• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 972 0

Louise burst into tears when Irene Goodnight called her and told her that Elner was alive. Tot and Ruby had been so busy answering questions and calling people that they totally forgot about feeding the cat, feeding the birds, or filling the birdbath, and Sonny the cat was not happy. He had just walked over to his dish and discovered that it was empty. This was a shock to him. His breakfast was always there at this time. He hunched down and stared at the dish for a while, then got up and wandered around the house. Then he came back to his dish and sat there thinking cat thoughts, wondering whether or not to take a nap or try to catch one of those birds that were flying all over the yard, also upset and wondering where their birdseed was. One old blue jay was squawking his head off, and three smaller birds sat in the birdbath looking for water to splash around in. Two squirrels sat in a tree nattering at each other. The old lady had always thrown a couple of biscuits out the back door for them by now. Something was not right. After a few minutes of debating the issue, Sonny opted to take a nap and went to his spot on the back of the sofa.

Meanwhile a red-eyed Luther Griggs was just pulling into a Flying J truck stop outside of Yuma, Arizona, and he had never felt so alone in his entire life. As he climbed into the back of the truck to get some shut-eye, he thought about what Elner had told him over and over. “Honey, you need to get married. I’m not going to live forever, and I want to think that you won’t be left all by yourself. As much as you don’t think it, you need to be with somebody. Women can handle it, but men don’t do well alone.” He had not wanted to get married, and as much as she’d said it, he never thought she would really die. But now that she had, he saw that she was right. He was so lonesome, and if Elner had liked Bobbie Jo Newberry, he figured she was the one. Miss Elner had always known what was right for him, so why fool around? And so before he drifted off, he made up his mind; when he got home, he’d go on over to the Dairy Queen where she worked and pop the question.

The Arrangements

8:31 AM

By the time the Warrens arrived back at the hospital the next morning, Elner’s room was filled with flowers. All the arrangements that had been ordered yesterday to be sent to the funeral home had been rerouted to her hospital room instead. Unfortunately, Neva down at the Rest Assured Funeral Home had not had time to change the cards, and most were still signed “With deepest sympathy” or “Our thoughts and our prayers are with you.” And the flowers from Elner’s friend Louise Franks said “Gone but not forgotten.”

When the Warrens walked into her room, she was sitting up in bed and happy to see them. “Look at all my flowers!” she said. “It looks like a funeral parlor in here, doesn’t it?” Then she laughed. “I never knew I was so popular till everybody thought I had croaked.” She then pointed to a large arrangement of orange gladiolus. “That’s from Bud and Jay, wasn’t that nice, those others are from the Missouri Power and Light Company. Beverly Cortwright sent me those white roses, you know that set her back a pretty penny.”

“Wow, Aunt Elner,” said Linda, “I’ve never seen so many flowers in my life.”

“I know! We had to put some in the bathroom. I feel kinda guilty people spent all this money on a false pretense. Merle and Verbena sent me an azalea that I can plant, but the rest of them are just money wasted.” She turned to Norma and said, “Norma, promise me that next time you will tell everybody, no flowers. They shouldn’t have to send them twice.”

After a while Dr. Brian Lang, true to his promise, stopped back by and knocked lightly on the door. “Hello.”

When Elner saw him, she waved. “Hey. Come on in, I want you to meet everybody. This is my head doctor…he examined my head.”

He walked in and said, “Hello, I’m Dr. Lang.”

Elner said, “This is my niece Linda I was telling you about, the one with the Chinese baby. This is my niece Norma, and her husband, Macky.”

They all said hello and shook hands.