A shopkeeper sells lottery tickets that grant the wishes of its winners, no matter how wild their desire, but one ticket winner makes him question his assumptions about human happiness.

In a small American village, anticipation builds for an annual event dubbed "The Lottery," where villagers select a member of the community at random to suffer an irrational and inhumane fate.

An alternate universe where all that was improbable begins to happen a lot. A black female narrator navigates the ever crumbling New York City in this new world order.

A father facing mental and physical debilitations has his sights set on capturing a drop of sunlight to bring joy to everyone in his small hometown. Despite his good deed, the town finds it necessary to deliberate: is this man an alcoholic, mentally ill, or a criminal?

A man happens upon unexpected luck in a casino, but the reason for his winnings seems mysteriously tied to a beautiful woman’s death at a slot machine.

A Jewish mother wants her daughter to marry well and have a better life, but her husband doesn't seem to care. After her other daughter passes away, she realizes she should not hesitate to make bigger sacrifices.

A working-class mother has held only one hope for her entire life: that one day, her daughter would marry well and wealthy, and take care of her in her old age. When her daughter reveals that the man she loves is not wealthy, her mother's dreams of rest are dashed and divided.

A poor, ever-hopeful couple that imagines itself on the brink of a windfall suffers setback after setback, until the husband has a revelation about what in life holds real value.

Protagonist Rose McGworski is a young mother abandoned by her husband but with a passion for bingo and her young son. She glows with pride when the child psychologist informs her that her son must be sent to a school for slow learners, mistakenly believing he’s going there to teach.

A young mother in the rural Northeast writes magical children's books based on her daughter's adventures. Years later, the mother dies, and her daughter returns to her childhood house to find out whether or not the magical world she played in as a child really exists.