Aunt Gertrude’s Ascension

Title: Aunt Gertrude's Ascension
         The old-bat finally kicked the bucket. Not a moment too soon, mused Matilda, her only surviving grand-niece.
         Aunt Gertrude was a piece of work. During the dark days, when Old White Men had their extremist temper-tantrum, Aunt Gertrude was one of the few members of the Norman family to side with the flag-wavers. Though she was shunned by the family, that didn't stop her from following her tar encrusted heart's desire and attend every Rightist event she could barge her way into; a younger Matilda remembers seeing images of Gertrude while spying on Alt-Right websites and groups. Occasionally, after taking a couple of strong shots of whiskey, Matilda would tune into some insipid radio program and hear Gertrude speak on "Civic Nationalism." Thinking back to such transgressions, it disgusted Matilda deeply.
         Karma had caught up with the witch, though. She was dead as a doornail. Though it probably made her a bad person, Matilda was thankful that such a stain on the family history was worm-food; now, she could burn all of Gertrude's fascist shit. A good old-bonfire and book-burning was always an uplifting event, or at least it was when it involved Nazi memorabilia.
         So, that is what Matilda did for the better part of a week--dousing Gertrude's voluminous ideological dumpster-fire. Truly, the amount of crap the woman had gathered over the years was absurd. By the time she had cleared the attic of all but a solitary corner, Matilda was pooped.
         All that was left was just a couple of large trunks. Opening both up, Matilda found nothing but piles of old journals. She had a momentary impulse to burn but thought better of it this time: no, better to donate them to the museum. Maybe that way, they would serve some use to scholars studying the old reaction.
         On a whim, though, Matilda started to read the journals. She had been cleaning all day so really just wanted an excuse to sit down. It wasn't long into her first journal when she discovered something that changed her life and perception of Gertrude, forever.
         Page after page of journals described Gertrude attending National League events. The writing, however, was not praiseful. Rather, it was scornful and hate-filled. Aunt Gertrude trashed figure after figure that she had praised elsewhere in her lengthy career as a neo-fascist; Generalissimo Batille had been described as a "pompous donkey-ass who couldn't tell where his own testes hung" whereas others like Furor Heinlein had been written as "an unpleasant man whose demeanor closely resembles that of a frog and racoon having intercourse."
         But, that was nothing compared to the ultimate revelation--not only had Gertrude been an anti-fascist, she had been a smuggler.
         Reading the journals late one night, Matilda discovered that Gertrude had opened her home to resistance fighters. In fact, her home had been a pivotal stop for internal refugees fleeing government persecution. Reading further, Matilda discovered additional details, like how Gertrude housed escaped inmates from the concentration camps and provided material assistance to the freedom-fighters ("Terrorists").
         Matilda's initial discovery of Gertrude's diaries changed her life. At first, her heart beat fast, and she could barely stand. Shocked, dismayed, words couldn't identify the scale of Matilda's discovery. Soon, once she had realized the magnitude of Gertrude's ploy, she swelled with pride--she swelled for her family's secret comrade.