loss and grief
— A girl prepares for prom in 1946, wearing a dress made from her brother's WWII parachute, reflecting on family sacrifice and finding beauty in hardship.
— A girl recounts the life and death of her beloved white cat Moon, from finding her as a kitten at a yard sale to her tragic death under a car's...
— An elf boy searches for rare ashberries to save a dragonfire victim, remembering how the same berries failed to save his father years before.
— A young man becomes a rodeo bullfighter on the anniversary of his best friend's death, facing the same bull that killed him a year earlier.
— Two childhood friends are separated when their families move to different states, then reunite by chance years later at college in Chicago.
— A girl alone in a gray house during her parents' divorce remembers losing her only friend years ago, then discovers singing as an outlet for her pain.
— A five-year-old's fragmented memories of September 11th capture confusion through misheard words and the sudden absence of the towers.
— A girl runs thirteen miles home from the hospital where her mother is dying, haunted by the unspoken response to her mother's final 'I love you.'
— During Ireland's potato famine, a boy struggles to support his family after his sister Molly dies of tuberculosis, eventually escaping to America.
— A 12-year-old searches frantically for her free-roaming cat Comet, posts flyers around the neighborhood, and finally reunites with him after a neighbor rescues him from a rooftop light well.