Richard and Susan Felton, a retired couple living near the coast in Maryland, are invited one September to a neighbor's toga-themed house warming party. Though the event seems a bit strange to them, Richard and Susan decide to attend, mostly due to the fact that their days tend to all look the same, and they are not sure how much longer they will both be alive and in good health. This is, in fact, a subject that the couple have been discussing fairly often, since Susan is in her sixties, Richard is in his seventies, and several of their friends or acquaintances have passed away at an even younger age. The main fear that Susan and Richard share in regards to the subject is one passing before the other, and they both decide that it would be much better if they could die together, maybe in a common disaster, as their lawyer calls it. For the party, Susan wears a bed sheet and a black wig made to resemble Cleopatra, while Richard dresses up in a Mediterranean caftan with a Jamaican machete in a leather sheath fastened to his back, both of which he acquired on different vacations over the years. The house, which was just recently constructed according to its owners' vision, is grand and extravagant, even for their neighborhood. Once inside, the guests have cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and play risqué party games. Susan and Richard make sure to keep an eye on their friend and tennis partner Sam Bailey, whose wife died a year ago that day and who has had more than a couple drinks since he arrived. As the games wrap up and Richard and Susan come back inside, they see Sam, now obviously drunk, singing a sad made-up song about his wife's death. When Richard approaches in an attempt to comfort him, Sam grabs the machete from his friend's costume and stabs it deep into his chest. One of the guests quickly calls 911, and Richard and Susan accompany Sam to the hospital. Then, when they return home, Richard and Susan decide to stay seated where they are instead of going inside, though their car is running and the garage door is closed.