Lion-Hearted

chapter 1 Journey ended
I hugged Gabriel tightly to keep him as warm as possible. As we came closer to the house, I had more hope. I could see the colors orange, blue, green, and yellow. They where all on a tree, was this the memory of Christmas that the giver had once given me? I could here the music growing larger in sound. Now I knew for sure that it was not just an echo.

"Hold on Gabe were almost there." I said, trying to give the weak child some reassurance. But he had already fallen asleep. We came to the bottom of the hill and I stopped the sled.

"Help!" I screamed trying to get someone to notice me, but the harsh winds of the blizzard roared over me. I walked up to the door and knocked screaming for help. A Woman answered the door and looked down at us.

"Oh my, Mike can you start the fire please these poor dears must be freezing." The women said.

"Take Gabriel feed him he is starving please." I said clattering my teeth together.

We walked in the house which seemed a lot cozier than mine. It was a lot like the annex room in fact. It had lots of books a chair, and a TV. It was a lot different then what houses in my community looked like. I shivered sitting next to the warm fire. Gabe was awoken to be feed, which he seemed to enjoy. They gave me a cup of hot coco, and some ham. It was delicious or shall I say yummy.

"Excuse me maim if you don't mind me asking, could Gabriel and I stay here for a little?"

"You didn't even need to ask. By the way I am Stacie, and this is my daughter Jackie. May I ask why you where out in the blizzard?" Stacie said

"Well maim, I ran away from my community because I was given a job that was not needed, they need to face reality. Where I'm from my people have a person called the Receiver of Memory who must pass on the memories of the world. My community is very sheltered and protected. I did what must be done which was release the memories back to the community. Like I said they needed to face reality. I am quite sad because I had to leave the Giver behind. But it was for the best. I'm Jonas by the way; I apologize for not letting you no earlier."

"Yes but may I ask you this, the receiver of memory or you trainer why do you call him Giver. Why don't you call him by his real name?" the inquisitive Jackie said. "And why do you have a job you are so young."

"You see in my community when you become a twelve you get assigned a job. I am a twelve, and Gabriel is only a one. If your wondering why I took him with me it because they where going to kill him, I just couldn't let that happen. I could barely take seeing my own father kill a newborn. This was different I had known Gabe for a whole year. My father on the other hand said he was just doing his job."

"Well you and Gabriel can sleep in the spare room; Gabe can have Jackie's old crib." Stacie said pointing to the spare room. It was in the far corner of the living room. It was large with one bed and a crib.

That night; I thought of the giver as I had many nights before. I wondered if he would be released. I wish he would have come with me. But I knew it was necessary for him to stay. The community would have been a mess without him. I remembered all the exhilarating rides that he gave me, and all the memories that made me so depressed. I truly did love him and I always will. He is the person I will miss the most, then my true love Fiona.

Gabe was sleeping soundly, and I knew that wouldn't last long. A sudden crash in the middle of the night came upon the house. I looked out my door to see what was going on, but it was pitch black. All I could here was crashing noise of breaking glass. Stacie awoke, and so did her husband Mike. As for Jackie she slept like a rock. They flipped on the light switch to see nothing, just glass on the floor from a broken window. They knew now that they where being robbed. Mike grabbed his gun, and I walked out with Gabe in my hands. I gave Gabe to Stacie who then put him in her room. He was crying, whining and fussing. All of the sudden a man grabbed from behind and pointed a weapon towards my head.

"Nobody move and the kid doesn't get hurt." The man said.

He dragged me over to Stacie and quickly took her wedding ring from her. Out of the blue Mike charged forward; and began to battled with the man. The man let me go. I went over to Stacie and held her near. She was frightened more than ever; she had the possibility of loosing her husband. With her arms trembling, she hastily hit the silent alarm in her house. The police and ambulance would be there soon. Jackie walked out of her room completely disorientated; she had no idea what was going on. Like Stacie she was terrified for Mike too.

I heard a strident noise; which reminded me of the war field and the elephant scene. Stacie began to weep. Jackie looked up at her mother; she didn't comprehend what was going on. Then I realized it was a gun shot had gone off. Nor Mike or the robber moved. If it was Mike after all who had got shot, I would no the feeling of pain for real.