"I was never paid for my appearance in Arthur's school play," said Wilbur
Rabbit during his interview with Fox Hansom. "I'm still waiting for the check
to come in the mail."
"That afternoon Wilbur, my dad, and I took the same flight to Hollywood to wrap up our episode," said Arthur. "Little did I know that I would miss something really exciting..."
----
The eight hundred seats in the hall that Mrs. Armstrong had booked for her first campaign rally were filling up rapidly...and the official starting time was still fifteen minutes away.
At the front of the hall, Mrs. Armstrong was preparing slides for her presentation, while Mr. Armstrong talked with Sue Ellen.
"I want to ask you something, Dad," the girl said.
"Go ahead," said her father.
"What will happen if Mom gets elected, and you get assigned to another country?"
Mr. Armstrong thought for a second.
"Why don't you ask your mother that question?" he said evasively.
"I did," Sue Ellen answered. "She told me to ask you."
Mr. Armstrong thought for another second. It still didn't help.
"It's too early for me to answer that question. We'll see what develops."
As Sue Ellen walked away, she pictured a worst-case scenario...
She was wandering through a desert wasteland, the sun beating down on her skin. As she exited a pass between two sand dunes, she was horrified to see a gigantic Zord-like robot towering over her, with her father standing at the control panel.
"You're going to Paraguay with me! Bwahahaha!"
Sue Ellen turned and ran, but was soon confronted by another giant robot, one controlled by her mother...
"You're staying in Elwood City with me! Bwahahaha!"
As Sue Ellen watched in horror, the two giant robots started to battle each other. Soon scraps of metal were flying all over the desert terrain...
...then she suddenly collided with a pair of gigantic Crosswires.
"Hi, Sue Ellen," said Mr. Crosswire cheerfully. "I can't seem to stop running into you."
"You must be really excited for your mom," said Mrs. Crosswire. "She's going to be mayor of Elwood City."
"Uh...yeah," said Sue Ellen without enthusiasm. "I'm just thrilled. Where's Muffy?"
"She and Alan went to Town City in the limo," Mr. Crosswire explained.
"Then Brain's all better?"
"More or less," Mrs. Crosswire answered.
Mr. Crosswire picked up one of Mrs. Armstrong's transparencies and examined it thoughtfully. "Hmm...yes, these are pretty convincing statistics."
"Thanks, Ed," said Mrs. Armstrong as she fiddled with the overhead projector.
"No doubt about it, Hank," said Mr. Crosswire to Mr. Armstrong, "that wife of yours has a fine head on her shoulders."
Mr. Armstrong grinned. "Well, you don't think I married her for her looks, do you?"
"I'll wait until after the rally to kill you," Mrs. Armstrong said to him.
The Crosswires were closely followed by Mr. Frensky, who was, surprisingly, not wearing his nurse uniform.
"Where's your uniform?" Mrs. Armstrong asked him.
"Where's your sari?" Mr. Frensky asked back.
"I only wear the sari on TV," Mrs. Armstrong explained.
Mr. Frensky looked out at the assembled throng and observed that the chairs were all occupied. People were standing next to the walls, and more and more were trying to push their way into the hall.
"This is a little more than eight hundred," he remarked.
Mrs. Armstrong surveyed the crowd with concern. "I'll just have to talk really loud, and hope I'm not violating the fire code."
Sue Ellen tapped on her hip. "Mom, we don't have enough buttons for all these people."
"Great," Mrs. Armstrong muttered. "You'll just have to count them by hand, then."
"Oh, joy."
Mrs. Armstrong started to speak into the microphone. "Testing...testing..." Her voice echoed throughout the hall.
As Sue Ellen undertook the thankless task of counting the seemingly numberless masses, Mrs. Armstrong began her discourse.
"Citizens of Elwood City, my name is Daisy Mack Armstrong."
Applause and cheers rang up from the audience.
"As you know, I am running for mayor of Elwood City."
Once again she was interrupted by cheers and applause.
"I served two terms as a city councilwoman. For the past nine years I have lived in various parts of the world with my husband Hank, who is seated up here with us. Many things have changed since I started my political career, but one thing has remained the same...Mayor Crook!"
A few boos were heard from the audience members.
"Mayor Crook thinks legalized gambling is a good thing for Elwood City."
More boos were heard.
"Nine hundred and twelve...nine hundred and thirteen..." Sue Ellen muttered as she counted the people standing in the aisles.
She suddenly gasped. Nine hundred and fourteen was a familiar-looking goat man...
The man noticed Sue Ellen's gasp and looked down at her. "Hello, Miss Armstrong," he said in a friendly manner.
"You're Mayor Cook," Sue Ellen observed.
"Yes," replied the mayor. "At least someone here is getting my name right."
"It's nice to meet you," she said politely, then moved on. "Nine hundred and fifteen...nine hundred and sixteen..."
Shortly Mrs. Armstrong sat down, and Mr. Frensky rose to the podium.
"I lost everything because of the casino," he began. "My savings, my family, and almost my life. I was on the verge of throwing it all away when four kids came to my side and gave me hope..."
It occurred to Sue Ellen that Mr. Frensky was probably lying, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. "One thousand and one...one thousand and two..."
One thousand and eight. That was the number of people inside of the hall. Sue Ellen pushed open a rear door to see how many people were standing outside, listening to the proceedings through the speakers...
...and beheld a multitude about twice as large as the one inside.
She groaned.
----
"The election's two weeks away," said Arthur as Fox Hansom interviewed him. "Mrs. Armstrong's doing pretty well in the polls. We're all excited to see how it turns out."
"Thank you very much, Arthur," said the smiling Fox. "We're about out of time, so I'd like to thank our guests once more. Wilbur Rabbit and Arthur Read, stars of The Bionic Bunny Show. Coming up: Yet another episode of Bionic Bunny!"
As Fox's grinning face vanished from the TV screen, the Reads clapped and cheered to celebrate Arthur's successful interview.
"That was awesome!" shouted D.W.
All across the neighborhood, which was now blanketed with DAISY FOR MAYOR campaign signs, the kids and their parents reacted positively to Arthur's TV interview.
"Way to go, Arthur!" exclaimed Buster, who wore a WE LOVE DAISY T-shirt. "You da man!"
"That was so cool!" said Muffy. At the end of the string she held was an orange hot-air balloon shaped and painted like Sue Ellen's head, complete with hair puffs.
Sue Ellen's real head was looking a little downcast. She had just switched to a news show, which had announced that her mother was 12 points ahead in the latest polls.
"She's gonna win," she said to herself. "My mom's gonna be mayor. What if my dad transfers somewhere without her? What if we split up like the Frenskys did?"
(to be continued)
"That afternoon Wilbur, my dad, and I took the same flight to Hollywood to wrap up our episode," said Arthur. "Little did I know that I would miss something really exciting..."
----
The eight hundred seats in the hall that Mrs. Armstrong had booked for her first campaign rally were filling up rapidly...and the official starting time was still fifteen minutes away.
At the front of the hall, Mrs. Armstrong was preparing slides for her presentation, while Mr. Armstrong talked with Sue Ellen.
"I want to ask you something, Dad," the girl said.
"Go ahead," said her father.
"What will happen if Mom gets elected, and you get assigned to another country?"
Mr. Armstrong thought for a second.
"Why don't you ask your mother that question?" he said evasively.
"I did," Sue Ellen answered. "She told me to ask you."
Mr. Armstrong thought for another second. It still didn't help.
"It's too early for me to answer that question. We'll see what develops."
As Sue Ellen walked away, she pictured a worst-case scenario...
She was wandering through a desert wasteland, the sun beating down on her skin. As she exited a pass between two sand dunes, she was horrified to see a gigantic Zord-like robot towering over her, with her father standing at the control panel.
"You're going to Paraguay with me! Bwahahaha!"
Sue Ellen turned and ran, but was soon confronted by another giant robot, one controlled by her mother...
"You're staying in Elwood City with me! Bwahahaha!"
As Sue Ellen watched in horror, the two giant robots started to battle each other. Soon scraps of metal were flying all over the desert terrain...
...then she suddenly collided with a pair of gigantic Crosswires.
"Hi, Sue Ellen," said Mr. Crosswire cheerfully. "I can't seem to stop running into you."
"You must be really excited for your mom," said Mrs. Crosswire. "She's going to be mayor of Elwood City."
"Uh...yeah," said Sue Ellen without enthusiasm. "I'm just thrilled. Where's Muffy?"
"She and Alan went to Town City in the limo," Mr. Crosswire explained.
"Then Brain's all better?"
"More or less," Mrs. Crosswire answered.
Mr. Crosswire picked up one of Mrs. Armstrong's transparencies and examined it thoughtfully. "Hmm...yes, these are pretty convincing statistics."
"Thanks, Ed," said Mrs. Armstrong as she fiddled with the overhead projector.
"No doubt about it, Hank," said Mr. Crosswire to Mr. Armstrong, "that wife of yours has a fine head on her shoulders."
Mr. Armstrong grinned. "Well, you don't think I married her for her looks, do you?"
"I'll wait until after the rally to kill you," Mrs. Armstrong said to him.
The Crosswires were closely followed by Mr. Frensky, who was, surprisingly, not wearing his nurse uniform.
"Where's your uniform?" Mrs. Armstrong asked him.
"Where's your sari?" Mr. Frensky asked back.
"I only wear the sari on TV," Mrs. Armstrong explained.
Mr. Frensky looked out at the assembled throng and observed that the chairs were all occupied. People were standing next to the walls, and more and more were trying to push their way into the hall.
"This is a little more than eight hundred," he remarked.
Mrs. Armstrong surveyed the crowd with concern. "I'll just have to talk really loud, and hope I'm not violating the fire code."
Sue Ellen tapped on her hip. "Mom, we don't have enough buttons for all these people."
"Great," Mrs. Armstrong muttered. "You'll just have to count them by hand, then."
"Oh, joy."
Mrs. Armstrong started to speak into the microphone. "Testing...testing..." Her voice echoed throughout the hall.
As Sue Ellen undertook the thankless task of counting the seemingly numberless masses, Mrs. Armstrong began her discourse.
"Citizens of Elwood City, my name is Daisy Mack Armstrong."
Applause and cheers rang up from the audience.
"As you know, I am running for mayor of Elwood City."
Once again she was interrupted by cheers and applause.
"I served two terms as a city councilwoman. For the past nine years I have lived in various parts of the world with my husband Hank, who is seated up here with us. Many things have changed since I started my political career, but one thing has remained the same...Mayor Crook!"
A few boos were heard from the audience members.
"Mayor Crook thinks legalized gambling is a good thing for Elwood City."
More boos were heard.
"Nine hundred and twelve...nine hundred and thirteen..." Sue Ellen muttered as she counted the people standing in the aisles.
She suddenly gasped. Nine hundred and fourteen was a familiar-looking goat man...
The man noticed Sue Ellen's gasp and looked down at her. "Hello, Miss Armstrong," he said in a friendly manner.
"You're Mayor Cook," Sue Ellen observed.
"Yes," replied the mayor. "At least someone here is getting my name right."
"It's nice to meet you," she said politely, then moved on. "Nine hundred and fifteen...nine hundred and sixteen..."
Shortly Mrs. Armstrong sat down, and Mr. Frensky rose to the podium.
"I lost everything because of the casino," he began. "My savings, my family, and almost my life. I was on the verge of throwing it all away when four kids came to my side and gave me hope..."
It occurred to Sue Ellen that Mr. Frensky was probably lying, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. "One thousand and one...one thousand and two..."
One thousand and eight. That was the number of people inside of the hall. Sue Ellen pushed open a rear door to see how many people were standing outside, listening to the proceedings through the speakers...
...and beheld a multitude about twice as large as the one inside.
She groaned.
----
"The election's two weeks away," said Arthur as Fox Hansom interviewed him. "Mrs. Armstrong's doing pretty well in the polls. We're all excited to see how it turns out."
"Thank you very much, Arthur," said the smiling Fox. "We're about out of time, so I'd like to thank our guests once more. Wilbur Rabbit and Arthur Read, stars of The Bionic Bunny Show. Coming up: Yet another episode of Bionic Bunny!"
As Fox's grinning face vanished from the TV screen, the Reads clapped and cheered to celebrate Arthur's successful interview.
"That was awesome!" shouted D.W.
All across the neighborhood, which was now blanketed with DAISY FOR MAYOR campaign signs, the kids and their parents reacted positively to Arthur's TV interview.
"Way to go, Arthur!" exclaimed Buster, who wore a WE LOVE DAISY T-shirt. "You da man!"
"That was so cool!" said Muffy. At the end of the string she held was an orange hot-air balloon shaped and painted like Sue Ellen's head, complete with hair puffs.
Sue Ellen's real head was looking a little downcast. She had just switched to a news show, which had announced that her mother was 12 points ahead in the latest polls.
"She's gonna win," she said to herself. "My mom's gonna be mayor. What if my dad transfers somewhere without her? What if we split up like the Frenskys did?"
(to be continued)
