The Dead Don't Speak Read Free

have played it off. He'd have said sometimes the messages come through fuzzy and Michael was starting to fade; then he would have moved on to the next read, apologizing to Shirley that someone else had gotten in her uncle's way. Shirley would be content with what she'd already been told and the crowd would be looking forward to whatever happened in the next read.
    They weren't all as easy as Shirley Swift. Occasionally Chris had to dig extra deep to come up with some good dirt. Sometimes the research took days, not hours, but, it was well worth it.
    The thunderous applause died down. Chris turned back to the monitor. The next read was a difficult one. Chris leaned forward in his seat, his face close to the monitor.
     
    An elderly man, gray-haired and somewhat frail looking, held the microphone. Moments earlier Simon had come directly to him, selecting him out of the crescent crowd.
    "Your wife has recently passed?" Simon queried.
    "Yes, sir," the man said in a shaky old man voice.
    "Her name began with a G," Simon paused, waiting for the inspiration, "G L something..."
    "Gladys," the man said.
    "Ah, Gladys, I see. She had a tough time of it at the end, didn't she?"
    "Yes, sh-she did." The attendant took the man's arm to steady him.
    "And you were there for her, weren't you, sir?" Simon said knowingly, telling the crowd more than the old man. "You were there for her right up until those last moments."
    "I was."
    "What's your name, friend?"
    "Harry," he said.
    "Harry, Gladys is here with us tonight. She's speaking to me right now. She's telling me about the long years you had together. The good times. Some of the bad times, too. Oh, Harry..." Simon closed his eyes and shook his head, "There were a few bad times."
    "There were, sir, b-"
    "Stop! Don't speak, Harry. Gladys is coming through loud and clear and she wants her turn to talk."
    Harry snorted into the microphone, "That's her all right." Once again tears flowed and not just from the old man. The crowd was getting into it.
    "Gladys is telling me she doesn't care about the drinking. She doesn't care about trouble at work. All she cares about is that you turned yourself around. You turned to God and, through God, you became the man she always knew you could be. Gladys is with Him now; you know that, Harry? She's walking with the Big Guy as we speak. Gladys forgave you a long time ago for the wrongs you did her; she forgave you long, long ago. She wants you to know tonight that God forgives you, too."
    "I know it. I know He does. I know it," Harry whispered, his head tilting forward, talking straight into the microphone.
    "Those were some tough times at the end. Dementia is a tough disease. She is sorry she put you through that."
    "It's okay, darlin'," Harry whispered down to the mic, "I love you, baby." He swiped a hand at his cheek.
    "Gladys says she barely knew you at the end. She says she barely knew you but you stuck by her just the same. She wants you to know that while her body may have forgotten who you were, her soul never did. You could see it in her eyes sometimes, couldn't you? You could see those flashes of recognition."
    "I could!" He sniffled loudly and it echoed in the large room, "I saw them every day."
    "She is a lovely woman, truly a lovely woman. She wants you to keep living. That's exactly what she told me. She wants you to keep living your life. Live it for the both of you. Take that cruise you'd always talked about. Drive cross country like you never got to do. Enjoy life double for the both of you."
    "I will, baby," Harry said, drying his eyes, "I will do it all for us!"
    "You're a good man, Harry. Gladys loves you with all her heart."
    "I love you, too, darlin'," Harry said, his eyes staring aloft.
    The crowd burst into rapturous applause.
     
    Chris loved Simon's preacher routine.
    "She wants you to keep livin'!" Chris mocked, finishing his third can of Miller.
    Harry and Gladys Tyson had been a real challenge. Harry was older, around seventy and,