In an unlikely encounter, a homeless teenage boy recounts harsh events of his life to a writer. He nonchalantly tells of an employer whose assignments caused him to have permanent physical and mental damage.

After her father kills himself, a young girl runs away with a traveling, unhoused stranger she meets at the bus stop. The two scrape and save for a life together until one day, she wakes up and he's gone. After looking for him in the cold, surviving an assault, and accepting help from a stranger, the girl realizes he's betrayed her, taking their savings and leaving. The next year, she gives birth to their child.

Triggered by a fellow addict at a group therapy session, a man finds himself on the streets, in search of anything that will help him feel better.

After Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans, an alcoholic leaves her apartment to loot—but when she's gravely injured by sharp debris, she has to rely on the kindness of others to reach safety in a dog-eat-dog world.

When an impoverished man shows up to a wealthy woman's door in dire need of help, she gives him ten dollars and tries to send him on his way. The man insists that he return the next day to thank her husband for the money, but she isn't quite sure if things are as they seem.

Walking around town, a man acts as a good samaritan, offering money and assistance to anyone he passes by. He seems to be genuinely kind-hearted until his conversation with his wife upon returning home suggests his compassion is only performative.

An ordinary man gets an inch and a half of mention in the newspaper after stumbling into a low stakes rescue — and the small bit of fame sends him spiraling down a dark, egotistical path.

A mother struggles to provide her daughter with comfort in an unstable home as her husband constantly searches for new employment.

An imaginative, bullied young boy and an elderly, suicidal cancer patient save each other from freezing to death one day in December.

Having been hospitalized for a long time, a young girl finds herself surrounded by people who cannot understand the strangeness of her illness. After her friend visits her, she must accept that her relationships may never be the same, and that her expectations that tether her to a life outside of the hospital may be very different from the disappointing reality.