Abstract
This project explores the powerful and often unknown ways in which the strangers who live around us affect our lives. The following short stories follow three protagonists, all of whom reside in the same apartment complex, as they struggle to detach themselves from the legacy of past sins. Thomas seeks his redemption through baptism, Joseph through household repair and carpentry, Merlina through painting. Although the protagonists seek atonement in their own ways, it is their interactions with their neighbors and each other, no matter how brief and seemingly inconsequential at the time, which propels them to understand that true redemption can only be found via hope and love.