A catalog of the tools different alien species use to read and write, leading to fundamental questions about what it means to make patterns of knowledge against the noise of the universe.

A linguist is called to investigate robots that seem to have created their own language.

An old linguistics researcher is ousted from his university position on the frontier of a small island he acculturated. Upon his return home, he begins to believe that he and his life's work are marginal.

When another witch moves in to her neighborhood and opens a bakery too, a witch must keep a close eye on her and her antics.

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.

A maid, silently and in thought alone, contemplates her own position in a house full of opulent, decadent lives.

When a man's brother disappears, he thinks back to their arduous relationship—and the traumatic moment which fractured it.