After he is buried alive by a mysterious figure, a hapless artist begins to think the form of intense and scattered fractals, that evoke his artistic background and tenuous relationship with religious iconography.

An author discusses with his friend the best way to write about a poor aunt. Their words take on a new power when he manifests a literal poor aunt on his back and draws in spectators.

A man recalls his intimate friendship with his former English professor, who resolved to fuel his unsatisfied desire for playwriting during the time they were apart. In their reunion decades later, instead of the brilliant play he promised, the professor shows his former student a disturbing product of his mental instability.

In intense discussion a group leader ponders aloud, asking why hermits hide and what defines outcasts, among other cerebral queries. A group of friends discusses the oddities they have seen and perceived in their lives leather-clad hermits and criminal astronauts among them. They debate the purpose of hermitage, the classification of outcasts, and the purpose of their own reflections.

A man working at a communications community wants a new job. His coworker promises him one, so long as the man helps to hide human body parts.

Through three tales of impossible machines with abilities to manipulate the physical world, travel through time and space, and bestow telepathy onto an entire community, candidates of an engineering exam in the far future are asked to ponder fantastical implications of technology.

Alyse, a part-time writer, is unable to excavate any interest from her seemingly boring family, utterly unaware of the deeply complex and exciting adventures her brother, sister, and aunt often have

A man working at the Met is given an interesting—and daring—proposition regarding one of the museum’s artifacts.

Short bursts of inexplicable silence envelope an unnamed city and its residents, inspiring self-reflection and—much to their surprise—contentment.

A writing critic reviews the construction of Charles Chesnutt’s stories and how to write surfiction.