When a young girl in a contemporary northwestern American town dies, one of her neighbors and former friends rethinks her relationship with death.

Eventually it came to pass that no one ever had to die, unless they ran out of money. Then, unless they were so horrible that society had to dispose of them. Then, unless wanted to or could be talked into it. Then, no one would die so long as they had just one person who loved them.

In a series of commentaries on the human condition — life, truth, happiness, death — a spinster sister takes in her dead sister’s children; a man is entranced by the endless waves which roll and crash in the ocean; a carpenter wrestles with the burden of being everyone’s confidante; a dying railroad crossing watchman shares a simple but complex wisdom.

A man wakes up one day and realizes the world has ended, and he is the only survivor. He wanders aimlessly and crashes at another house before encountering a woman, who seems to be the only other survivor.

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.

In a future where death is volunteered and the population is controlled, a soon-to-be father waits for his triplets to be born—and he must find three volunteers to die in order for them to live.

An old woman experiences several blackouts as she approaches death.

A troupe of graverobbing Nigerian children weave together rich tales of their deceased victims set in America, a place full of villains.

Professor gives a talk about the human appetite for death

A man refuses to bury a cholera infected corpse on his land, then a year later dies from cholera himself. His legend is told and misted by several following generations.