Denise, a music teacher, and her co-worker, Stacey, are sharing "banana stories." Denise recalls an event that took place around the time Princess Diana died. At the time, Denise had still been with her partner, Benny, and their son, Dayton, was 5 years old. Denise recalls that they had a dog named Fillmore, a stray they had adopted, who would claw at their house’s hardwood floors. So, she would often take Fillmore to a baseball field where he could run around and tire himself out. Since there was an adjoining playground, Dayton would tag along and play there. One morning, though, Fillmore escaped from the field through an opening in the surrounding gate and ran into the road. Panicked, Denise told Dayton to stay on first base while she ran after Fillmore. Denise eventually found Fillmore, alive and well, but realized she had left his leash with Dayton. So, she had carried the 50-pound dog back to the field...only to realize that Dayton was missing. Denise had become even more panicked and started to question if she was fit to be a mother—she’d had a manic episode back in college and hadn’t trusted herself since. But she had found Dayton, sitting on a bench at the far end of the playground and eating a banana. Denise had angrily asked Dayton where he’d found the banana, since she hadn’t packed it for him. Dayton started crying and whining and told Denise that a man had given it to him. Assuming the worst, Denise got a description of the man from Dayton and the two drove in the direction the man had walked away. They found him a few blocks away, and Denise stopped the car, blocking traffic, to chastise the man. Denise demanded that the man give her his name and address, and when the man refused, Denise reached for the man’s pocket and grabbed his wallet. But she was only able to catch a glimpse of his first name—Kurt—before he swatted her hand away and collected his belongings. After Denise threatened Kurt further, he explained that he was walking along the sidewalk when Dayton approached him and asked for his banana. Dayton had said he’d missed breakfast and was hungry, so Kurt gave him the banana. After taking a few minutes to calm down, Denise asked Dayton if what the man said was true; Dayton replied yes, he had asked the man for the banana. Denise says she realized then that she and her son would never be close. Stacey responds that Denise is projecting given what has happened since, but that she couldn’t have known it then. Denise reveals that she doesn’t even know where Dayton is living—she thinks Pittsburgh—and that she tried to call him a few months ago and left him a message, but he never answered. Stacey then shares her banana story: a few days ago, someone left a banana in her chair, she didn’t see it, sat in it, and upon realizing, couldn’t stop laughing. Stacey points out that now she will think of Denise’s banana story and their conversation as the end of her own banana story.