The Gertrude Trials
Gertrude hates living in a home.
The other elderly all smell, talk too loudly, and always talk nonsense. The orderlies are either rude or obnoxiously kind. The TV has no DVR and everyone wants to watch a different thing. The mattresses are so uncomfortable, and the food is atrocious. Sometimes, she wishes she would just die and get it over with.
Sometimes, she thinks of the AI she refused. Could it have kept her from this grim reality? Or would it have become a crutch she would be forever dependant on, like those three year olds with short attention spams? Nah, she is too old for regrets. This is where she is meant to be, with all the other elderly people, like the elderly people before her.
Being old and alone is not easy. It's never been, and it should not be.
