When a plane crashes just feet from his elementary school, a lonely 6th grader fails to find a friend or family member who can provide him comfort, so he decides to embark on a journey to connect with his estranged father.

SYNOPSIS:

In late 1970s San Diego, Duncan is a 12 year old boy obsessed with comics, baseball, and Sandra--the girl he sits next to in class. On September morning, after arriving at school and being teased by his friends, the unthinkable happens: a plane crashes just a few blocks away from his school. The trauma rattles the class, and Duncan wishes he had the courage to comfort Sandra. After seeing the debris litter the streets outside the school, Duncan walks home alone, a pillar of black smoke looming over the neighborhood. On the way, he checks in on a beloved neighbor and sees something that terrifies him. He runs the rest of the way home.

He arrives home to discover he is alone--his mother has decided to go drinking at a friend’s house, and the phone number to his father’s home is unlisted. Desperate to find someone to bring him comfort, he heads out to play ball with his friends. This proves a distraction, until his friend's parents call him back in. When Duncan’s older sister arrives to borrow some of her mother’s jewellery, she provides him with his father’s work number--and some money to buy dinner. Duncan finally reaches his father, who tells him he can’t leave work but will try to come as soon as he can.

No longer willing to sit at home alone, Duncan first tries to get help from his scoutmaster, who, in the middle of a date, turns Duncan away. He decides to take a bus to his father’s work, and is befriended by Luis, a young auto mechanic on his way home from work, and Roderick, the bus driver. Duncan is dropped off near his father’s workplace, but gets lost on the way. He is rescued by Luis, who makes sure he gets there safely. Unfortunately, Duncan discovers that his father has left. He’s brought home by his father’s co worker. Duncan is woken up the next morning by his father, but it becomes clear that his father does not really consider Duncan a priority. Duncan is unable to receive the comfort he needs from either of his parents.

Duncan decides to stop in and see Sandra, and leave her a birthday present. He has a nice visit, but is shooed away before her father returns home. Duncan then discovers that his father has lost his job, which prompts him to do something desperate--he’s going to take a bus to New York and get a job drawing comics to support his family. Roderick talks him out of it, and he finally confesses to his sister what he saw on the way home the day of the plane crash--the neighbor was killed by debris from the airplane. Haunted by the image, his guilt for running, his sister finally brings him some comfort. Duncan then realizes that he cannot depend on his parents for the comfort he needs--he can depend on his sister, his friends, but mostly his own resilience.

LEVIATHAN