As an orphaned Floridian boy grows up to become a mathematician with a healthy family of his own in the 20th century, the memory of his unhappy father lingers, threatening his peace of mind.

A chance encounter with an old ex-girlfriend causes a man to remember his past relationship with her and with his cousin, who immigrated from Korea to America to live with his family as a small child. Though she died in a motorcycle accident years ago, when his ex-girlfriend asks how she's doing he lies, creating the life she never had in his imagination.

A boy growing up during Japan’s postwar economic ascendancy comes to grips with the sudden death of his mother and the eventual passing of his blind, aging father.

A two-bit magician seduces a mother who has recently lost her young son in a motorcycle incident. Later, he finds himself back at the gravesite and uses the little magic he actually has inherited from his truly magical father to bring her son back to life.