A trooper in a Kentucky county recounts his early days encountering an outlaw group of little people.

A merchant in Austria tells stories to customers about the former Emperor during the Great War and their unlikely friendship — one that he feels impacted the trajectory of the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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.

An elderly shopkeeper tells a customer about his experiences as a prominent actor's understudy for various decades. The customer witnesses how the old man's obsessions with his unfulfilling acting career still occupy his everyday thoughts and behaviors.

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.

A research psychologist visits a peculiar asylum patient who recounts his life story. The patient warns the researcher about how obsession with the pursuit of knowledge can make one lose sight of their humanity until it is unsalvageable.

A seasoned criminal sets out to rob a shopping mall and ends up running from law enforcement to avoid life in prison.

After being struck by lightning, ruining her chance at the Olympics in a skiing accident, and dropping out of college, a bartender in a roadhouse in upstate New York tries to survive her shift on Lobster Night.

A daughter of divorced parents commutes between her parents' houses, passing the rest stop where her older sister was killed by an extremist cult. As she learns more about the cult, she decides to visit the site of the crime hoping for answers.

A former theater worker recalls touring Ireland during a politically tumultuous time and an experience that turned him vegetarian.