A young woman tries to attract the attention of a colonel so that she can live a comfortable life.

An impoverished thirteen-year-old boy growing up during the Great Depression gets into a serious fight with an older man over a fifty-cent coin.

After a boy finds a dime on the ground, he buys a load of bread — only to have it stolen by his abusive uncle. The boy must decides if he wants to stand up against his uncle, or accept yet another loss.

A middle-aged man’s trip into the Irish countryside causes him to reflect on the dreams he gave up for his now-failing marriage.

A young mobster boy is brought in for questioning after he stabs an elderly man, and desperately wants to be taken seriously by the Chicago police officers.

A stranger from the faraway future appears in a young man's room in 1952 with an urgent mission.

A father tells a story about his deceased wife and the wild traditions they used to have involving alcohol as well as the disapproval his mother-in-law had about their relationship.

Following the death of her father, a prominent country doctor, a young girl must navigate both her dream of being a music teacher and her position as the eldest child in the family.

A Frenchman tells the story of his escape from the Germans and how he believes the French have lost, not because of the battle, but because they have lost the French women and the French spirit.

Plagued by an aggressive case of pneumonia and haunted by a dying neighbor, a sanatorium patient is advised to have his ribs resectioned, thus sending him into a panicked reflection on the inevitability of death.