In an unlikely encounter, a homeless teenage boy recounts harsh events of his life to a writer. He nonchalantly tells of an employer whose assignments caused him to have permanent physical and mental damage.

Two men sit outdoors at a restaurant during the Great Depression and gossip about the experiences and occupations of individuals they've encountered.

A teacher on the Lower East side meets a friendly man with a presence resembling a dead English poet.

A creative writing teacher sits through a conference with one his favorite students. He takes us on a journey through the characters in the story, and in his life.

A writer struggles to craft a story and begins to lose his own sanity when an idea finally comes to him.

Two boys begrudgingly spend an afternoon at a park, where their bold and embarrassing attempt to flirt with two girls leads to a troubling miscommunication.

A son tells a series of stories, most of them about his father and stepfather. As the son describes a robbery that took place at his house in high school and his experiences with his father, a former Jehovah's Witness and current alcoholic, he begins to recall details from his childhood.

A nameless person tells a story of when they had an intimate conversation over dinner with a former schoolmate whom they idealized.

Despite being on the verge of failing his English class, a forty-two-year old college student finds himself saving a life at his university.

When a writer and her old writing professor reconvene in a Mexican restaurant one final time before the professor's death, they experience a night of unwanted encounters and unnecessary criticism that leaves the writer with a bitter taste in her mouth.