In these stories of human connection in a contemporary, alienated world, people come together to share pieces of their lives, then part. We meet women who share a house after the outbreak of war; the diverging lives of two brothers raised as latch-key kids by factory workers; people who watch a spaceship lift off from a pier that once belonged to an island resort; and more. These tales from all over the planet have the compulsive power of news reports, narrated in a crisp yet allegorical style.