A teenaged boy named Forrest is plowing a field when he hears a sound from a machine in town a mile away that makes him run towards the town, weeping and laughing. When he gets to the road, he keeps running, but the town marshal yells at him to get on the sidewalk and stop acting like a drunk. On the sidewalk, he sees a boy and two girls that he knows from church. One girl pushes the other one against Forest, and they walk together. The circus is in town, and the girl sees balloons and wants them. Forest has no money, and she calls him a tightwad and goes to walk with the other boy. Forest knows that his father is keeping money in an old coffee pot in their house to buy a new cow with. He decides to get it, so that he can buy the girl balloons and candy and anything else she wants. Forrest runs home, where Forrest's father Poppy is working next to the barn, and two young girls sit on a chicken coop. When Forrest goes to the entrance of the house, his mother is there. Her eyes roll up in her head, and she falls on the ground stiff after saying that she is having one of her spells. A little girl goes to alert Poppy, who tells Forrest to help him carry their mother to the bed. Mommy tells Poppy to get people in to pray, and he says that he will get Brother Pennington, Brother Armes, and others, but he struggles to say Sister Kennard. Poppy walks down the road, and tells Forrest to watch the children. When he is gone, Forrest sees the old coffee pot on the shelf. He walks towards it, but his mother asks what he wants and he stops. Soon the sound of hoof beats comes down the road, and Forrest's mother tells him to light a lamp. The house fills with dark figures. The woman's heads are swathed in scarves, and they wear long skirts. The men have long, unkempt hair. They all kneel by the bed and pray, but a few of them stand to pray with Forrest. Forrest was saved when he was fourteen, so he is sanctified and can pray. Sister Kennard prays as one would at a funeral, which confuses Forrest since his mother is not dead. His mother eventually rises and prays with them. The people leave in the wagon. One of the little girls remarks that the praying was not long, but the mother says that it was long enough. The little girl says that Sister Kennard is a good one to pray, and the mother yells at her to tend to her work. Forrest sees a tear running down his mother's cheek. Forrest thinks that it was not a long praying, as there was once a praying at Brother Armes' that went until sun-up. Forrest goes to find Poppy, who is sobbing in the barn but stops when Forrest arrives. They go inside to eat dinner, which consists of cornbread and milk. Everyone is tired and they do not speak during dinner, until they hear frogs croaking. One of the little boys asks if he can go barefoot tomorrow, a question that the other children echo. Their mother says yes and laughs, and she says she will be cleaning the house tomorrow. Poppy says he will be getting the cow tomorrow, and Forrest will help pay for it by plowing more. They all smile and lay down to sleep.