Downward, downward, faster and faster. Suddenly he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting for him: and that they were waiting, too, for the baby. For the first time he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people sing.
Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. Perhaps it was only an echo.
As they neared the bottom of the hill, the sled slowed to a stop. Jonas got up from the sled still tightly holding Gabrielle in his arms. He no longer felt weary or cold; instead he was filled with warmth. The sound of music encompassed him. It came from all directions and filled him with happiness.
As he walked forward towards the lights, the wind slowed. Soon the snow had also stopped falling. Jonas could now see clearly what lay before him.
Two large gates stood in his path. They reached up into the sky, so high that he could not see the top of them. On the other side of the gates were the twinkling colored lights. However, the gates did not seem to pose a threat. Rather, they filled Jonas with awe and seemed to welcome him. They, were more beautiful than anything he had ever seen in a memory. In fact, they were more beautiful than what lay on the other side.
Jonas remembered reading about these very gates in one of the Giver's books. They were the gates to Elsewhere and they welcomed all who came with pure heart.
As Jonas approached the Pearly Gates, for that was the name the book had given them, they opened to let him and Gabrielle into Elsewhere…