Free Boo by Rene Gutteridge Page A

thy victory? Where is thy sting?”
    Ainsley lifted her head as the tears continued to roll. “But Aunt Gert, you’re all I have left of Mom.” Ainsley covered her face and continued to cry. “This is so selfish of me! You’re the one who needs comfort.” She gathered her emotions and tried to smile at her aunt. “You’ll get better. I know it. You will.”
    Gert’s lips trembled a little, and she patted Ainsley’s face. Then she took a deep breath, as if that single motion drained all her energy. “Some people want to die at home. But I don’t. Everyone who would be at home knows Jesus. There are people here at the hospital I can still reach.”
    “God can always work a miracle.”
    “Sure He can. But I doubt He will.” She squeezed Ainsley’s hand. “I know it’s hard for you to understand. You’re in the prime of your life. Dying seems horrible. But when you’re my age, and you’ve lived through love and loss and pain and joy, you get a little tired, and the idea of leaving this old bag of bones behind and going to be with the Father … well, it doesn’t seem all that bad.”
    Ainsley cried some more, all the while trying to stop herself.
    Gert coughed a little and then continued. “You’re a bright young woman, full of life. Full of light. I’m so proud of you. And your mother is too. She’s up in heaven looking down on you. I’ll tell her hi when I get there.”
    Ainsley laughed a little. “Okay.”
    “You’ve got your whole life ahead of you, and I don’t want to see you waste any time crying over me.” Her gaze focused directly on Ainsley. “Besides, I know when I’m gone, you’ll be leaving. You have a whole other world to find out there.”
    “I’d rather have you. You know that. I’d stay here forever if it meant you’d stay with me.”
    “I know,” she smiled. “This isn’t such a bad town, you know. It’s not big and flashy, but there’s something to be said for—”
    “I don’t hate this town. You know that. I love it. It holds the dearest memories of Mom. But I hate what it has become. And I think it’s time I let Dad go too. For me and for him.”
    “Yes, well, all things happen for a purpose.”
    Ainsley stroked Gert’s hair. “I wish I could see the good in everything like you do.”
    “So be happy for me, that the pain’ll soon be gone and that I’ll be free from all the bad things on this wretched earth.” Her eyes looked up at the ceiling, as if she were seeing the very glory of God and His angels. “And old Wilbur’s up there. Can’t believe it’s been twenty years since the old fogy passed on. I’ll be glad to see him. He was the love of my life, you know.” She cracked a smile. “ ’Course, he was much more romantic in his younger years. The older he got, the crankier he got. But I still loved him.” Her eyes shifted to Ainsley, and she patted her on the arm. “You’ll find that someday, you know. The love of your life.”
    Ainsley laughed out loud and shook her head. “At the rate I’m going, I’ll die an old maid. And Daddy is no help. Remember when Oliver Stepaphanolopolis set me up with that nice young man, Billy Hanover, who lived two counties over?” Gert nodded. “Daddy greeted him at the door with a shotgun. There’s nothing that kills romance like the idea that your date’s father is going to shoot you dead.”
    “What about that vet? What’s his name?”
    “Garth?!” Ainsley snorted. “Hah. Never in a million years.”
    “What’s wrong with him?”
    “Many things, not the least of which is that he smells like a horse all the time.”
    Gert laughed, and Ainsley finally realized her tears had dried up. She felt a strange peace and knew God was comforting her.
    “Well,” Gert said, “you’ll find the one. I know it.”
    Ainsley sat back in her chair. “How will I know? How do you know who is the right person?”
    Gert chuckled. “Well, from my experience it’s usually the last person on earth that you’d