In a town so small it can hardly be called a town, a black woman serves a rich white family until a series of horrific events causes the single joy in her life to vanish.

In an East Ohio town, a middle-aged man checks into a hotel and explores the various characters, events and surroundings that define small town life.

In a small town, a resident watches as the people and place change. He recounts eight seemingly disparate stories, but the town connects them all.

A man leaves his family in NYC to look for a job out West. During the trip, he helps an injured young boy, sleeps with a waitress, and considers leaving his family for good.

A father facing mental and physical debilitations has his sights set on capturing a drop of sunlight to bring joy to everyone in his small hometown. Despite his good deed, the town finds it necessary to deliberate: is this man an alcoholic, mentally ill, or a criminal?

On the 4th of July, a small Texas diner receives new customers from all over the nation. One family arrives to the small town in search for an old war buddy, Bill, who offered the husband a job, but the townspeople insist that Bill's work is not accepting any new workers.

A middle aged man becomes the talk of the town when he shares a crazy story regarding his missing friend and creatures that live beneath a water pump house.

In a small rural farm town, a middle-aged poet struggles with aging and finding meaning in his life.

When a northern writer arrives in a rural Tennessee town to better understand the culture for his novel, he is put through a harrowing night by the menfolk who, in the course of an elaborate joke, convince him he has inadvertently killed the son of his hosts.

A teenaged boy wants to steal from his poor family to buy a girl balloons, but when he gets home his mother falls ill and he must help his family and community pray for her.