Entranced by the allure of real magic, a market boy is appointed court magician for a cruel regent. Only when he begins to lose the things he loves does he realize he was not ready to pay the cost.

A twenty-year-old boxer endures his trainer's grueling practice techniques to perfect his skills and win money from bets at his bar fights on the weekends. Though boxing has given him a purpose and a home with his trainer's family, the young man fears for his future, especially considering the tragic failures of those before him.

A father and son play an especially strategic and emotionally intense game of tennis that ends in both their losses, in one way or another.

A maid obsessed who emulates God through hard work must offer acts of contrition to her employer, who erotically punishes her daily when she fails to achieve perfection in her work.

A successful gentleman whose ventures have recently failed goes on a miserable quest to find a seam of ore, following a questionable character who claims to have found it.

An assassin begins to question the king's authority after they are forced to kill someone innocent. The assassin must decide if they will still protect the king, who is their brother, against a legendary murderer of royal figures.

A young boy born into slavery meets a newly purchased slave from Africa who refuses to let go of his culture, despite the master's attempts to christianize him.

A ceramics instructor at summer camp makes a connection with an outcast boy and allows him to stay past class in the studio, against his boss's orders.

A mysterious force controls the white room, where famed princesses and fairytale characters are forced to fight for their survival - but the ending is never satisfying.

A boy learns a lesson when he is recruited to help a blind man panhandle at an intersection.