Jonas felt great fear about the Ceremony of Twelve. He knew it was to be held on this day. His fear stayed with him the entire time sitting and waiting throughout all the ceremonies before his.
When it finally came to the time for the Ceremony of Twelve, he watched as a gentle female named Melanie got assigned to the job of a nurturer. Next, came a troublesome male, named Gabriel, who was number fifteen, Jonas being number sixteen. Before his job was announced, the Elders moaned and groaned, which symbolized that the job they were about to give this child was worthy of no honor.
At last, the chief Elder announced, under his breath, "This child shall be the Receiver of memory." The audience gasped at the dishonor, Jonas's dark eyes bugging out. Everyone in the community knew that the Receiver was only to sit silently in an enclosed area in vast pain. Therefore, they did not need an explanation. Gabriel rushed back to his seat, Jonas feebly rising from his seat so as to avoid getting involved with the future Receiver.
With a wry smile, still striving to get over his last assignment, the chief Elder assigned Jonas the respectable job of working in the House of the Old. The chief Elder explained that Jonas would be bathing the Old, feeding the Old, and best of all releasing the Old at the beautiful Ceremonies of Release.
Jonas was so joyful about the whole job, but especially the part where he would get to release the Old. He was so excited, that he had forgotten the horror of that useless Gabriel's new job.
