 Natalie gets a fishing pole for her 8th birthday. She hates it. All she wants is to hang out with her imaginary friend, Leonard, her stuffed lion with a big patchwork heart. Her dad thinks she needs to grow up and stop playing with stuffed animals, so Natalie decides to run away with Leonard and not come back. She runs down to the lake by her house. She sees wise old Mr. Porter sitting by the lake fishing. She explains to him that she s running away because she doesn t want to grow up and lose Leonard. Mr. Porter tells her that growing up doesn t mean losing the things most precious to her. But she doesn t get it. Natalie and Leonard decide to run away into the woods. They look for a path, but get lost. They set up camp and roast marshmallows. Leonard thinks that maybe Natalie it might be a good idea to grow up. Natalie avoids the subject. She lays down to rest and wakes up to find Leonard gone. She looks and looks and finds Leonard s patch work heart and a trail of marshmallows leading her back home. Natalie decides to take up fishing and finds out that growing up really doesn t mean giving up the things most precious to you.