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

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.

A father tells his twenty-year-old son how he was married suddenly to his son's mother at a young age.

A man walks with a writer around London who tells him about the novel he wrote that was lost which can never be matched in beauty by any other.

Six days after getting married, a man discovers that his wife has stolen money from their family and friends, leading him to reflect on many other strange behaviors of hers. He ultimately decides that he will stay and spend his life taking the blame for her and smoothing over her mistakes.

An ordinary man gets an inch and a half of mention in the newspaper after stumbling into a low stakes rescue — and the small bit of fame sends him spiraling down a dark, egotistical path.

A man reflects on the past week while an unexpected storm rages outside, and he compares the events that follow with the fall of the Roman Empire.

Two men from the same small town share stories about a pivotal moment from their past, revealing a decades-old coincidence that explains their drastically different paths.

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 is forced to reconsider his suspicions of superstition when a racketeer decides the man is good luck.