A couple with a rocky marriage argues over fetching a newspaper, which becomes a catalyst for their impending divorce. When they unexpectedly reunite over a decade later, the former couple witnesses how their lives disparately transformed thanks to the fateful newspaper.

A Confederate officer begrudgingly fights in the American Civil War until his disastrous last battle helps seal the fate of the war for good. After the war, he constantly repents for his critical mistakes until, decades later, he comes to a shocking revelation about the fateful battle.

An older man meets with various friends and his ex-wife in New York City, where he has come after his fourth wife runs off with a poet.

A rambunctious teenager with an inquisitive mind causes much grief for all his New England family and neighbors when he visits them in the summer of 1914, on the eve of World War I.

A disaffected teenager skips school to mourn his dead dog and tries to puzzle out the missing variable in his life.

When a working-class family moves into a middle-class black neighborhood, class prejudices and competition for a young girl’s attention brings the tension between families to an explosive head.

In a 20th century American town, a young man spies on a decisive duel between his neighbor and her son.

After struggling to appeal to their state governor, a dysfunctional family anxiously awaits the public execution of a relative. As they wait at home new of the execution, tensions and strife erupt in a dispute over the relative's innocence.

A man plays bridge on his night off with a few distant friends. Their conversation inspires a tipsy, failed attempt to steal from a drugstore. In this 20th century jail, his excitement turns to anger and doom as he reflects on his crumbling marriage, kids, and childhood.

A middle-aged man grieving the recent death of his father visits the families of his ex-wife and his current lover. As he does, he is deeply grieved by the passage of time and how his life has changed so much in a matter of years.