Aunt Gertrude

Aunt Gertrude has always been the one to swoop in with a warm hug and a hearty laugh, offering comfort and wisdom. But lately, her cheerfulness seems a tad too rehearsed, her anecdotes about the past slightly skewed, as if she's been studying from a script. Last weekend, when you visited her for tea, she presented you with a photo album of potential dates, insisting it was your mother's favorite book. Yet, the pictures were all of strangers, not your mother's old friends, and the way she described their backgrounds was oddly detailed and precise—like a lawyer presenting evidence.