eat pellets!
Arthur: Hey, Larry. Hey, little bunny guy.
D.W.: You can go now! Larry and I wanna be alone!
She pulls and pushes him out of the room. Arthur listens at the door.
D.W.: You are the cutest little bunny. Cutie, cute cute cute...
~~~
That evening, the Reads eat spaghetti.
D.W.: It's so amazing. Larry does everything I tell him. If I say hop, he hops. If I say eat, he eats.
Arthur: Bunnies always eat.
D.W.: You may know about dogs, Arthur, but you don't know beans about bunnies.
Mrs. Read: Do you remember ‘Hopalong Bunny”, D.W. That was your favorite book once upon a time.
D.W.: Oh yeah, I do.
~~~
After dinner, Mrs. Read and D.W. sit on the living room couch and Mrs. Read reads D.W. a book.
Mrs. Read: “He lived by the forest and hid from the fox / in a burrow so snuggly and spare. / All day long he ate greeny grass / and sniffed the fruity fresh air. / Then home straight to bed beneath the tool shed.”
Mrs. Read+D.W.: “Goodnight, little hopalong hare.”
D.W.: (sighs) I love that book. Poor Larry. He has to live in a cage. He doesn't get to eat greeny grass.
Mrs. Read: But he has you for a friend, right? It doesn't get any better than that.
~~~
The next day, D.W. takes Pal’s leash and carries Larry outside.
D.W.: Shh! We'll just go outside for one minute, so you can eat some greeny grass, okay?
She puts the leash over Larry’s head and puts him down.
D.W.: Can you smell it, Larry? The fresh, fruity air? Mm-mm.
She walks into the yard without noticing that the much too big leash slides off Larry.
D.W.: If I were a bunny, I'd want a cage and a yard. A cage for when it's night and a yard for all the rest of the time. And sometimes I would wanna go to the beach for a vacation. Larry?
She turns around and notices that Larry is gone.
D.W.: Larry?!
She runs and looks into the bushes by the fence.
D.W.: Larry!!
She runs through the yard in panic.
Inside, Arthur just got a glass of milk from the refrigerator. He sees D.W. run past the window.
D.W.: Help, help, help!
Arthurs puts the glass down and runs outside.
Arthur: Are you okay? What's going on?
D.W.: Larry got lost! I was taking him for a walk and he ran away!
Arthur: You put Larry on a dog leash?!
D.W.: Yes, he needed greeny fresh air.
Arthur: What??
D.W.: Hurry!
~~~
A while later, Arthur searches the bushes with a flashlight.
Arthur: Not here.
D.W.: Where is he?! We’ve looked everywhere!
Arthur: Remember that part of the instructions where it said: Do not remove Larry from his cage unless he is safely secured.
D.W.: Don't yell at me! You lost Pal!
Arthur: I know! And after that I was really really careful!
D.W.: While you're busy being mean, there's a baby bunny out there, lost and alone in the cold cold world. (cries)
Arthur: (sighs) Come on, I have an idea.
~~~
Arthur and D.W. ring the Compsons’ doorbell. Ladonna answers.
Arthur: We need help finding a bunny.
Ladonna: Wait here a minute.
She closes the door.
Arthur: Ladonna's really good with pets. I mean, she tamed a rat.
D.W.: A rat isn't a pet.
Ladonna comes out followed by Bud who is carrying a butterfly net.
Ladonna: You've come to the right place. I'm very good with bunny situations.
Bud: You might even call her a bunny whisperer.
D.W.: A what-er?
Bud: Someone who understands bunnies. Who can tell what they're thinking.
D.W.: Oh. Like me.
She and Arthur run after Ladonna and Bud.
Ladonna: Come on, let's get this show on the road!
~~~
In the Reads' yard, Ladonna points to a bush.
Ladonna: A-ha! See that broken twig? A bunny did that.
Arthur: How can you tell?
Ladonna: Because it's partly chewed. And also: tracks. Fresh tracks, made in the last hour. Hm...
She walks into the middle of the yard.
Ladonna: So Larry slipped the leash right about here. He went that way and nibbled on the bush, and then I'm guessing he hopped over to the petunias and had himself a feast.
She walks over to the petunias and shines a flashlight on them.
D.W.: But where is he now?
Ladonna: Well, if we follow the tracks, it looks like he came on through here, then left the yard.
The tracks in the loose earth lead to a loose board in the fence. Ladonna looks over the fence. There is lawn on the other side.
Ladonna: Hm. No more tracks. He could be anywhere by now.
D.W.: Larry. My poor, poor, lost little bunny! (cries)
Arthur: Calm down, okay. I have an idea.
He runs off.
Ladonna: Don't worry, we'll find him. Right now's a great time for a bunny to be outside.
D.W.: Why?
Ladonna: Because in the daytime, bunnies have to hide from foxes...
Bud: Foxes are the worst! They can eat a bunny in one big gu...
Ladonna quickly puts her hand over his mouth.
Ladonna: ...and when it gets dark, they have to worry about owls and such. So right now, early evening, is the safest time for a bunny to eat.
D.W.: Is he eating greeny grass?
Ladonna: Yup. Greeny grass and lots of other stuff.
Arthur comes back with a carrot.
Arthur: I got a carrot. Do you think if I waved it around, he could smell it?
Ladonna: Can't hurt. But right now, I'm gonna try my special bunny call. Bud, D.W., you need to make like bananas and split.
Bud leads D.W. away.
Bud: Come on to the picknick table and I'll tell you a story.
D.W.: It better not be one of your boring ones.
~~~
Shortly afterwards, Bud and D.W. sit at the table in the yard while Arthur makes a circle of rabbit food around Ladonna who is holding the butterfly net.
Ladonna: This might look weird, but it worked once so I'm gonna try it again. If Larry shows up, don't try and catch him. Just tap me on the shoulder.
She closes her eyes.
Ladonna: Larry. Mmm... Can you hear me? Mmm...
The camera moves across the yard. In the park, some wild rabbits look up.
Ladonna (offscreen): Larry? Can you hear me? Mmm...
The Tibbles are using the slide in their yard. Both are dressed as cowboys.
Ladonna (offscreen): I know you're out there.
Timmy: Wahoo!
Tommy: Hahaha!
They run across the yard with a lasso.
Timmy: Yeeha!
Their grandma looks out of the door.
Mrs. Tibble: Time for your bath, kiddos.
Tommy: But we have to lasso a mud cow!
Mrs. Tibble: Two minutes!
She goes back inside.
Tommy: There's one!
He points at a flower pot.
Tommy: Come here, muddy!
He throws the lasso over the pot and pulls it on its side. Larry is sitting behind it.
Tommy: It's Larry!
Timmy: D.W. must-a lost him!
Tommy: She lost him but we found him!
Timmy: We’re heroes!
They run at Larry who hops away and they fall down.
Tommy: Agh! Oh.
They run past Larry who is hiding under the slide.
Timmy: Ah!
He changes direction and runs into Tommy. Both boys fall down.
Ugh!
Tommy: Oo...
Larry hops away.
Timmy: Come back here!
Tommy: That's an order!
~~~
Larry crawls under a loose board in the fence and hops under the Molina’s camping table. Then he hops across the lawn and the sprinklers go on. Larry hops across the Reads’ yard.
Ladonna: Larry... Mmm...
Larry hops past Ladonna.
Arthur: Hh! Larry.
Larry scratches his ear.
Ladonna: Mmm...
Arthur taps her on the shoulder.
Ladonna: It worked. You still got that carrot?
Arthur takes out the carrot, breaks off a bit and throws it to Larry. He eats it.
Ladonna: Get him as close to me as you can.
Arthur throws Larry to more pieces. When he gets close enough, Ladonna catches him with the butterfly net.
Ladonna: And... got ya!
Bud is talking to D.W. who is lying on the table asleep.
Bud: Did you know that turkeys will follow you home if you let them? One time I was...
Arthur and Ladonna come running with Larry.
Arthur: We got him! We got Larry!
D.W.: (snores)
Arthur: How long has she been asleep?
Bud: Basically since I started talking.
Arthur: Let's get her inside.
Arthur picks D.W. off the table and leads her to the house.
~~~
Arthur tucks D.W. in bed while Ladonna puts Larry in his cage. D.W. talks in her sleep.
D.W.: Larry... Where you're going... I have your leash...
Arthur, Ladonna and Bud sneak out of the room.
In her dream, D.W. is inside the Hopalong Bunny book and sniffing the grass with Hopalong.
D.W. (narrator): Let's sniff the greeny grass. Let's sniff the fruity air.
The Tibbles look out from behind a tree.
Timmy+Tommy: (mean laugh)
D.W.: What are you doing here?
Timmy+Tommy: Bunny loser, bunny loser!
Hopalong hops away.
D.W.: No, come back! Larry! I can't runu that fast! Wait up! Waiiittt....
D.W. wakes up. It is now fairly dark outside.
D.W.: Hh! Oh no! I lost him!
She gets out of bed and sees Larry in his cage.
D.W.: Phew! It was just a bad dream.
Arthur comes in with the phone.
Arthur: Oh, you're awake. It's for you.
D.W. takes the phone. The Tibbles are on the other end.
D.W.: Hello?
Timmy+Tommy: You lost Larry!
D.W.: What? No, I didn't! He's right here in his cage! Say something, Larry!
She holds the phone close to the cage.
D.W.: Huh. I guess he's tired. Oh well. Bye!
She hangs up. Arthur gives Larry a piece of carrot.
D.W.: Hey, what are you doing?
Arthur: Giving Larry a carrot.
D.W.: How many times do I have to tell you: he doesn't like carrots.
Larry eats the carrot.
D.W.: Oh! Hêhê. I guess I was wrong. Huh. Maybe you do know something about bunnies after all.
Arthur: Yeah, you could say that.