Despite being on the verge of failing his English class, a forty-two-year old college student finds himself saving a life at his university.

In the South, a volunteer fireman and his second wife cling to the intoxicating dangers of his work to stave off an unsatisfying family life.

An encounter with a little boy and his abusive mother at an airport causes an old woman to reflect upon her relationship with her children and her late, depressive, and abusive ex-husband.