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.

A series of vignettes about various sons along a family tree.

In 1940s Louisiana, a young boy watches his father try to combat the racist injustice rampant in their town.

A woman struggles with shaky faith and emotional isolation from her son, which intensify when she goes to see him in prison. After one particularly difficult visit, she faces her fears with her brother’s help.

A young man returns home to find a girl in desperate need of a father figure. After a few seemingly unsuccessful attempts to win her trust, he has almost given up - until an encounter with a snake in the woods gives him the chance to truly put his life on the line for her sake.

In an attempt to impress his emotionally distant father, a boy ridicules his mother, who has loved him unconditionally even in his father's absence. Wracked with guilt, he yearns for her forgiveness - only to find that she does not hold it against him.

After spending his adult life under the shadow of his father, a former NSA whistleblower, a man comes to terms with his complicated family history and what he wants for his own future.

The impact of an absent father emerges in the gruesome stories of a young daughter as her alcoholic mother listens and reflects on the struggles of raising her alone.

When a teenage girl meets with her father to remind him of his late alimony payments, she feels disappointed by his unhelpful reaction.

A woman narrates the experience of sending her young daughter off every weekend to stay with her ex-husband and his boyfriend- until things change.