In New Orleans, two sisters survive Hurricane Katrina, but one is left unalterably damaged by the storm.

A middle aged woman finds out shocking new details about her past while cleaning out the attic of her childhood home.

A traveling salesman tells a story in an attempt to bore his kidnappers after he is beaten, robbed, and held hostage by two hitchhikers.

A woman goes to pick up a neon sign and is entranced by the sign maker. Her husband at home seems to be going crazy as he is obsessed with making wooden dolls.

After Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans, an alcoholic leaves her apartment to loot—but when she's gravely injured by sharp debris, she has to rely on the kindness of others to reach safety in a dog-eat-dog world.

In Galveston, Texas, in the year 1900, a wealthy businessman leaves his family on a train to Fort Worth and takes a ferry back to the island as part of an elaborate plot to murder a rival who dishonored his wife, planning to catch a later train; however, after the act is complete, he is trapped and killed in a hurricane, one of many deaths. His wife, safely in Forth Worth, learns of his death and continues an ongoing affair with his friend's son.

Thousands of years in the past, men in Babylon try to build a tower that reaches heaven. One miner, in his exploration, learns the mind-baffling true shape of the world.

Protagonist Walter Stuart drives determinedly, with curious excitement, into a hurricane to save anyone who might be stuck. He weathers a torrential night with a stranded brother and sister, but by morning he has lost his mind and attempts to kill both of them.

A tiny Chinese village is slated to be inundated by a flood, and the government offers resettlement checks and industrialized homes to citizens who relocate so that a dam can be built in the village’s place. A seed keeper and schoolteacher are among the last to stay behind.