Gertrude's Revenge | Teen Ink

Gertrude's Revenge

November 18, 2022
By Anonymous

Author's note:

I made this piece with my friend. 

The author's comments:

The Departure

One day, Gertrude’s brother was driven by rage. So he decided to burn down their house with both of their parents in it. They ended up dying, and only the 2 brothers survived.

Gertrude doesn't want to expose his strength to the world or else he’ll attract too much attention from the media and he’ll never have a normal life again. But, he has to stop his brother from causing casualties and terror in Baltimore.

In his nursing home, Gertrude was talking to his caregiver ranting about how his brother killed their parents. The caregiver just nodded to Gertrude’s story and gave him his schizophrenia pills (that he didn't need. His caregivers thought he was delusional, “Yeah, ok” the caregiver replied. The caregiver didn’t think that much about his story because Gertrude is 97 years old. He knew that the caregivers thought he was just saying nonsense so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided he was gonna get revenge tomorrow. Gertrude laid back down on his old hospital bed to kill time until tomorrow.

The author's comments:

Road of Trials

Gertrude wakes up to find his brother on the news over the radio. His brother has held 25 people captive in a deli, he was threatening to kill all 25 hostages if he didn't get 1 million dollars in cash and a horse. That was it. Gertrude is fed up with the wrongdoings of his brother. His brother kept on putting a bad reputation to the family’s name.
First, he had to get out of the nursery so he could find his brother. But how would he get out of the nursery? He thought and thought. The only way he could escape was by jumping out the window of his room. However, his room was on the third floor. Usually, that would be impossible for a 97-year-old but Gertrude and his brother both have super strength. He leaped out the window running away and ran to the nearest alley he could find. He found an alley tucked away by the side of town, hidden in plain sight. He was able to escape properly but how will he find his brother?
He first went to the police to see if he could get any information on his brother. He tapped on the cop's shoulder. As soon as the cop turned around, “AREN'T YOU THE ONE WHO ESCAPED THE NURSING HOME” he shouted. Gertrude started running, outrunning the cops like a swift fox against a slow tortoise. He lost the cops and went back to the alley, “I probably should maintain a low profile for now.” he thought in his head.
He started thinking about where his brother would go. He remembered that the radio broadcasted that he demanded a horse and a million dollars. He thought harder and harder and finally, a thought popped up in his head. Gertrude and his brother used to live on a ranch with lots of horses, in fact, riding horses around the ranch was the boy’s favorite activity. So he decided the next morning he would go to investigate the old, burned-down ranch. The next morning came quickly, Gertrude had gotten no sleep as he stayed up practicing boxing moves as he used to be a world-renowned boxer. With his quickness, strength, and strategy he was unbeatable in his prime. Finally, it was time for him to go investigate the ranch. He ripped his shirt and wrapped it around his knuckles to act as a bandage. His arms were covered in blood from practicing on a brick wall he left big cracks and divots in the wall itself. As he was on his way to the old ranch, he noticed it got colder and colder as he got closer to the ranch. He finally arrived at the ranch. He swept around the field and couldn't find anything, he swept around the ruins of his house and couldn't find anything. As he was leaving he remembered he forgot to check the basement. He ran back to the ruins of the house and opened the basement door. As he opened the door he heard an electrical humming noise. He walked down the stairs to find a light on in the basement. He wondered in his mind “How does electricity even work here, the blaze completely destroyed everything. He finally reached the basement floor, but out of the corner of his eye he sees something. A chart on the wall of all of his brother's victims and where they were killed. He also saw an old book on the counter, but there is something off about this book. “This book looks familiar.” he said to himself. He dug deep into his old memories, he remembers that his mother used to lock this book away in a display case as it was a family heirloom.
He flipped through the pages to find that it was a very old ritualistic book that appears to be the work of the devil himself. This book would encourage readers to open a portal in exchange of unlimited power beyond imagination. To open this portal you had to kill all people you were ever affiliated with. Including family, friends, or a random stranger you made eye contact with. Gertrudes brother always had good memory. But then it hit him. He burned down the house to kill his parents as a sacrifice. Then suddenly his brother busted through the wall. Gertrude grabbed his brother in an attempt to slam him into the wall but his brother snapped his arms like he was a twig. Knowing he didn't stand a chance he screamed as loud as he could. Some kids walking by heard it and ran to the nearest police station to report the loud noise. Within 20 minutes 2 cops came down to investigate to see an old man lying on the floor with the bones on his right arm shattered. The cop shouted “ARE YOU-” then suddenly his brother grabbed the cop and threw him against the wall. The other cop ran to get help and came back with 80 men all armed with top tier equipment. Gertrudes brother observed this scene and disappeared in thin air. Gertrude kept a low profile escaping unnoticed.

The author's comments:

The Experience with Unconditional Love & The Ultimate Boon:

After Gertrude failed to get revenge on his brother, he decided to walk back to the nursing homes. He was giving up because he believed that he would never be strong enough to defeat his brother. His brother had more training compared to him.
As Gertrude made it to the nursing home he decided to walk in from the front door. It didn’t matter if he tried to sneak into his room because all the staff in the building were aware of his disappearance. When Gertrude stepped foot inside all the staff’s faces looked like they saw a ghost. They were murmuring, “Is that the crazy old guy who ran away from here?”. Gertrude decided to ignore their whisperings. He was too tired to get upset at them. Once Gertrude reached the third floor. He walked to get schizophrenia pills from one of the caregivers. Then after he took them, he went to his room and laid down on his old hospital bed. He looked to the window located in his room and went to sleep feeling a sense of defeat.
When he woke up he saw his original caregiver with a tray of his breakfast foods, water, and his schizophrenia pills. The caregiver didn’t look like she cared that he ran away. However the caregiver asked Gertrude what he did when he ran away. He then told her the whole story from when he heard his brother on the radio to when he was defeated. The caregiver then responded by giving him advice. The caregiver told Gertrude that since he has lived with his brother for the majority of his life, he should know his brother's weaknesses and use that to his advantage. After she finished talking she opened the door and walked out with the tray. When Gertrude’s caregiver exited the room she was thinking about his story and about all the other times he would rant about how he wants to avenge his parents. After consideration the caregiver finally realizes what he’s been saying was true.


As Gertrude hung his head low in shame his eyes fixed on his old boxing gear and framed pictures on the wall of newspapers with his names on the headings. When he was younger boxing was everything to him, it defined his personality and kept him sharp. He snactched his boxing gear and leapt out the three story building. His caregivers will suspect he's just sleeping. He walked to his old boxing gym and was greeted with a roll of laughter. A tall, ripped man who goes by the nickname “Rhino” who is the current trending boxing champion in the religion of Maryland offered a deal. Rhino shouted “If you can even put a mark on me old man, I’ll teach you how to do some of my infamous knockout techniques.” Gertrude, feeling disrespected, was ready to beat Rhino up. They stepped in the ring as the other students in the gym laughed. The bell rang and they started inching toward each other, Rhino taunting him doing so. This only made Gertrude more angry, Gertrude stepped forward and swung. Rhino instantly dropped to the floor as the crowd watched in absolute awe. They both stepped out the ring, Rhino unable to comprehend what just happened. “I just got knocked out by some 96 year old?!” Rhino said to himself. Gertrude overjoyed about smacking Rhinos cocky grin off his face. Rhino shouted from the other side “Lessons start tomorrow old man.” Gertrude, smiling back at him nodded. “Oh and that ancient gear won't cut it” he exclaimed, “We’ll need to get you fitted for some new gear tomorrow.” Gertrude left the building feeling like the king of the world.

The author's comments:

Refusal of the Return & The Magic Flight

As Gertrude makes it back to his hospital bed, he begins thinking about how he enjoys his life now. He isn’t as grumpy and irritated now cause his brother is barely in his mind. Although he lost, he had better things ahead of him. He sat down on his hospital bed and began thinking if he went back and fought his brother again even though there is a possibility he will fail once again. Gertrude doesn’t want to return to the life of when he was just a grumpy old man who would rant about his brother. However, if he doesn’t act now and goes on with his life it will result into happening again. Although, if he continues training for the rest of his remaining life, there will be a time where he won’t stop him from thinking about what he couldve done to get revenge on his brother.

Gertrude tries to forget about those thoughts and goes to sleep. As 2 weeks passed by, as he expected, the thoughts of his brother wouldn’t leave his head. Anywhere Gertrude would go he would see things that reminded him of his brother, he would hear about his brother’s evil doings over the radio, on the newspaper, even his caregiver would talk about him. One morning there was a loud scream. Everyone went out to see what was going on. To their surprise, they saw the front desk holding a note that had a picture of the nursing home on fire with all the residents and staff inside. Gertrudes caregiver grabbed the note and ran to Gertrude's room to show him it. “Does this look familiar to you?” She asked. Gertrudes jaw dropped. He didn’t think his brother would go this far, but it made sense. Gertrude did try to hurt him, he just didn’t think his brother was gonna involve other people. Gertrude sighed as he knew that he couldn’t just wait around any longer. He stood up and went to the gym to train early. Once again, Gertrude was going to leave the next day to find his brother to get revenge.

The author's comments:

Rescue from Without

Gertrude could barely get any sleep that night. He was pondering where his brother was. He then thinks that his brother is still at their parent’s house. Gertrude decides then he will go there first. He suddenly sees his caregiver pass the door and he decides to wave her down. She sees his gesture and walks inside the room. “I am gonna leave tomorrow morning to get revenge on my brother,” Gertrude says in a stern tone. The caregiver nods “Don’t kill your brother because that wouldn’t make you any better”. She replies as she exits the room. Gertrude nodded and decided to not kill his brother but to ask his brother why he was doing all of this.
As the sun starts to rise Gertrude got up and decided to take a taxi to his parent's house. Once he got there he saw the house more destroyed than the last time he had seen it. As he finished analyzing the house he looked down to see his brother sitting down by the front porch. Gertrude then decided to walk closer to his brother. However, once his brother saw him, he started to throw some of the remaining pieces of the parent's house at him, including stairs, wood, a refrigerator, and doors. Gertrude blocked all of the objects from hitting him not leaving a bruise or cut. Gertrude then continued walking until he was close to his brother. Gertrude then gave his brother a strong punch to the face causing him to knock out. After an hour passed Gertrude decided to get answers from his brother. “Why are you doing this” Gertrude asked first. His brother's head hung low as he proceeded to tell him, “Im not sure”. This made Gertrude mad but then he asked again, “Why are you doing this.” No reply from his brother. When Gertrude stood up to leave because he knew he wasn’t gonna get any answers his brother suddenly said, “I just want how old things were. We used to be so close”
This made Gertrude's heart hurt for the brother. Gertrude then decides to give his brother one more shot. So Gertrude sits down next to him and they start to make amends.

The author's comments:

The Crossing or Return Threshold

Gertrude and his brother left the house feeling better than they came. They both realized that not everything can be solved with violence. Once they reached the nursing home Gertrude has his brother apologized to everyone for freaking them out and decided to register into the nursing home. Gertrude's brother moved into the same room as Gertrude. They have been inseparable ever since despite what happened in the past. Since that day they are both living well and happy.



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