In a future where technology has advanced to the point where humans can undergo "optimization" to rid themselves of emotions and increase their mental functions, one man decides to cling to his humanity in an effort to atone for his sins and appreciate the beauty of being human.

In a world where there is no smell, taste, pain, death, or digestion, the people are left hungering for one thing: love.

Years after facing abuse from the hermit overseeing a nature preserve, two children—now adults—enact their revenge.

A woman, living with her husband, is overcome with a strange, inexplicable ailment to her body.

A daughter, on the verge of becoming a mother, learns a great deal in spending time with her own mother.

A mother, her two children, and their stepfather come over to a friend’s for a dinner on Labor Day.

The ex-wife of a famous male writer considers a story he wrote about a neighbor they once had.