An old man tells his nephew a story about how an incident involving a stolen lock eventually led to the creation of a town in 19th-century Mississippi.

A woman finds herself impregnated out of wedlock by a man who suddenly decides that he will only marry a ‘pure’ woman. She conceals the pregnancy from him in order to go forward with the marriage, but his adultery and continued irresponsibility after their wedding give her a second chance at motherhood.

In the near future, a new planet has been discovered, but excitement at this discovery quickly turns into fear and hysteria as livestock are mutilated and lights begin to appear in the sky.

An aging factory worker faces a jarring surprise at work months before his retirement. As capitalism chugs along, employees get caught in its cogs.

At a funeral in her hometown, a woman promises to help her childhood friend clean out his dead brother’s house. In the process, she uncovers unnerving truths about her childhood she had forgotten.