“The Giver” Continued

Behind him across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo. He hesitated for a brief moment considering the thought. Had his own community discovered music? If they had he could go back and things would be different.
He could return to Fiona and Asher. He could live life the way it had been showed to him, the way it was back and back and back. But now he could have it with his family; sister, mother, father and a brother. He could make Gabe his brother because there would be no rules about how many children were allowed in a family unit.

But what if he did return and it really had been nothing more than an echo. He would return to kayos. All his long fight to survive and be rid of the horrible memories, it would be all for none. Maybe everyone would now know how to hate, and maybe even hurt. Would they hurt him and leaving no one to stand up for Gabriel?

He decided that he loved Gabriel too much, and would never go back. Besides he had made it this far with the young child. Proving he could care for Gabriel even in extreme conditions. He thought to himself that in the new community he would like it very much if he could be the one who would love and care for Gabriel for always. But not needing to be his “father” by name. Jonas wanted to live a life of his own too. He still wanted to find a wife, and have his own family. It would be new and different. He would finally get what he wanted. To make his own decisions, and choose for himself. The ground leveled out, the soft swish of cold yet exhilarating air faded and the sled coasted smoothly to a halt. His skin was tingly from the excitement and the numbness. The ride felt even better than in the memory. Maybe because he knew that the people he could see in the windows had what he recognized as gentile and loving faces. That he too, would be warming his body by the warmth of the blazing fire he could see flickering within the dwelling unequal to the others.

He stood from the sled and jostled Gabriel to wake him, from sleep or from being too cold for far too long he wasn’t sure. He wanted Gabriel to be awake so that he too may experience novelty of this place. Though he will not be able to remember it latter, Jonas will tell him the memories of his reaction to the place he will call home. Gabriel slowly began to stir. He returned the smile Jonas gave to him as he opened his eyes.

Many of the nearby dwellings were all darkened, and it looked as though no one was there or awake. The house with the fire that was waiting for them was a short ways down the row of dwellings. He walked between a pair of darkened dwellings, to a path. A Path that had been cleared of the snow. With every step he took he felt more and more exhilarated by the new sights. Gabriel’s eyes were darting from object to object followed by his small fingers pointed at what he was viewing and a grunt so that he would get Jonas to look at the same object. He looked up and said “light, light.” There were large posts with lights mounted in them that illuminated his path. He liked the way the snow looked under them, as it swirled to the ground. All at once he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the Giver’s familiar voice speaking clearly. The Voice said to him “Street Lamp.” Gabriel too went silent and still though he had never heard the Giver’s voice before. Jonas spun around, to find nothing but his own tracks in the thinned out snow. His heart had jumped in his chest, thinking for a moment that the Giver had fallowed him there, to make sure that his journey was safe. Now his heart sank after having the Giver in his thoughts for that brief moment. He realized how much he would miss the old man with which he changed the lives of every person in his community and maybe even out as far as this community. Surely this community couldn’t have been plagued the way his had with lies. It was too beautiful. He continued to walk on, repeating the word in his head several times. It sounded familiar, and maybe he had known it before from the memories, but needed to be reminded of it’s name.

As he approached the dwelling at the end of the path, more words began to come to him. Street, Neighborhood, Mailbox and many more. It was clear to him now that he still had the power that he discovered when he became the receiver, to come up with the name of something that was foreign to him, without being told. But now it comes in the voice of the giver. It all did. He was glad he could remember the loving voce of his friend the Giver, and that he would be able to hold onto it forever. Like he was taking a memory that is only his own, one that was not released back into the community when he left. His own private memory that he didn’t have to let go of. The same as the sled, for had he lot go of that, he wouldn’t have been able to make it there. To this . . . “house” he came up with after a moment.

The house did not look the same as the rest. But it wasn’t this house alone that was original; all of the other houses appeared to be the distinguished in their own way as well. For the First time he would live without sameness. The house was red. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was drawn to this particular one. The word “Bricks” came to him. He said it aloud. He like the way it sounded and he said it again. “Red Bricks.” The door was white, with a shiny gold piece on it. He read the word “Travers.” He didn’t know what it meant and nothing came to him from the giver.

He heard the words “door knocker” in his subconscious and so he used the “knocker” to knock on the door. He could hear laughter from the other side of the door. Jonas didn’t know what he was going ask when the door opened, or what he was to see.

The door opened and surprisingly a man was in the doorway. Surprising because in appearance he was just like any other man you might find in his old community. But Jonas slowly began to notice settle differences. His attire being a blue button down shirt with a breast pocket, pressed tan slacks, and shiny brown shoes. Next, the way he was kept, facial hair on his chin and around his mouth, and a hair cut that was too short to shift on his head as he moved.

And best of all a delightful creature bouncing around at his feet barking playfully at the man’s shoes as he walked. The creature had white and brown hair, four legs, a tail, and seemed to like the keep it’s tongue hanging out it’s mouth. Jonas heard the words “puppy, baby dog” and smiled at the playful thing he now knew to be an animal. Gabriel poked his head out of Jonas’s shirt when he heard the dog. He began to giggle and reach for the young dog. The man stopped laughing when he saw Jonas in his filthy torn cloths, the condition of his ankle, his bloody knees and dark circles under his eyes. And then to see a baby with him wrapped in o light set of cloths and what was barely left of his thin shirt. A sudden look of concern came across his face. But Jonas was now smiling and so was Gabriel, for they were healthier now, just but the little heat they could feel radiating from the open door. They had been saved.