Lily walked along the riverbank, gazing at the opposite side, which was illuminated by the setting sun. On that side was Elsewhere, Jonas, and Gabriel. Jonas and Gabriel had disappeared two nights before. Twice the community had been searched since they had disappeared, and both investigations had failed to turn up anything. Everyone was sure that they had gone off into Elsewhere. Lily stopped walking when she saw Jonas' old friend Asher running towards her.
"The Giver has found us a position on one of the teams that will be sent out to search for Jonas," Asher reported when he reached Lily. "We have to get ready and pack for the expedition. The team will leave at sunrise tomorrow." Asher then ran back to his family's dwelling to pack for himself. Lily followed suit and hurried home to pack.
As Lily entered her home, she gave the customary bow of courtesy to the two Elders who had originally searched her dwelling for clues to where Jonas and Gabriel had gone and were now waiting to see if Jonas would return.
It's strange, Lily thought as she entered her room, how the house is just as full as before but feels hollow and empty. Packing didn't take long since Lily knew that many of the items would be supplied. However, she did pack a few sets of clothing and, as an afterthought, Gabe's hippo, in case he needed to be comforted. She placed these items into the bag she used to carry her learning usages in. Lily finished packing for the expedition well before the evening meal.
The meal with Mother, Father, and the two Elders was as quiet and uncomfortable as the others after Jonas' disappearance. Feeling Time was even less comfortable.
"I felt disappointed that Jonas didn't come home today," Lily answered when questioned about her feelings.
As Lily lay in bed, she let her mind wander on the events that had recently transpired to place her in the position she was now in.
* * * * *
Lily sat in the Recreation Area with a small group of Fours. They were playing with their comfort objects. Lily had brought her own elephant, and they were having a parade of the mythical beasts. Suddenly, as they were parading through a sandbox, Lily was struck with an image. She could feel something incredibly massive. The image quickly disappeared, but Lily found that, if she concentrated, she could bring the image back. It didn't take long before Lily realized that the image she saw was one of an extraordinary creature. It stood on four massive pole-like legs with ears that could be easily used as blankets. The creature turned and Lily recognized it, it was her elephant! No other creature had a wormy nose like it. Lily was taken back. She knew, like all children, that the comfort objects were imaginary.
"Lily, is something wrong?" asked a little Four by the name of Joseph. Lily turned around and saw that she was holding up the parade line.
"Yes," Lily replied shakily, "something is wrong. I think I'll go to the Rehabilitation Center." Lily slowly walked down a path to the Rehabilitation Center pondering what she had just seen.
At nearly the same time, Asher was playing the game Jonas had requested that he not play any more. Asher jumped out from behind a tree a, brought an imaginary weapon to his shoulder, and "fired" at a passing Nine. The Nine, Timothy, fell on his face and gave a cry of pain. Asher hurried over with other Nines. The child rolled over. It was now Asher's turn to give a cry, this one of surprise. There was a something dribbling out of his nose and from a lip. Asher knew it was blood, he had seen it before, but there was something different about this blood. There was a new quality to this blood. It was strange and horrible. The blood seemed a hundred times worse with this new quality.
"Do you see it?" Asher asked a nearby Nine by the name of Sara.
"Yeah, it's disgusting," Sara told Asher.
"You mean you see it too?" said Asher getting excited.
"Of course! You'd have to be blind not to see all of that blood," Sara replied.
"So you don't see it, the blood's new quality?" Asher asked dejectedly.
"What are you talking about? First, you ask if I see the blood, and I say yes. Then you ask if I don't. I also don't see any difference in the blood. I'm getting confused. You should take Timothy to the Rehabilitation Center," Sara said.
"Yeah, I guess I'd better," Asher said in a distant sort of way, his eyes fixated on the strange blood. Asher helped Timothy up and started walking to the Rehabilitation Center. He couldn't stop staring at Timothy's bleeding nose and lip for the whole trip.
Katharine sat in a chair in the Rehabilitation Center's lobby, waiting for the Rehabilitation Director or one of his assistants to come and examine her. Katharine had slipped and fallen when she exited the river after swimming lessons. A dizzy spell had come over her, so she had been sent to the Rehabilitation Center.
"Are you Katharine?" a rehabilitation assistant asked Katharine.
"Yes," Katharine replied.
"Then come with me," the assistant commanded Katharine. Katharine followed her into a small room. After the examination had been completed, and Katharine had been given a pill, she saw Asher and Lily coming towards the Rehabilitation Center. Asher and Lily were so distracted, that they ran into each other.
Asher quickly apologized to Lily for not paying attention and helped her up from the ground. Asher then led Timothy into the Rehabilitation Center.
"There should be no problem helping Timothy here," laughed the doctor. "A little washing and a pill to kill any infections, and he'll be all right."
"Could you get somebody for me too?" asked Asher. "I think I may be hallucinating."
"You're in luck," said the doctor. "The Rehabilitation Director, himself, is here. I'll ask him to help you."
"I thank you for your willingness to help me," Asher told the doctor.
Katharine was just leaving when Asher looked at her. Asher almost fell out of his chair with astonishment. Not only did Katharine's hair have this strange quality, but also her clothing did too! Asher seemed to enter a trance, and he walked towards Katharine trying to just touch these common things that were no longer so common. Asher took Katharine's hair in his hand.
Katharine was turning to ask Asher to remove his hand from her hair, when she suddenly realized that the hair which was hanging loose in front of her eyes and clothes had gained a strange new quality. Asher had been concentrating se hard on the quality while he held Katharine's hair that the memory had been transmitted to her. Asher though hadn't lost the memory, and together they continued to feel her hair, trying to detect some other difference.
Lily slowly walked over to them, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Is something wrong?" Lily whispered.
"Oh Lily," replied Asher, "if only you could see what I am seeing. It is so incredible." Suddenly, Asher was struck with inspiration and took Lily's hand. He concentrated on the new quality he was seeing, and Lily instantly understood. She too could now sense this quality. Soon Lily had joined Asher in stroking Katharine's clothes and hair.
"Is there a problem?" questioned a voice from a doorway. Instantly, the three had snapped back into reality. The Rehabilitation Director stood in the doorway with an odd look upon his face.
"No, none at all," Asher quickly responded using his privilege to lie. Asher now realized that he didn't want this ability to be taken away, like the Stirrings had been. Lily and Katharine looked uncomfortable but didn't say anything.
"We just thought that Katharine had something stuck in her hair, and we were trying to remove it Director," Asher lied nervously.
"Well if that's all . . .," the Director said, not entirely convinced, "you can take Timothy back to his friends. My assistant has finished cleaning him up." Timothy appeared next to the Director, looking cheerful, and much better.
"You go on ahead Timothy. There's something I want to discuss with Katharine and Lily here," Asher told him as they left the Rehabilitation Center. Asher dismissed Timothy with a nod, and he skipped down the path to join his playmates.
"So, can we all see it?" Asher asked the girls.
"Yes," the girls chorused fearfully.
"And none of us knows what this is?" questioned Asher.
"Yes," came the reply once more.
"Don't tell anyone about this," Asher commanded the two younger children. "If you have to, lie. If anyone finds out, someone will give us a pill and we'll forget about it like Stirrings, or we may even be," Asher paused to drive the point home, "Released."
"All right," Lily agreed slowly.
Katharine thought about it for a little while before answering yes. "Why did you lie to the Rehabilitation Director?" she asked.
Asher hesitated before answering, "Don't tell anyone, but when you get the instructions for your Assignment, you are given the privilege to lie."
"Ok," Katharine said in a satisfied way, "now go back to what you were doing or what you are now supposed to do, and act like nothing out of the ordinary happened."
Slowly they all walked away, each absorbed in his or her own thoughts. Lily purposely walked slowly, trying to figure out what was nagging her in the back of her mind.
Two nights after Lily had first seen the real elephant, she sat bolt upright in bed. "It's Jonas!" she shouted. Lily quickly lay back in bed when she heard her parents' footsteps coming from their room. Lily's door opened as her father took a quick peek inside and then closed.
Lily sighed. She had finally figured out what had been bugging here. Jonas had once told her that elephants had been real live beasts and then proceeded to touch her. Lily hadn't felt anything then and told Jonas to stop touching her, since he had been hurting her. Asher had done the same thing when Lily had gained the ability to see this new attribute in common items. Lily wasn't completely sure yet if Jonas had been the one to let her see a real elephant, so she made plans to meet Asher the next day to ask him if Jonas had done anything peculiar to him lately.
Lily hurried out to all of the Recreation fields the next day to try and find Asher but to no avail. Asher had gone off with Katharine and the other Sixes to another community where, they would compete in a soccer tournament. He and Katharine wouldn't be back until sunset. Lily was impatient for the day to end, so she could talk with Asher. Lily had gotten so impatient that she had nearly asked Jonas himself about these things she could suddenly see and remember.
Evening had finally come. "Hello Lily. Our team did great. I bet you would have enjoyed watching Katharine play," Asher said happily.
"We need to talk privately. Get Katharine and meet me at the Auditorium," Lily quickly said.
"All right," Asher said turning serious.
Fifteen minutes later, Asher and Katharine arrived at the Auditorium, where Lily was waiting. Lily immediately got down to business and asked Asher, "Do you remember if Jonas touched you since he became the Receiver-of-Memory-in-Training, particularly at a time when he was trying to get you to notice something." Asher thought hard.
"I do remember a time when Jonas touched me, trying to point something out about a bouquet of geraniums," Asher told Lily.
"Well let's go check out these geraniums," Lily suggested, and they ran off to the Hall of Open Records. Sure enough, when they arrived at the Hall of Open Records, the geraniums had the new quality.
"How did you figure out that it was Jonas who caused our ability to see this new attribute?" asked Katharine.
"I'd rather not say," Lily told them, not eager to share her memory of the elephant.
"Let's talk to Jonas about this ability to see new things tomorrow, as soon as he completes his day's training," Asher suggested. The girls agreed. They all hurried home before they could get reprimanded for being out late without purpose.
So that's what Jonas is learning and experiencing during his training. Lily had always wondered what Jonas had done when he went off to the Annex. She stretched her imagination to the limits but couldn't even begin to imagine what other things Jonas had experienced. When she tired of thinking about what Jonas was experiencing, Lily began to wonder about the strange shape she had seen moving towards the river while she had been walking home. She remembered seeing a large shadow going with all haste towards the river and Elsewhere. Her first impulse had been to call out to the person but stopped herself when she realized that person would probably report her for being out so she calmly watched as the figure quickly disappeared.
The next day Jonas was missing. Lily, Katharine, and Asher were devastated. All of them wanted to experience more, and now their only chance to get these was gone. Lily was particularly devastated because Gabriel had also turned up missing. The Nurturing Center was thrown into chaos because nothing like this had ever happened before. Katharine, Lily, and Asher sat on the bank of the river thinking their own thoughts. Katharine had told them that the Elders were scared out of their wits giving out orders and getting mad when they were followed.
"Why did you have to leave!" Lily shouted. "We wanted more!" Katharine and Asher gave her scared looks but didn't say anything since they both felt the same way.
"What do you mean?" inquired a voice from behind them. The group spun around to see the Receiver of Memory looking at them sadly. Lily quickly became embarrassed and started an apology. "No, I don't want an apology. I want to know what you are talking about," the Receiver said firmly.
"Will you take what I'm seeing away from me if I tell you?" Katharine asked the Receiver. Asher and Lily suddenly starting giving Katharine angry looks, angry that their secret was now out. To their surprise the Receiver gave a little chuckle.
"So Jonas was trying to pass memories on to you," the Receiver said, almost to himself. "Please tell me what you see Katharine," the Receiver requested.
"Well," Katharine thought, "look at my hair. Do you see the new quality it has?"
"No, I can't," the Receiver said sadly. "But I do know what you are talking about. You are seeing the color red. Now before you ask what that is, I'll explain. Before the world entered Sameness, all items had shape and size but also the quality of color. Red is just one color out of literally thousands." The Receiver looked at Lily who was uncomfortable. "You have another memory don't you?" he asked her.
"Ye-, Yes," Lily responded keeping her gaze fixed on the Receiver so she couldn't see Asher's or Katharine's faces.
"What is it?"
"In this memory I can see a real live elephant."
Asher was too startled at this statement to continue the dirty look. "You mean comfort objects are based on real live animals?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes," the Receiver answered. "I guess you'll have to become part of my plans now. You're all too much of a risk here. I'm going to leave to search for Jonas. He left too early and too many search teams will be after him. If he's caught, he'll be Released. Do you think you can arrange it with your parents so you can leave to help with the search for Jonas and Gabriel?"
The Receiver was starting to leave when Lily asked, "Do you know why Jonas left Receiver."
"Actually, I think I know. Jonas has told me, he cares a lot about Gabriel, and that Gabriel is a bad sleeper. I think Jonas ran off him to protect him from Release. Oh yes, please call me the Giver from now on," and with that the Giver started off towards Elder Hall.
* * * *
Lily woke up long before sunrise and quickly ate the food that she had saved from last night. She scribbled a note to her parents that told about Lily's being assigned to a search team since she would know Jonas and his habits better than most.
Lily arrived at Searcher's Center where Asher, the Giver, and Katharine were waiting just about half an hour before they were to leave. Lily was shocked when she saw what was inside. Large rectangles lay on wheels.
"They're called trucks," explained the Giver. "I often use them to go to other communities. They move on their own power and are a lot more efficient than bicycles. We'll walk along side the truck assigned to our team, searching for signs that Jonas and Gabriel have gone bye."
Lily was quickly introduced to the six other search team members. Soon after the introductions were made, the team climbed into the truck. The sun was just beginning to rise when the truck drove across the bridge to Elsewhere.
After driving at a speed untouched by any bicycle rider for half an hour, Lily, Katharine, Asher, and four members of the search team got off and searched for clues that Jonas had been in this area. A search team member by the name of Joseph saw it.
"Look what I found!" he called out. As the others gathered around, Joseph pointed out what he had found. "You can see the bicycle tread marks here and the flattened grass here. Jonas has definitely been here. We should drive about a mile further and see if we can find any more signs. If there are, I predict that he'll be staying to the roads and we shouldn't have any problem finding him." After Joseph had finished speaking, Lily climbed back into the truck with the rest of the people and set off once more.
Sure enough, when the truck had stopped, more bicycle tracks were found. After driving an hour longer, they stopped and ate some lunch. The Giver was constantly becoming more and more distressed. Lily meant to ask him what was troubling him but didn't have the chance. The team leader had called for an end to lunch, and they were once again following Jonas.
Lily had been growing bored as the truck sped down the trail when it happened. She almost collapsed from the amount of memories. Though none of the memories were clear, there were so very many. FLASH! Lily felt water splash up against her as she rode on a boat. FLASH! Lily could feel the helplessness as someone close become Lost! FLASH! Lily felt immense happiness as she blew out the candles on a cake. Though Lily had never seen or felt these things before, she knew what they were. Lily looked around and immediately knew that Asher, Katharine, and the Giver had felt these memories too. Lily even thought, as she looked around, that the searchers had felt something of these memories too. Lily looked harder at the Giver and knew that he had completely fallen into grief. Lily became sad too as she watched the Giver so chose to look out a window instead. The sky was darkening and the truck was slowing.
"We're going to stop and rest here for the night," announced the Joseph. Lily walked out last thinking about how she could have received these memories. No has touched me recently, Lily thought, unless, the Giver gave Asher, Katharine, and me these new memories. But if he gave us these memories, why does he look so sad. After a small dinner, Lily was given a sleeping bag and ordered to sleep. Lily lay awake for an hour pondering what had just happened and finally decided to ask the Giver about what had happened. She slowly crawled over the sleeping bodies of the searchers until she came to the spot where the Giver lay.
"What do you want?" the Giver croaked out to Lily.
"I would like to know about the memories that I received just before we stopped," Lily told him.
"I can't tell you know Lily," the Giver said sadly. "Now I need you to wake Asher and Katharine. We need to lose the search team. We're getting very close to Jonas. I can't risk letting the searchers find him." Though confused at the Giver's instructions, Lily obeyed and brought her friends over to the Giver. The Giver quickly outlined his plan to the children. They hurried to follow his orders.
Lily and Katharine ran into the back of the truck and started taking supplies for themselves and Asher and the Giver. Asher ran into the back of the truck too but took five flares out of a box and some medical tape from a first aid kit. Asher then hurried to various parts of the truck where he taped the flares. Asher jumped into the cab and turned the truck on. Asher knew the searchers would wake soon, so he stepped on the gas pedal and pressed with all of his might. The truck leapt forward, right into the river. As the front of the truck began to sink into the water, Asher swam out of the door he had left open. Asher slowly swam to one of the flares and set its timer for 1 minute. Asher swiftly swam to the opposite side of the river and burst into a sprint, away from the waking searchers. Asher didn't see it, but he could hear the explosion, the screams, and the shouts when the truck lit up when the flares ignited.
Asher caught up with the others who had left earlier 10 minutes later. Asher bent over and started to cough hard. "Get up Asher," the Giver commanded. "We must get further away from here before it occurs to them that we are no longer there." Asher slowly straightened and resumed his run behind the girls and the Giver.
The sun was beginning to rise by the time the Giver had decided they were far enough away to begin walking and even then the walk was short and they were running again. Katharine was quite sure that the searchers would be too far behind to be worried about but the Giver was adamant about not stopping. Katharine was sure that the Giver was no longer afraid of the searchers but hurrying to find Jonas and Gabriel. It was nearing midday when Katharine thought she saw something on the other side of the river.
"Giver," Katharine called out, "I think I see something laying near that tree. Maybe it's Jonas or Gabriel." The Giver stiffened but agreed with her plan. The group swam across the river.
Lily ran up to the tree first, eager to see her brother. She was shocked at what she saw. At first she thought he was sleeping but that possibility was dismissed when she saw his tangled position. Then she saw the red blood spots covering his hair and his shirt. Lily knew she had seen this recently but couldn't put her finger on it. Katharine ran up behind her. Katharine remembered.
"He's dead," Katharine almost whispered. Suddenly Lily and Asher, who had walked up beside Katharine, understood. Lily let out a moan. The Giver finally walked over and nearly gave into tears.
"I thought so," he whispered.
"What?!" Lily screeched, anger temporarily replacing her sadness.
"I felt his memories return to me and the only other time that has happened is when the previous Receiver of Memory in Training had been Released," the Giver said. Lily collapsed onto Jonas' lifeless body and gave it a hug, trying to will the life back into him. Jonas continued to lay still. When Lily finally looked up, she saw that Asher had run off and was trembling with sadness. Katharine just let her tears flow. The Giver was incapable of tears so great was his grief. Suddenly, Asher gave a yelp.
"Come here!" he shouted. Unwilling to leave Jonas, Lily stayed while Katharine and the Giver hurried to see what Asher had found.
"It's a new child," Katharine observed. Hope began to kindle in Lily, and she rushed to Katharine.
"Gabe!" Lily cried, overcome with joy. True, Gabriel hadn't eaten for three days, and his clothes hadn't been changed for an even longer period of time but it was him. Lily picked him up and cradled him in her arms, softly cooing to him. Walking with Gabriel, Lily avoided her brother's body and walked to her backpack where she took out his hippo. Though Gabriel had memories of things much more pleasant and pleasing than a stuffed animal, he gave it a hug a patted it. Without warning, Gabriel began giving out the most horrible shrieks and dropped his hippo.
"What is it Gabe," Lily cooed to him. "Do you miss Jonas? Are you hurt?"
"Of course he's hurt," Asher said as he looked at Gabriel. "It looks like he hasn't eaten for the longest time. Get out some food and mash it up so he can eat it." Lily hurried to obey Asher, and Gabe was soon quiet once more. An hour later, Gabriel had fallen asleep and the others began to discuss their plans.
"We can't go back," Asher said. "If we go back, we'll be Released for endangering other people if we get past the searchers. Besides, I don't think that our supplies will last us that long."
"That is true Asher," replied the Giver, "but, if you haven't noticed, Gabriel has caught a deadly disease and-"
"A disease? What's that?" questioned Katharine.
The Giver sighed, "A disease is an ailment that strikes you and impairs your ability to do things. Gabriel has caught pneumonia and has sunburn as you can see by the red spots that appear on his flesh. We need to bring him to a community where they can cure him. I believe there is a community about a day from here. I have traveled to it before to advise their Elders."
"Let's leave now then," Lily suggested. "We need to save Gabe, and I don't want to be near Jonas' body."
"Actually, I remember a ceremony from before Sameness, Sameness is what we now live in, where the dead is buried. I think we should do that soon and leave tomorrow morning," the Giver said. The others agreed and began to work. Asher started to dig out a hole with the Giver while Katharine and Lily tried to clean Jonas up a little. It was starting to get dark when the Giver finally rolled Jonas into the grave and began to cover it with dirt. When the Giver finished, they all thought they're own thoughts and remembered happier times when Jonas was alive. Lily remembered when Jonas had been selected to be the Receiver of Memory and how proud she had been. Katharine thought about how Jonas had once helped teach her swim and how sad she would be if someone closer to her had died. Asher recalled how Jonas had always worked hard and helped him when he was having trouble. The Giver recollected how he had begun to love Jonas as a son and also about his own sadness when Rosemary had been Released. Lily had thought that the ceremony would only make her feel worse, but it had somehow made her feel like a burden had been lifted as she prepared to go to bed. All of the members of the group slept restfully that night.
The group had assembled and had finished breakfast by the time dawn broke. Lily was particularly anxious to leave, so they could find help for Gabriel who had started to cough. The Giver carried Gabe as they set off at a brisk walk.
The sun was near the middle of the sky when Lily first saw the community. She had noticed how the roads were becoming more maintained and saw the agricultural fields, but it was still startling to see a new community. It was the most beautiful sight Lily had ever seen. It was a chance for Gabe to live! Lily broke into a run with Asher and Katharine close behind. The Giver gave a little smile and was soon sprinting to catch up with them.
"Why it's the Receiver of Memory!" cried a passing biker. "What are you doing here? We do not currently need your assistance? How are these children with you? I apologize for prying."
"I wasn't coming to your community, but my vehicle has broken down. We need it to be repaired. The children with me are carrying my supplies. We found the child walking across the road and swerved to avoid him. That is how we crashed. I accept your apology," the Giver answered smoothly. "Could you go to the Elders and either arrange for me to have a new vehicle or to have the other one repaired?"
"I will do so," the biker replied and sped off.
Lily turned and saw a child tossing a ball against a wall. "Could you tell us where the Rehabilitation Center is?" Lily asked.
"Yes," the child answered and quickly gave directions. Lily thanked the girl, took Gabe from the Giver, and ran to the Rehabilitation Center.
The waiting room was thankfully empty and Gabriel was taken away to be treated. Asher and Katharine entered the Rehabilitation Center just as one of the Rehabilitation Director's assistants began to explain the situation to Lily who was worried about Gabe.
"This new child, Gabe, is terribly cold and hot. I think the Rehabilitation Director will have to be called in. We've never had a case like this before. I'm not sure about his chances to keep from becoming Lost. Come back tomorrow morning and I'll give you an update," the assistant explained. Lily thanked the assistant for telling her what was happening and quietly left with her friends. They ran into the Giver who was searching for the Rehabilitation Center and filled him in on Gabe's condition.
"Can you use your memories to help Gabe?" Lily asked hopefully.
"I'm sorry that I have no memories of how to heal pneumonia but I do have some good news. The Elders of this community have provided us with a dwelling for the night where we can stay while waiting to hear about Gabriel. The Elders have also arranged transport for us, so we can return to our community." Lily was tired and headed off to her temporarily dwelling where she went to sleep.
Lily's sleep was plagued with unpleasant dreams of Gabriel dying or Lily herself being Gabe. Lily snapped awake when she saw herself being buried after she died from pneumonia. Lily looked around her room, scared that the others had gone off without her, when she heard the Giver talking with Katharine in another room. Lily got out of bed and quickly dressed. Lily hurried to the table where she had a hasty breakfast.
"Glad to see that you're up," Asher said as he entered from the outside.
"Did you go to find out about Gabe?" Lily asked, irritated at the thought of someone other than her finding out how he was doing.
"Of course not. I was just out for an early morning run," Asher replied.
"Well, I'm finished with my breakfast. May we please go and check on Gabe now?" Lily asked the Giver hopefully.
"Of course," he responded. Lily rushed out the door for the Rehabilitation Center.
Lily was about 100 yards away from the center when she started having second thoughts and stopped running. What if Gabe has died? Lily wondered. Or maybe he has passed his ailment on to the doctors and they'll pass it on to me. Lily was beginning to head back to her temporary dwelling when she saw Asher and Katharine hurrying towards her. Pride forced Lily to get to the Rehabilitation Center first.
Lily asked a nurse in the waiting room, "How's Gabe doing? Is his condition worsening?"
"I'm sorry, but I didn't work on him," the nurse answered. "I can get someone who worked on him to tell you how he's doing."
"Please do so," Lily replied. The nurse was gone for a minute and came back with a forlorn looking doctor.
"How, how is he doing?" Lily asked, her spirits dropping at the sight of the unhappy man.
"I'm sorry, but he didn't make it. We thought he was getting better for a while, but he took a turn for the worse near morning and has to be Released," the doctor reported.
"Noooooo!" cried the Giver who had just come into the lobby. Suddenly, the Giver grabbed the doctor by the front of the shirt and asked in an ice cold voice, "Where is the Releasing Room?"
The doctor was so scared he gave the directions almost immediately, and the Giver rushed off. Lily, Katharine, and Asher followed, all feeling that something horrible was going to happen.
The Giver burst through a pair of heavy doors and stopped dead. Lily slammed into him, and Katharine slammed into Lily. Asher, however, managed to avoid them and gasped at what he saw. He saw a man wearing the Rehabilitation Director's coat plunging a syringe into Gabriel's scalp. Gabriel was giving out weak cries. Suddenly, the cries were silenced. The man gave Gabriel a shake. Gabriel limply shook and didn't make a sound. The man seemed satisfied at this and walked over to a hole in the wall, which Gabriel was thrown into.
Lily glared at the man and was ready to attack him when a tidal wave of memories came upon her. They're Gabe's Lily thought. The memories were happy. Lily didn't see anything horrible. It was all pleasant. Lily felt herself rocking a baby on her lap. Lily saw fireworks flashing and saw all of the colors. Lily felt the warmth of petting a puppy and felt happy. Lily looked up and saw that Katharine, Asher, and the Giver were also enjoying the memories.
The doctor, however, had collapsed and was moaning as though it was he who had been Released. Lily slapped him in anger.
"These came from the baby you just murdered!" she yelled. "These are the most beautiful memories! Can't you see that!" The Rehabilitation Director continued to moan but they were becoming quieter and quieter. The man removed his hands from his face, revealing a tentative smile.
"You're right," he whispered. Lily smiled when he said this.
Slowly, the Rehabilitation Director got to his feet and walked out. Lily and her friends followed. Outside there was madness. People lay all over the ground moaning and crying. The Giver walked over to a person and started talking to her, explaining what a wonderful thing had just happened to her. The lady sat still for a moment after the Giver left her but got up with a smile on her face.
Soon Lily, Asher, Katharine, the Giver, the Rehabilitation Director, and the nurse were walking over to people all over the Rehabilitation Center. The Rehabilitation Center was soon full of happy people, and they all went outside and started comforting those who hadn't been helped yet. By bedtime, there was not a single unhappy face. Lily slept peacefully that night, thinking about all the people she had helped and how she could help her own community.
The next morning, the Giver announced his plans to leave. The community was unhappy and wanted more memories but let him go. Lily boarded the truck provided to the Giver with Asher and Katharine. As they left, Lily waved to the crowd who had gathered. The Giver had explained that there were painful memories, and that it would be a tough job to help others who would have to have the memories transmitted to them voluntarily and that it would be hard to get rid of Sameness, but Lily smiled. Soon her parents and friends would be able to share in the memories that Lily now had.
"The Giver has found us a position on one of the teams that will be sent out to search for Jonas," Asher reported when he reached Lily. "We have to get ready and pack for the expedition. The team will leave at sunrise tomorrow." Asher then ran back to his family's dwelling to pack for himself. Lily followed suit and hurried home to pack.
As Lily entered her home, she gave the customary bow of courtesy to the two Elders who had originally searched her dwelling for clues to where Jonas and Gabriel had gone and were now waiting to see if Jonas would return.
It's strange, Lily thought as she entered her room, how the house is just as full as before but feels hollow and empty. Packing didn't take long since Lily knew that many of the items would be supplied. However, she did pack a few sets of clothing and, as an afterthought, Gabe's hippo, in case he needed to be comforted. She placed these items into the bag she used to carry her learning usages in. Lily finished packing for the expedition well before the evening meal.
The meal with Mother, Father, and the two Elders was as quiet and uncomfortable as the others after Jonas' disappearance. Feeling Time was even less comfortable.
"I felt disappointed that Jonas didn't come home today," Lily answered when questioned about her feelings.
As Lily lay in bed, she let her mind wander on the events that had recently transpired to place her in the position she was now in.
* * * * *
Lily sat in the Recreation Area with a small group of Fours. They were playing with their comfort objects. Lily had brought her own elephant, and they were having a parade of the mythical beasts. Suddenly, as they were parading through a sandbox, Lily was struck with an image. She could feel something incredibly massive. The image quickly disappeared, but Lily found that, if she concentrated, she could bring the image back. It didn't take long before Lily realized that the image she saw was one of an extraordinary creature. It stood on four massive pole-like legs with ears that could be easily used as blankets. The creature turned and Lily recognized it, it was her elephant! No other creature had a wormy nose like it. Lily was taken back. She knew, like all children, that the comfort objects were imaginary.
"Lily, is something wrong?" asked a little Four by the name of Joseph. Lily turned around and saw that she was holding up the parade line.
"Yes," Lily replied shakily, "something is wrong. I think I'll go to the Rehabilitation Center." Lily slowly walked down a path to the Rehabilitation Center pondering what she had just seen.
At nearly the same time, Asher was playing the game Jonas had requested that he not play any more. Asher jumped out from behind a tree a, brought an imaginary weapon to his shoulder, and "fired" at a passing Nine. The Nine, Timothy, fell on his face and gave a cry of pain. Asher hurried over with other Nines. The child rolled over. It was now Asher's turn to give a cry, this one of surprise. There was a something dribbling out of his nose and from a lip. Asher knew it was blood, he had seen it before, but there was something different about this blood. There was a new quality to this blood. It was strange and horrible. The blood seemed a hundred times worse with this new quality.
"Do you see it?" Asher asked a nearby Nine by the name of Sara.
"Yeah, it's disgusting," Sara told Asher.
"You mean you see it too?" said Asher getting excited.
"Of course! You'd have to be blind not to see all of that blood," Sara replied.
"So you don't see it, the blood's new quality?" Asher asked dejectedly.
"What are you talking about? First, you ask if I see the blood, and I say yes. Then you ask if I don't. I also don't see any difference in the blood. I'm getting confused. You should take Timothy to the Rehabilitation Center," Sara said.
"Yeah, I guess I'd better," Asher said in a distant sort of way, his eyes fixated on the strange blood. Asher helped Timothy up and started walking to the Rehabilitation Center. He couldn't stop staring at Timothy's bleeding nose and lip for the whole trip.
Katharine sat in a chair in the Rehabilitation Center's lobby, waiting for the Rehabilitation Director or one of his assistants to come and examine her. Katharine had slipped and fallen when she exited the river after swimming lessons. A dizzy spell had come over her, so she had been sent to the Rehabilitation Center.
"Are you Katharine?" a rehabilitation assistant asked Katharine.
"Yes," Katharine replied.
"Then come with me," the assistant commanded Katharine. Katharine followed her into a small room. After the examination had been completed, and Katharine had been given a pill, she saw Asher and Lily coming towards the Rehabilitation Center. Asher and Lily were so distracted, that they ran into each other.
Asher quickly apologized to Lily for not paying attention and helped her up from the ground. Asher then led Timothy into the Rehabilitation Center.
"There should be no problem helping Timothy here," laughed the doctor. "A little washing and a pill to kill any infections, and he'll be all right."
"Could you get somebody for me too?" asked Asher. "I think I may be hallucinating."
"You're in luck," said the doctor. "The Rehabilitation Director, himself, is here. I'll ask him to help you."
"I thank you for your willingness to help me," Asher told the doctor.
Katharine was just leaving when Asher looked at her. Asher almost fell out of his chair with astonishment. Not only did Katharine's hair have this strange quality, but also her clothing did too! Asher seemed to enter a trance, and he walked towards Katharine trying to just touch these common things that were no longer so common. Asher took Katharine's hair in his hand.
Katharine was turning to ask Asher to remove his hand from her hair, when she suddenly realized that the hair which was hanging loose in front of her eyes and clothes had gained a strange new quality. Asher had been concentrating se hard on the quality while he held Katharine's hair that the memory had been transmitted to her. Asher though hadn't lost the memory, and together they continued to feel her hair, trying to detect some other difference.
Lily slowly walked over to them, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Is something wrong?" Lily whispered.
"Oh Lily," replied Asher, "if only you could see what I am seeing. It is so incredible." Suddenly, Asher was struck with inspiration and took Lily's hand. He concentrated on the new quality he was seeing, and Lily instantly understood. She too could now sense this quality. Soon Lily had joined Asher in stroking Katharine's clothes and hair.
"Is there a problem?" questioned a voice from a doorway. Instantly, the three had snapped back into reality. The Rehabilitation Director stood in the doorway with an odd look upon his face.
"No, none at all," Asher quickly responded using his privilege to lie. Asher now realized that he didn't want this ability to be taken away, like the Stirrings had been. Lily and Katharine looked uncomfortable but didn't say anything.
"We just thought that Katharine had something stuck in her hair, and we were trying to remove it Director," Asher lied nervously.
"Well if that's all . . .," the Director said, not entirely convinced, "you can take Timothy back to his friends. My assistant has finished cleaning him up." Timothy appeared next to the Director, looking cheerful, and much better.
"You go on ahead Timothy. There's something I want to discuss with Katharine and Lily here," Asher told him as they left the Rehabilitation Center. Asher dismissed Timothy with a nod, and he skipped down the path to join his playmates.
"So, can we all see it?" Asher asked the girls.
"Yes," the girls chorused fearfully.
"And none of us knows what this is?" questioned Asher.
"Yes," came the reply once more.
"Don't tell anyone about this," Asher commanded the two younger children. "If you have to, lie. If anyone finds out, someone will give us a pill and we'll forget about it like Stirrings, or we may even be," Asher paused to drive the point home, "Released."
"All right," Lily agreed slowly.
Katharine thought about it for a little while before answering yes. "Why did you lie to the Rehabilitation Director?" she asked.
Asher hesitated before answering, "Don't tell anyone, but when you get the instructions for your Assignment, you are given the privilege to lie."
"Ok," Katharine said in a satisfied way, "now go back to what you were doing or what you are now supposed to do, and act like nothing out of the ordinary happened."
Slowly they all walked away, each absorbed in his or her own thoughts. Lily purposely walked slowly, trying to figure out what was nagging her in the back of her mind.
Two nights after Lily had first seen the real elephant, she sat bolt upright in bed. "It's Jonas!" she shouted. Lily quickly lay back in bed when she heard her parents' footsteps coming from their room. Lily's door opened as her father took a quick peek inside and then closed.
Lily sighed. She had finally figured out what had been bugging here. Jonas had once told her that elephants had been real live beasts and then proceeded to touch her. Lily hadn't felt anything then and told Jonas to stop touching her, since he had been hurting her. Asher had done the same thing when Lily had gained the ability to see this new attribute in common items. Lily wasn't completely sure yet if Jonas had been the one to let her see a real elephant, so she made plans to meet Asher the next day to ask him if Jonas had done anything peculiar to him lately.
Lily hurried out to all of the Recreation fields the next day to try and find Asher but to no avail. Asher had gone off with Katharine and the other Sixes to another community where, they would compete in a soccer tournament. He and Katharine wouldn't be back until sunset. Lily was impatient for the day to end, so she could talk with Asher. Lily had gotten so impatient that she had nearly asked Jonas himself about these things she could suddenly see and remember.
Evening had finally come. "Hello Lily. Our team did great. I bet you would have enjoyed watching Katharine play," Asher said happily.
"We need to talk privately. Get Katharine and meet me at the Auditorium," Lily quickly said.
"All right," Asher said turning serious.
Fifteen minutes later, Asher and Katharine arrived at the Auditorium, where Lily was waiting. Lily immediately got down to business and asked Asher, "Do you remember if Jonas touched you since he became the Receiver-of-Memory-in-Training, particularly at a time when he was trying to get you to notice something." Asher thought hard.
"I do remember a time when Jonas touched me, trying to point something out about a bouquet of geraniums," Asher told Lily.
"Well let's go check out these geraniums," Lily suggested, and they ran off to the Hall of Open Records. Sure enough, when they arrived at the Hall of Open Records, the geraniums had the new quality.
"How did you figure out that it was Jonas who caused our ability to see this new attribute?" asked Katharine.
"I'd rather not say," Lily told them, not eager to share her memory of the elephant.
"Let's talk to Jonas about this ability to see new things tomorrow, as soon as he completes his day's training," Asher suggested. The girls agreed. They all hurried home before they could get reprimanded for being out late without purpose.
So that's what Jonas is learning and experiencing during his training. Lily had always wondered what Jonas had done when he went off to the Annex. She stretched her imagination to the limits but couldn't even begin to imagine what other things Jonas had experienced. When she tired of thinking about what Jonas was experiencing, Lily began to wonder about the strange shape she had seen moving towards the river while she had been walking home. She remembered seeing a large shadow going with all haste towards the river and Elsewhere. Her first impulse had been to call out to the person but stopped herself when she realized that person would probably report her for being out so she calmly watched as the figure quickly disappeared.
The next day Jonas was missing. Lily, Katharine, and Asher were devastated. All of them wanted to experience more, and now their only chance to get these was gone. Lily was particularly devastated because Gabriel had also turned up missing. The Nurturing Center was thrown into chaos because nothing like this had ever happened before. Katharine, Lily, and Asher sat on the bank of the river thinking their own thoughts. Katharine had told them that the Elders were scared out of their wits giving out orders and getting mad when they were followed.
"Why did you have to leave!" Lily shouted. "We wanted more!" Katharine and Asher gave her scared looks but didn't say anything since they both felt the same way.
"What do you mean?" inquired a voice from behind them. The group spun around to see the Receiver of Memory looking at them sadly. Lily quickly became embarrassed and started an apology. "No, I don't want an apology. I want to know what you are talking about," the Receiver said firmly.
"Will you take what I'm seeing away from me if I tell you?" Katharine asked the Receiver. Asher and Lily suddenly starting giving Katharine angry looks, angry that their secret was now out. To their surprise the Receiver gave a little chuckle.
"So Jonas was trying to pass memories on to you," the Receiver said, almost to himself. "Please tell me what you see Katharine," the Receiver requested.
"Well," Katharine thought, "look at my hair. Do you see the new quality it has?"
"No, I can't," the Receiver said sadly. "But I do know what you are talking about. You are seeing the color red. Now before you ask what that is, I'll explain. Before the world entered Sameness, all items had shape and size but also the quality of color. Red is just one color out of literally thousands." The Receiver looked at Lily who was uncomfortable. "You have another memory don't you?" he asked her.
"Ye-, Yes," Lily responded keeping her gaze fixed on the Receiver so she couldn't see Asher's or Katharine's faces.
"What is it?"
"In this memory I can see a real live elephant."
Asher was too startled at this statement to continue the dirty look. "You mean comfort objects are based on real live animals?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes," the Receiver answered. "I guess you'll have to become part of my plans now. You're all too much of a risk here. I'm going to leave to search for Jonas. He left too early and too many search teams will be after him. If he's caught, he'll be Released. Do you think you can arrange it with your parents so you can leave to help with the search for Jonas and Gabriel?"
The Receiver was starting to leave when Lily asked, "Do you know why Jonas left Receiver."
"Actually, I think I know. Jonas has told me, he cares a lot about Gabriel, and that Gabriel is a bad sleeper. I think Jonas ran off him to protect him from Release. Oh yes, please call me the Giver from now on," and with that the Giver started off towards Elder Hall.
* * * *
Lily woke up long before sunrise and quickly ate the food that she had saved from last night. She scribbled a note to her parents that told about Lily's being assigned to a search team since she would know Jonas and his habits better than most.
Lily arrived at Searcher's Center where Asher, the Giver, and Katharine were waiting just about half an hour before they were to leave. Lily was shocked when she saw what was inside. Large rectangles lay on wheels.
"They're called trucks," explained the Giver. "I often use them to go to other communities. They move on their own power and are a lot more efficient than bicycles. We'll walk along side the truck assigned to our team, searching for signs that Jonas and Gabriel have gone bye."
Lily was quickly introduced to the six other search team members. Soon after the introductions were made, the team climbed into the truck. The sun was just beginning to rise when the truck drove across the bridge to Elsewhere.
After driving at a speed untouched by any bicycle rider for half an hour, Lily, Katharine, Asher, and four members of the search team got off and searched for clues that Jonas had been in this area. A search team member by the name of Joseph saw it.
"Look what I found!" he called out. As the others gathered around, Joseph pointed out what he had found. "You can see the bicycle tread marks here and the flattened grass here. Jonas has definitely been here. We should drive about a mile further and see if we can find any more signs. If there are, I predict that he'll be staying to the roads and we shouldn't have any problem finding him." After Joseph had finished speaking, Lily climbed back into the truck with the rest of the people and set off once more.
Sure enough, when the truck had stopped, more bicycle tracks were found. After driving an hour longer, they stopped and ate some lunch. The Giver was constantly becoming more and more distressed. Lily meant to ask him what was troubling him but didn't have the chance. The team leader had called for an end to lunch, and they were once again following Jonas.
Lily had been growing bored as the truck sped down the trail when it happened. She almost collapsed from the amount of memories. Though none of the memories were clear, there were so very many. FLASH! Lily felt water splash up against her as she rode on a boat. FLASH! Lily could feel the helplessness as someone close become Lost! FLASH! Lily felt immense happiness as she blew out the candles on a cake. Though Lily had never seen or felt these things before, she knew what they were. Lily looked around and immediately knew that Asher, Katharine, and the Giver had felt these memories too. Lily even thought, as she looked around, that the searchers had felt something of these memories too. Lily looked harder at the Giver and knew that he had completely fallen into grief. Lily became sad too as she watched the Giver so chose to look out a window instead. The sky was darkening and the truck was slowing.
"We're going to stop and rest here for the night," announced the Joseph. Lily walked out last thinking about how she could have received these memories. No has touched me recently, Lily thought, unless, the Giver gave Asher, Katharine, and me these new memories. But if he gave us these memories, why does he look so sad. After a small dinner, Lily was given a sleeping bag and ordered to sleep. Lily lay awake for an hour pondering what had just happened and finally decided to ask the Giver about what had happened. She slowly crawled over the sleeping bodies of the searchers until she came to the spot where the Giver lay.
"What do you want?" the Giver croaked out to Lily.
"I would like to know about the memories that I received just before we stopped," Lily told him.
"I can't tell you know Lily," the Giver said sadly. "Now I need you to wake Asher and Katharine. We need to lose the search team. We're getting very close to Jonas. I can't risk letting the searchers find him." Though confused at the Giver's instructions, Lily obeyed and brought her friends over to the Giver. The Giver quickly outlined his plan to the children. They hurried to follow his orders.
Lily and Katharine ran into the back of the truck and started taking supplies for themselves and Asher and the Giver. Asher ran into the back of the truck too but took five flares out of a box and some medical tape from a first aid kit. Asher then hurried to various parts of the truck where he taped the flares. Asher jumped into the cab and turned the truck on. Asher knew the searchers would wake soon, so he stepped on the gas pedal and pressed with all of his might. The truck leapt forward, right into the river. As the front of the truck began to sink into the water, Asher swam out of the door he had left open. Asher slowly swam to one of the flares and set its timer for 1 minute. Asher swiftly swam to the opposite side of the river and burst into a sprint, away from the waking searchers. Asher didn't see it, but he could hear the explosion, the screams, and the shouts when the truck lit up when the flares ignited.
Asher caught up with the others who had left earlier 10 minutes later. Asher bent over and started to cough hard. "Get up Asher," the Giver commanded. "We must get further away from here before it occurs to them that we are no longer there." Asher slowly straightened and resumed his run behind the girls and the Giver.
The sun was beginning to rise by the time the Giver had decided they were far enough away to begin walking and even then the walk was short and they were running again. Katharine was quite sure that the searchers would be too far behind to be worried about but the Giver was adamant about not stopping. Katharine was sure that the Giver was no longer afraid of the searchers but hurrying to find Jonas and Gabriel. It was nearing midday when Katharine thought she saw something on the other side of the river.
"Giver," Katharine called out, "I think I see something laying near that tree. Maybe it's Jonas or Gabriel." The Giver stiffened but agreed with her plan. The group swam across the river.
Lily ran up to the tree first, eager to see her brother. She was shocked at what she saw. At first she thought he was sleeping but that possibility was dismissed when she saw his tangled position. Then she saw the red blood spots covering his hair and his shirt. Lily knew she had seen this recently but couldn't put her finger on it. Katharine ran up behind her. Katharine remembered.
"He's dead," Katharine almost whispered. Suddenly Lily and Asher, who had walked up beside Katharine, understood. Lily let out a moan. The Giver finally walked over and nearly gave into tears.
"I thought so," he whispered.
"What?!" Lily screeched, anger temporarily replacing her sadness.
"I felt his memories return to me and the only other time that has happened is when the previous Receiver of Memory in Training had been Released," the Giver said. Lily collapsed onto Jonas' lifeless body and gave it a hug, trying to will the life back into him. Jonas continued to lay still. When Lily finally looked up, she saw that Asher had run off and was trembling with sadness. Katharine just let her tears flow. The Giver was incapable of tears so great was his grief. Suddenly, Asher gave a yelp.
"Come here!" he shouted. Unwilling to leave Jonas, Lily stayed while Katharine and the Giver hurried to see what Asher had found.
"It's a new child," Katharine observed. Hope began to kindle in Lily, and she rushed to Katharine.
"Gabe!" Lily cried, overcome with joy. True, Gabriel hadn't eaten for three days, and his clothes hadn't been changed for an even longer period of time but it was him. Lily picked him up and cradled him in her arms, softly cooing to him. Walking with Gabriel, Lily avoided her brother's body and walked to her backpack where she took out his hippo. Though Gabriel had memories of things much more pleasant and pleasing than a stuffed animal, he gave it a hug a patted it. Without warning, Gabriel began giving out the most horrible shrieks and dropped his hippo.
"What is it Gabe," Lily cooed to him. "Do you miss Jonas? Are you hurt?"
"Of course he's hurt," Asher said as he looked at Gabriel. "It looks like he hasn't eaten for the longest time. Get out some food and mash it up so he can eat it." Lily hurried to obey Asher, and Gabe was soon quiet once more. An hour later, Gabriel had fallen asleep and the others began to discuss their plans.
"We can't go back," Asher said. "If we go back, we'll be Released for endangering other people if we get past the searchers. Besides, I don't think that our supplies will last us that long."
"That is true Asher," replied the Giver, "but, if you haven't noticed, Gabriel has caught a deadly disease and-"
"A disease? What's that?" questioned Katharine.
The Giver sighed, "A disease is an ailment that strikes you and impairs your ability to do things. Gabriel has caught pneumonia and has sunburn as you can see by the red spots that appear on his flesh. We need to bring him to a community where they can cure him. I believe there is a community about a day from here. I have traveled to it before to advise their Elders."
"Let's leave now then," Lily suggested. "We need to save Gabe, and I don't want to be near Jonas' body."
"Actually, I remember a ceremony from before Sameness, Sameness is what we now live in, where the dead is buried. I think we should do that soon and leave tomorrow morning," the Giver said. The others agreed and began to work. Asher started to dig out a hole with the Giver while Katharine and Lily tried to clean Jonas up a little. It was starting to get dark when the Giver finally rolled Jonas into the grave and began to cover it with dirt. When the Giver finished, they all thought they're own thoughts and remembered happier times when Jonas was alive. Lily remembered when Jonas had been selected to be the Receiver of Memory and how proud she had been. Katharine thought about how Jonas had once helped teach her swim and how sad she would be if someone closer to her had died. Asher recalled how Jonas had always worked hard and helped him when he was having trouble. The Giver recollected how he had begun to love Jonas as a son and also about his own sadness when Rosemary had been Released. Lily had thought that the ceremony would only make her feel worse, but it had somehow made her feel like a burden had been lifted as she prepared to go to bed. All of the members of the group slept restfully that night.
The group had assembled and had finished breakfast by the time dawn broke. Lily was particularly anxious to leave, so they could find help for Gabriel who had started to cough. The Giver carried Gabe as they set off at a brisk walk.
The sun was near the middle of the sky when Lily first saw the community. She had noticed how the roads were becoming more maintained and saw the agricultural fields, but it was still startling to see a new community. It was the most beautiful sight Lily had ever seen. It was a chance for Gabe to live! Lily broke into a run with Asher and Katharine close behind. The Giver gave a little smile and was soon sprinting to catch up with them.
"Why it's the Receiver of Memory!" cried a passing biker. "What are you doing here? We do not currently need your assistance? How are these children with you? I apologize for prying."
"I wasn't coming to your community, but my vehicle has broken down. We need it to be repaired. The children with me are carrying my supplies. We found the child walking across the road and swerved to avoid him. That is how we crashed. I accept your apology," the Giver answered smoothly. "Could you go to the Elders and either arrange for me to have a new vehicle or to have the other one repaired?"
"I will do so," the biker replied and sped off.
Lily turned and saw a child tossing a ball against a wall. "Could you tell us where the Rehabilitation Center is?" Lily asked.
"Yes," the child answered and quickly gave directions. Lily thanked the girl, took Gabe from the Giver, and ran to the Rehabilitation Center.
The waiting room was thankfully empty and Gabriel was taken away to be treated. Asher and Katharine entered the Rehabilitation Center just as one of the Rehabilitation Director's assistants began to explain the situation to Lily who was worried about Gabe.
"This new child, Gabe, is terribly cold and hot. I think the Rehabilitation Director will have to be called in. We've never had a case like this before. I'm not sure about his chances to keep from becoming Lost. Come back tomorrow morning and I'll give you an update," the assistant explained. Lily thanked the assistant for telling her what was happening and quietly left with her friends. They ran into the Giver who was searching for the Rehabilitation Center and filled him in on Gabe's condition.
"Can you use your memories to help Gabe?" Lily asked hopefully.
"I'm sorry that I have no memories of how to heal pneumonia but I do have some good news. The Elders of this community have provided us with a dwelling for the night where we can stay while waiting to hear about Gabriel. The Elders have also arranged transport for us, so we can return to our community." Lily was tired and headed off to her temporarily dwelling where she went to sleep.
Lily's sleep was plagued with unpleasant dreams of Gabriel dying or Lily herself being Gabe. Lily snapped awake when she saw herself being buried after she died from pneumonia. Lily looked around her room, scared that the others had gone off without her, when she heard the Giver talking with Katharine in another room. Lily got out of bed and quickly dressed. Lily hurried to the table where she had a hasty breakfast.
"Glad to see that you're up," Asher said as he entered from the outside.
"Did you go to find out about Gabe?" Lily asked, irritated at the thought of someone other than her finding out how he was doing.
"Of course not. I was just out for an early morning run," Asher replied.
"Well, I'm finished with my breakfast. May we please go and check on Gabe now?" Lily asked the Giver hopefully.
"Of course," he responded. Lily rushed out the door for the Rehabilitation Center.
Lily was about 100 yards away from the center when she started having second thoughts and stopped running. What if Gabe has died? Lily wondered. Or maybe he has passed his ailment on to the doctors and they'll pass it on to me. Lily was beginning to head back to her temporary dwelling when she saw Asher and Katharine hurrying towards her. Pride forced Lily to get to the Rehabilitation Center first.
Lily asked a nurse in the waiting room, "How's Gabe doing? Is his condition worsening?"
"I'm sorry, but I didn't work on him," the nurse answered. "I can get someone who worked on him to tell you how he's doing."
"Please do so," Lily replied. The nurse was gone for a minute and came back with a forlorn looking doctor.
"How, how is he doing?" Lily asked, her spirits dropping at the sight of the unhappy man.
"I'm sorry, but he didn't make it. We thought he was getting better for a while, but he took a turn for the worse near morning and has to be Released," the doctor reported.
"Noooooo!" cried the Giver who had just come into the lobby. Suddenly, the Giver grabbed the doctor by the front of the shirt and asked in an ice cold voice, "Where is the Releasing Room?"
The doctor was so scared he gave the directions almost immediately, and the Giver rushed off. Lily, Katharine, and Asher followed, all feeling that something horrible was going to happen.
The Giver burst through a pair of heavy doors and stopped dead. Lily slammed into him, and Katharine slammed into Lily. Asher, however, managed to avoid them and gasped at what he saw. He saw a man wearing the Rehabilitation Director's coat plunging a syringe into Gabriel's scalp. Gabriel was giving out weak cries. Suddenly, the cries were silenced. The man gave Gabriel a shake. Gabriel limply shook and didn't make a sound. The man seemed satisfied at this and walked over to a hole in the wall, which Gabriel was thrown into.
Lily glared at the man and was ready to attack him when a tidal wave of memories came upon her. They're Gabe's Lily thought. The memories were happy. Lily didn't see anything horrible. It was all pleasant. Lily felt herself rocking a baby on her lap. Lily saw fireworks flashing and saw all of the colors. Lily felt the warmth of petting a puppy and felt happy. Lily looked up and saw that Katharine, Asher, and the Giver were also enjoying the memories.
The doctor, however, had collapsed and was moaning as though it was he who had been Released. Lily slapped him in anger.
"These came from the baby you just murdered!" she yelled. "These are the most beautiful memories! Can't you see that!" The Rehabilitation Director continued to moan but they were becoming quieter and quieter. The man removed his hands from his face, revealing a tentative smile.
"You're right," he whispered. Lily smiled when he said this.
Slowly, the Rehabilitation Director got to his feet and walked out. Lily and her friends followed. Outside there was madness. People lay all over the ground moaning and crying. The Giver walked over to a person and started talking to her, explaining what a wonderful thing had just happened to her. The lady sat still for a moment after the Giver left her but got up with a smile on her face.
Soon Lily, Asher, Katharine, the Giver, the Rehabilitation Director, and the nurse were walking over to people all over the Rehabilitation Center. The Rehabilitation Center was soon full of happy people, and they all went outside and started comforting those who hadn't been helped yet. By bedtime, there was not a single unhappy face. Lily slept peacefully that night, thinking about all the people she had helped and how she could help her own community.
The next morning, the Giver announced his plans to leave. The community was unhappy and wanted more memories but let him go. Lily boarded the truck provided to the Giver with Asher and Katharine. As they left, Lily waved to the crowd who had gathered. The Giver had explained that there were painful memories, and that it would be a tough job to help others who would have to have the memories transmitted to them voluntarily and that it would be hard to get rid of Sameness, but Lily smiled. Soon her parents and friends would be able to share in the memories that Lily now had.