Get Low

Felix Bush, a hermit shrouded by rumors, appears at Reverend Horton’s church carrying a large roll of cash and asks for a funeral party to be held for him. The townspeople are startled by his presence and the audacity of staging his own farewell. Horton refuses to perform the funeral, citing uncertain moral grounds.

Frank Quinn, owner of the local funeral parlor, covets Bush’s money and agrees to advertise and help organize the funeral party. He sees a business opportunity in the crowd of interested townsfolk. His involvement foreshadows the commercial angle of the event.

Bush insists on a raffle with his property as the prize to guarantee a good turnout. Tickets are sold for five dollars apiece, drawing residents and outsiders alike. The raffle adds an eerie twist to the gathering, turning personal stories into a competition.

To ensure attendance, townsfolk are invited to come and tell the stories they've heard about Felix Bush. The event becomes a communal remembrance where gossip and memories mingle with the planned ceremony. The atmosphere blends rumor with curiosity as people prepare to speak.

Charlie Jackson, a preacher, insists that the forty-year-old truth behind Mary Lee Stroup and Bush's past be revealed during the gathering. His demand transforms the funeral party into a forum of confession and verification. The audience bristles with anticipation as old wounds are reopened.

During the gathering, Bush reveals to Mattie Darrow that he had an affair with her sister Mary Lee. He claims Mary Lee was his true love, reshaping the town's memory of the couple. The confession deepens the emotional tension among the attendees.

Bush recounts the night when Mary Lee disappeared; her husband attacked her with a hammer, and a kerosene lamp was used to start a deadly blaze. Bush frees himself, then tries to rescue the unconscious Mary Lee as flames engulf the house. He is knocked through a window, unable to re-enter to save her.

Mattie Darrow, processing the revelations, leaves the party in sorrow and anger. She re-enters later, seemingly ready to forgive Bush, signaling a possible reconciliation before his death. The emotional intensity peaks as the past and present collide.

The raffle is proclaimed, and attendees begin to disperse as the event winds down. People pack away their belongings and the community's curiosity about Felix Bush ebbs into quiet reflection. The town's memory of him begins to settle into legend.

After the crowd has departed, Mattie returns and seems to have forgiven Bush, choosing to look past the rumors. Her gesture foreshadows a fragile peace as Bush faces the end of his life. The atmosphere turns from confrontation to a subdued, bittersweet reconciliation.

Felix Bush dies shortly after the party, walking toward a vision of Mary Lee coming down the lane. His death marks the quiet culmination of a lifetime spent concealing a haunted past. The moment is both tragic and strangely poetic as the man is finally released from his burdens.

A private funeral service and burial are held on a small area of Bush’s property he had long used as a graveyard for his animal companions. Charlie officiates, joined by Reverend Horton and other attendees including Mattie and Frank. The ceremony is somber and intimate, emphasizing acceptance and memorial rather than spectacle.

In a final gesture, Mattie places a portrait of Mary Lee on Felix’s casket, allowing the two women to be together in memory and symbolically reconcile the past. The funeral ends with mourners quietly departing as the landscape returns to stillness. The story closes on a note of quiet closure.