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room,” Frieda said.
    “I was tweaking some of her algorithms. Why?” Selene said.
    “Well, she won’t let me open the door.”
    “Well, maybe if you stop shouting at her, and talk nicely, she will be more co-operative.”
    “What? Since when should a man have to worry about being nice to the fridge? I don’t know what personality enhancements you made, but can you undo whatever it was you did and get the fridge and house back to normal?”
    She waved a dismissive hand in my general direction. “I’ll get to it later. I’ve got to finish this first.”
    I ordered pizza instead. It was easier than arguing with the fridge. While waiting for the pizza to arrive, I emailed my boss about the funeral to let her know that I would not be into work in the morning.

2
     
    We took an early morning ramjet to Boston. From Boston we caught a connecting flight to Burlington, Vermont, where we had booked seats with a small regional airline that would take us to Aylmer. When we landed in Burlington and saw the size of the plane waiting for us, we decided to rent a car instead. It would take longer, but we felt more confident of getting there alive. And it would allow us to take in the scenery. Neither one of us had been to this part of the country before.
    We rented a small convertible at the airport. It was a glorious June morning, and we drove the small highway with the roof down. I also kept the tires down, preferring to drive the old-fashioned way, with rubber, instead of hover-mode. Younger people seemed to like riding on the cushion of air that hover-mode gave you, but I still preferred to feel the road beneath me.
    Selene looked wonderful. She wore dark sunglasses, and her long dark hair streamed behind her in the breeze. We followed the highway as it twisted and turned through the green mountains, passing through a few small towns. There were no cities in this remote corner of the state. Around noon we stopped at a roadside diner for lunch, and made it to Aylmer an hour later in plenty of time for the funeral.
    Arriving in Aylmer was like stepping back in time to another century. We drove slowly through town along Main Street on our way to the motel. I had to drive slowly because people kept crossing the street in front of traffic, although I seemed to be the only driver on the road bothered by this. Half the time the pedestrians and drivers waved at each other, and often stopped to chat through the driver’s window.
    Old two-story red-brick buildings lined both sides of the street with small shops, diners and specialty stores. Pickup trucks outnumbered cars and white clapboard homes filled the side streets. High green hills soared above the tops of the buildings in every direction.
    Main Street took us through the town square at the heart of Aylmer. There was a public park, surrounded by shops and restaurants. The City Hall, a couple of banks, the courthouse and an old church building all faced the park. I was gratified to see that the church had been converted into a Temple to Gaia.
    We found the motel Ellie had booked for us on the far side of town. We checked in, unpacked, and changed out of our travel clothes into funeral attire. I wore a traditional dark-blue suit. Selene put on a black knee-length skirt with matching black blazer. On our way out we asked the clerk at the front counter if he knew where the Bloom & Osteen funeral home was. As it turned out, Bloom and Osteen was the only funeral home in town, and the clerk’s sister-in-law worked there. Gotta love small towns.
     
    • • •
     
    The open casket rested on a pedestal covered with white linen, surrounded by wreaths and bouquets of flowers. To the left was a small round table covered with framed pictures. A baby grand piano sat on the right side. The front row was reserved for close family members, which we had to ourselves. The hall was packed with strangers, standing room only. It seemed like the entire town had arrived.
    My grandfather looked