Hi. My name is Burnette Chick. I couldn't stand the fact that the Giver ended where it did where there is still a climax. Therefore, I choose to continue it. A lot of people just decided to end their stories at Chapter 24, but I want to keep going with it.

I do not own Jonas or Gabriel. The rest of the characters are mine unless I decide to travel back to the community for some reason.

Learning to Love

by Burnette Chick

Jonas reached the bottom of the hill and stepped off the sled, clutching Gabriel in his arms. I can't do this, he thought. The simple effort of walking to the first dwelling he saw looked like it would take an eternity. "Gabe," he said quietly. "Wail as loud as you can."

Gabe knew what this meant. He screamed. Jonas also yelled, "Help!" as loud as he could. He struggled to crawl closer to the dwelling. His stomach was so empty; he had never felt so weak in his entire life.

He yelled until his voice, too, could go on no longer. He finally lost the ability to keep concious and fell face forward into the snow.

***

Jonas couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. I must be dead, he thought. He wondered what it was like, being Elsewhere. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him and he opened his eyes.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" said a woman. "I've been trying to get you to wake up for the past thirty minutes!"

"Mmmph," murmured Jonas, who didn't think he would be strong enough to say anything ever again. He knew he would soon fall asleep again, and the next time he would never wake up.

"You look so thin; I could see your ribs," said the woman.

Jonas discovered that his tunic had been taken off. Now, he was wearing a strange garment. He hadn't seen the likes of it except in the memories from the Giver. A shirt, he realized.

"Greg! Get the boys some food! They look like they haven't had a meal in a month," said the woman.

The next thing Jonas knew she was feeding him something. It tasted so good that he wolfed it down. He didn't even know what he was eating, it was gone so fast.

At last, Jonas was full. He fell back asleep and woke again several hours later. By then, there was no more light coming through the windows. All the lights were turned off, and Jonas heard no more sounds in the room. He looked to his right and saw Gabriel laying beside him, peacefully asleep.

Jonas sighed and slept until sounds awoke him once more.

***

"...what we're going to do with those boys," he heard a male voice say.

"Well, I think you ought to let them stay for a little longer, at least a week," said a female voice.

"Maybe so," replied the voice of the woman who had fed Jonas yesterday. "I just don't know what to do with the baby due next month..."

"Exactly," said the male voice. "How are we going to take care of the baby with a toddler and a teenager in the house?"

"I think you should give it some time," said a new voice, this one also male. "After all, the boys are so underfed and weak. Of course they aren't going to be up to traveling for several more days. Speaking of which, we should probably go make sure they get some breakfast since we haven't gotten them any food since last night. With that, Jonas heard several footsteps walking toward him.

"Oh, you're awake," said a woman's voice. Jonas looked up and saw that she looked older than the woman who had taken care of him the previous day. A grandmother, he thought.

He struggled to speak. "So hungry..." he moaned.

"Oh, of course," she said. She handed him a biscut and a glass of milk. He gulped it down, and she frowned, handing him a second biscut. "Can you talk much?"

"A little," he said. "More food, please."

She helped him sit up and gave him a plate of sausage and eggs and refilled his glass of milk. After he had eaten that, he said, "Who are you?"

She smiled. "My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzy."

"Hi, Lizzy," he said. "I'm Jonas."

She nodded. She gestured to an older man and the younger woman. "This is my husband Jacob and our daughter Wendy."

Jacob and Wendy smiled and nodded. The younger man walked away from Gabriel, who was sleeping again, and said, "I'm John."

This was enough for Jonas to think about. He repeated their names to himself until he fell asleep again.

Jonas woke, ate, and slept for several days until he felt that he had his strength back. At last, Gabriel and himself were up and around. The first day Jonas was out of bed (or off the couchbed) he sat down next to Wendy on the couch and talked to her.

"I never got the little boy's name," she said.

"Gabe," replied Jonas automatically. "Well, actually it's Gabriel, but I always call him Gabe."

She smiled and said, "Gabe. That's a nice name."

Jonas thought for a moment. "Where's everyone else?"

"You mean my parents and husband?" she said.

"Of course," replied Jonas.

She smiled. "My parents were only over for a couple of days for Christmas, and John is at work."

"Christmas?" he said.

Wendy looked confused.

"Is that the name of the holiday you were celebrating?" he asked.

"Of course it was," she said. "Maybe you just didn't realize what time of year it was. As a matter of fact," she began. "Where are you from and how did you get here?"

Jonas began his long tale. "I'm from very far away," he explained. "I'm from beyond the forests."

The woman's expression changed from bewilderment to awe. "You mean you came from the place of Sameness?" she asked.

"I guess you could call it that," he replied.

"But that's miles and miles away!" said the woman. "In fact, it would take over a day to drive over there."

Jonas sort of knew what driving was. He knew it was against the rules in his community, and he had learned through memories that people would crash in vehicles and die. He realized that things were going to be a lot different in this new place. There would be many things that he wouldn't be familiar with, so he might as well be open with Wendy.

"In the place of Sameness, life is a lot different..."