Sam is a puppy. He belongs to Susan Potts. Susan lives in a big apartment in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

When Sam is two years old, he’s going to be very beautiful and brown. He’s going to be a full-grown German shepherd guard dog. Susan is happy with Sam. The puppy keeps her company every day all month.

One day when Susan leaves a new chocolate bunny on the coffee table, Sam takes it. He hides the bunny under the green sofa. It is in the living room. Susan forgets about the bunny. Sam opens the wrapping paper with his puppy teeth. They are already sharp. He licks the bunny’s long ears and likes the taste. He licks the ears again and again.

Every day Sam goes under the sofa more than once to lick the bunny. He licks its ears, its short nose, and its feet. Sam loves to lick and taste the chocolate bunny.

One day Susan telephones the vet.

“I’m worried about Sam,” she says. “He isn’t eating as he used to. He has less appetite.”

“Does he act ill?” the vet asks Susan.

“No, he acts happy. Just as usual,” answers Susan.

“Then he must be eating something else,” the vet says. “When he is ill, he will feel bad. Look around the apartment today and call me tomorrow.”

“Will do,” Susan says and rings off.

“Hmm, how strange,” Susan says to herself. Then she begins to look around the apartment as the vet advised. She looks in all the closets. She looks under the beds. She looks in the laundry room. She looks in the kitchen. That’s where Sam has his food and water bowls. But she finds nothing unusual.  After that, she even looks in the bathroom. It isn’t very big, so, how can it hide anything?

“I’ll just have to think some more,” Susan tells herself.

Later, as Susan is washing the dinner dishes, she remembers something.  She remembers she sees Sam go under the green sofa all the time.

“Now why is that?” she asks herself. Sam is there in the kitchen with her. She looks down at him. He’s sitting on his little warm rug on the kitchen floor. He looks so innocent. 

“Are you innocent Sam?” she asks him. “Let’s find out.”

Susan goes to the living room and gets on the floor in front of the green sofa. She’s going to look under it. Sam does not come near Susan and the sofa. He stays at the kitchen door watching her.

When Susan sees the poor, partly-eaten chocolate bunny and wrapper under the green sofa, she shrieks, “Eeeeeiiii!”

“What is this?” she asks. She reaches for the licked and mutilated bunny.

At that moment Sam decides to go back in the kitchen and to sit on the rug again. The chocolate bunny in Susan’s hand has only half of one ear. Two feet and legs are missing completely. The other two feet and legs look terrible! They are not complete. And the nose-“What nose?” Susan says.

“Somebody’s has been bad,” Susan says, “and it’s me. Now I remember. I’m so silly. People should not leave candy on the coffee table when they have a puppy!”