The Giver: Chapter 24
Faster and faster the sled went, the wind hitting the wind even harder now. Jonas pulled
Gabriel closer to him as they reached the bottom of the hill. There it was, a huge house with
many pretty lights. "You see that Gabe?" Jonas whispered into his ear. They gazed in amaze.
All of a sudden, the house's glass door slid open and a tall, bearded figure in a brown sweatshirt
came out and shouted, "Hey you! Get off my lawn!" Jonas looked to the figure. Then a tall lady,
obviously his spouse, went next to him and said, "Don't be so mean! Look at the poor boy, he's
hurt, oh, and he has a baby with him!" she looked at Jonas, "Are you hungry?" Jonas nodded and
the lady motioned him inside. Right as Jonas and Gabe stepped inside, they heard a noise. Jonas
thought, Of course! It's a dog! The lady led them to a table and sat them down.
The lady came back with many plates. The smell was delightful! As they ate, the
lady sat down and said "Hi, I'm Mary, but you can call me Mrs. Nelson. And this is my husband,
Rick, but you can call him Mr. Nelson." She nudged him. "Oh yes, hello" he said reluctantly.
Mrs. Nelson continued, "And I want you to meet three other people," she paused and yelled,
"Sophie, Jack, Pete!" Three little children came running down steps. "Okay, this is Sophie,
Jack, and Pete." She said, indicating each one as she named them. At once, all three of them said
hello. "Sophie is five, Jack is four and a half, and Pete is three." Mrs. Nelson looked up at Jonas,
"What are your names?" Jonas slowly and quietly said, "Jonas, and he's Gabriel" "Jonas and
Gabriel..." Mrs. Nelson whispered after him. "Oh! I almost forgot! That's Cody." She said
pointing to the dog. "Well, what were you doing in our backyard on Christmas Eve? Do you not
have a place to stay?" She continued. "What's Christmas?" Jonas asked. Everyone except Gabe
looked at Jonas, shocked. "What's Christmas? Umm...well I guess it's when families come
together and celebrate at night and in the morning. Kids get gifts, which are located under the
decorated tree -" Jonas interrupted "Oh I know that, I just didn't know the name...so it's
tomorrow?" Mrs. Nelson looked at him and replied "Yes, well its tonight and tomorrow." She
paused, and then continued "So what were you doing in our backyard?" Jonas found a
reasonable explanation "My little brother and I were escaping from our home, so we don't have
a place to stay" "You can sleep with me!" Jack shouted. "Well you can stay with us. The more
the merrier on Christmas!" Mrs. Nelson agreed. "Sophie, will you lead our guest to the guest
room please?" The little girl nodded and led them to the room. "Do you have clothes?" the little
girl asked. "No, we don't" She nodded and left.
Jonas set Gabe down on the bed and looked around the room. It was a square shaped
room with a big bed in the middle of the room with two doors inside it; a closet and bathroom.
The room's colors were a beautiful chocolate and caramel color, very soothing. Mrs. Nelson
came in and asked if Jonas had any clothes, but then saw Jonas's cut and Gabe all dirty. "Let me
get Mr. Nelson and he'll get you and your brother much better!" She said. Mr. Nelson came in
with a huge case, as he opened it; Jonas saw that it had all the safety equipment. He pulled out
a long piece of cloth and a huge band-aid. He then wrapped the piece of cloth around Jonas's
ankle and tied it tight. Then, he looked at his leg and sprayed something on his wound and put
the band-aid on him. Then he said "Here, take this shirt of mine and I'll get your brother a shirt"
Jonas wore the clothes and then dressed Gabe. Jonas's cut burned so much because of the spray,
he lied down with Gabe next to him and they soon fell asleep.
The End of Chapter 24 of The Giver