loss and grief
— A boy reflects on the tree outside his old bedroom window—his silent companion through childhood frustrations—and its loss in a hurricane, while settling into a new room with a new...
— In a climate-ravaged future, an old person who preserved each season in jars watches a child accidentally break one, releasing spring back into the world.
— A ghostly lilac figure wanders through pine forests and black rivers on an October night, crying out in sorrow before retreating into shadows.
— A young person processes grief after a funeral, watching her sister's breakdown, feeling her heart chip away, and struggling to reconnect with life afterward.
— Thu loses his place as grandmother's favorite when his sickly sister is born, but journeys to save her life and learns what family truly means.
— A girl awaits her mother's return for a crucial school interview, only to learn her mother is hospitalized and she'll enter foster care.
— After her father loses his job and joins the military, Lily struggles with anger and guilt until the day a messenger arrives with devastating news.
— A travel writer who stopped traveling after his wife's death in a climbing accident has been faking his columns for years, until his niece discovers his secret.
— After losing their father and fortune, Elizabeth and her mother survive a deadly storm that destroys their cliff-side house, only to recover their wealth through a rediscovered bank account number.
— An art student struggles to paint a childhood memory she doesn't have, ultimately creating a canvas that blends her parents' first meeting with imagined moments they never shared.