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.

When the California Santa Ana winds blow down from the desert and through the windows of a lonely young woman’s house, she is imbued with the inspiration to embrace an unexpected encounter.

A self-reliant but lonely woman becomes excited by the incidental visit of two boys in her apartment. When she unwisely lends them her long-buried trust and kindness, she quickly regrets it.

After his car breaks down at the base of a steep hill, a man encounters a stranger and walks with him to the ranch at the top of the hill, both seeking to solve the mystery of why the stranger’s wife has been taking apart their ranch piece by piece.

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.

On a cold February night, a man innocently eavesdrops on the lives of those around him — but when he overhears a violent situation, he must decide if he can remain a bystander.

While witnessing his boys of his neighbor's family commit chaotic damage to the people of the neighborhood, a father continues to show kindness. The neighbor's family faces their own drama until they are no longer a part of the neighborhood.

A starving man wandering the countryside finds solace in a young woman's cottage where she offers him food and rest. But when the young woman starts to behave as if the man is a threat, he must decide whether or not to live up to her fears.

A former divorcé runs into an old friend on the streets of New York City. Over a drink, the men speak about an endless cycle of generosity that the friend has wrapped himself up in, while the protagonist considers his comparatively smaller problems.

A driver in West Virginia suddenly encounters an older man standing in the middle of the road and agrees to take him to his destination. Though the driver judges the man for his weary appearance, the older man reveals to the driver his life's regrets.