Compiling notes for an English essay, a sixteen-year-old girl recounts her middle-class upbringing, kleptomania, and eventual coercion into prostitution and assisting with drug use. After she suffers violence and abuse, she is eventually rescued — but the experience traumatizes her.

The ex-wife of a famous male writer considers a story he wrote about a neighbor they once had.

A man refuses to bury a cholera infected corpse on his land, then a year later dies from cholera himself. His legend is told and misted by several following generations.

A creator whimsically imagines up his island and decides to add two women and a magic poker. By the time his imaginary characters row away, he is no longer sure who created who.