In 2018, a pedestrian on the New York City’s Lower East Side witnesses a young Black couple in love, prompting a consideration about the storytelling, hope, and Nelson Mandela.

A woman comes home dreading her grandmother's funeral, but she finds that moments of shared sorrow allow families to come together and celebrate life.

A divorced 16 year old girl reflects on how the sexual trauma she experienced as a child perpetuates in her relationships with men throughout her life, forcing herself to grow up too early and leaving her starved for affection and love.

After a drunk college boy falls off a balcony, a slew of characters--a groundskeeper, another student, a chaplain, and an RA--relate to his death in different ways. Their stories are sidelined for the core matter: that a boy died.

A writer reflects on his mother’s incredible strength, which he depicts in a short story. However, his mother does not approve of the piece as he had hoped, and he soon makes an important discovery.

After a terrible accident, a boy and his family spend the next years in a depression that verges masochism.

Three months after the death of his wife, a man tries to convince himself that he has not truly suffered a loss, all the while missing his wife more than ever.

When a woman finds her purse stolen, she retraces the steps of her eventful day only to realize that the encounters, and her life as a whole, are empty and purposeless.

The tragic loss of his childhood friend puts a boy on the path of religion - but his inner feelings remain as repressed and turbulent as they always were.

A man meets a frail homeless girl at a train station. The brief interaction leaves him questioning and doubting himself and the nature of compassion.