From a fishing trawler operating off the coast of Massachusetts, a sailor spots something white on the surface of the ocean. A seagull, a beach ball, a bathing cap? The pallid object that the crew eventually heaves on board has full breasts, a slim waist and hips like a mermaid – but this is no mermaid. Eleven stories of people whose very existence is torn apart in the flutter of an eyelid, as if the curtain had finally been raised – whoosh! – revealing a real and dangerous life that pushes them beyond their limits into the deep unknown. They are the stories of young girls, cowards, swindlers, the old and the young – all those who have fallen by the wayside in the struggle against the injustices of daily life.