In a Thai village, the life of a boy who the head monk believes has unlocked the highest state of enlightenment is jeopardized when the village chief seeks to exploit the local festival of floating lanterns for profit. Upon finding out the Thai village chief's evil scheme for the local lantern festival, a precocious child's life is threatened.

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.

An American tourist on a trip to Nice, France with his sick wife visits a Mardi Gras parade of flowers where he grapples with the transience of life, happiness, and beauty.

In a Priory community by a yellow lake, a young man works for his mother's acquaintance to build the basement of her beach house. He is pushed to complete the project before the community summer solstice celebration, though the celebration turns out to be a rather cheerless, mundane success without necessitating the finished basement anyway.

Alyse, a part-time writer, is unable to excavate any interest from her seemingly boring family, utterly unaware of the deeply complex and exciting adventures her brother, sister, and aunt often have

As she walks alongside the Hudson River with her friend, a woman excitedly explains her intricate vision of what would give her happiness.

Jeremiah, an atheist and an in-debt adjunct media studies professor, arrives at his Calvinist in-laws’ for Christmas, where he must deliver the Christmas dinner prayer and mend his strained relationship with his wife.

A man's birthday gift to his flamboyantly Russian Jewish father-in-law elicits both an unexpected reaction and a series of colorful, revelatory anecdotes.

In this metafiction, the many lives of an unnamed man are scrutinized as he passes through millennia.

Two friends decide to recreate the Santa Claus legend on Mars—with a few twists.