Jonas escaped from the community with Gabriel; he tried to look for a place called Elsewhere. He wandered around until he found himself in an area with a lot of trees around; a "forest". He sat under the shade of a tree and fed Gabriel when he heard a low growl. He quickly turned to face the direction of where it came from. A "wolf", as the Giver had said, was prowling around the area, and staring at them. Jonas watched the wolf while it walked away slowly, still facing towards them. It was late at night, so Jonas fell asleep.
When he woke up, he found Gabriel wasn't by his side. He found paw prints leading away from them, and Gabriel's blanket on the snowy floor. He tried to follow the paw prints, but the paw prints got shallower and shallower, until Jonas couldn't see them anymore. He fell to his knees and sobbed at the loss of Gabriel. He went back to the place where they camped out, not bothering about his growling stomach, and not caring anymore because of his grief. He was hungry and cold, but he didn't care. He just sat on the snowy ground, grieving and thinking of what to do next. He was started to get very hungry and had a headache. Suddenly, everything went black. This was the first time he felt true sadness and grief.
Jonas woke up and found himself lying down on a bed. He felt quite warm, and smelled strange smells of food. It smelled delicious. He sat up, and saw a woman, in one hand, mixing something in a big pot on a fire. In her other hand, she was carrying a baby. Who looked strangely like Gabriel. He looked around. The dwelling was well decorated with a table for eating, and a few rooms for sleeping and a strange room with a sink and a fire. This was where the stood woman was mixing things in the big pot.
Jonas stood up, staggering, and realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten in the last probably 24 hours. The woman noticed, and walked over to him. She handed a bowl of some type of soup. He was so hungry that he just gulped it down without hesitation. It tasted delicious.
He almost asked for a second serving, when he saw that in the woman's arm was Gabriel. "Gabriel?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "I thought the wolf took you." The word wolf was still quite new to his tongue, so it sounded a bit strange.
The woman chuckled and whistled. The "wolf" suddenly came bouncing out with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Is this the "wolf" you were talking about?"
Jonas nodded, confused.
"You must be from the community. You must be Jonas. Welcome, I have been awaiting your arrival." the woman said in a deep, mysterious voice.
