Liberation Day: Stories

One morning, a woman struggles with writer’s block. She attempts to craft stories from inanimate things in her kitchen, including the can opener and the dog’s peanut butter treats. She calls her son, Derek, to put the dog on the leash, but he doesn’t answer or appear, even though he is meant to be staying in the yard. She becomes nervous about her son, thinking about how he once suffered a collapsed lung. The mom grabs a first-aid kit and starts to make a phone call, but she stops when she thinks about how her husband, Keith, would tell her to calm down. She distracts herself by brainstorming new titles for her story, until Derek appears in the yard, stumbling and with blood on his face. Derek tells his panicking mother that an old man pushed him into a bush while he was walking on Church Street. Shortly after, the police call to notify her that they have found a suspect; she brings Derek to the station to identify him, and Keith joins them there.

When Derek and his mother meet the suspect, Derek is unsure about whether he is truly the culprit; his mother, however, is convinced that this must be the man who pushed Derek down.