Disclaimer: Dont own anything... Exexpt for Goober the time traveling redneck ghost, of course!

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 24

The snow lessened, and the music became clearer, as if it was driving away the cold and wet of their journey. The sled was still rushing downward, the cold fading, striking out at his face like flames of a dying fire desperate for more oxygen; fighting for its last gasping breath. The singing echoed all around now, loud as if angels were singing ten feet above him. The sled began to bump and shudder as if it had just hit a rumble strip. Although Jonas didn't know it, they were on an abandoned highway! Salt melted the snow as the sled skidded onto the asphalt, wobbling dangerously. Jonas clutched Gabe tightly, not wanting him to fall.

"Hold on there, Gabe!" Jonas yelled over the noise of runners scraping over tar.

They both screamed as the sled started down a long, steep hill (exit ramp), going faster than they had ever gone in their lives or memories.

Jonas gasped as he noticed a large, upright metal pole in front of them: they were going to crash! He tried to steer them away until he heard the sled make contact… (CLANG) … then it went black.

Jonas began to wake up. Someone was tapping him on the shoulder repeatedly. On the streets all around, there were smooth white plastic buildings with blue trim. An old piece of trash rolled by like a tumbleweed. The singers seemed to be mocking him now, they sang in a fake voice, computerized and processed into a robotic themed failure.

"Ohhh… Ow…" Jonas clutched his throbbing head. "Gabe? You ok?" he searched around for the presently not present toddler. "GABE?" He was panicked now. Jonas was just about to have a cow when someone bent down behind him to his ear and went:

"SHHHHhhhhhh…"

Jonas yelped in shock. He whipped around and came face- to- face with a partially visible man holding a partially visible Gabriel.

"Oh my god, who are you?" Jonas gasped.

"Oh, my names Goober," said the man with an accent.

"Goober?"

"Well, yeah, why not? Oh, I found your kid," Goober handed back Gabe.

Jonas thought something was different about Gabe when it stuck him.

"OH NO! Gabe, you're SEE- THROUGH!"

"HA HA! New arrivals are so funny… so are you!" he pointed and laughed in his grizzly voice.

Jonas looked down at his legs.

They were transparent.

"AHHH!" he screeched as he jumped up, forgetting about his dented head and dropping Gabe on his face. Jonas tried to run away from the terrifying ghost legs until he remembered that you can't run from your own appendages.

He turned around to find Goober holding Gabe; laughing as if he had just seen a party of monkey- throwing zebras romp past. He strode over and clapped his large hand onto Jonas's shoulder.

"Kid, I kinda got some bad news for ya."

"Why, what is it?"

"Ah, well… how do I put this lightly…?" he took a deep breath, "Jonas 'n Gabe, yer dead."

"Receiver."

"Receiver?"

"RECEIVER." The secretary repeated.

"Oh, what?"

"Your beard is on fire."

"Right." The Giver put his hand to his lower lip to dull the flame.

The community had all gathered in the main hall after they recovered from their panic attacks, and they were all awaiting his arrival.

The memories had come back, and it felt like a smack for some, and it was all too familiar for the others.

He had seen them begin to change; when they were called to the hall over the speakers, the people not currently riding bikes had stolen one lying near them to rush over.

The Giver smiled at the funny thought that this community was already returning to the ancient ways that they had kept so secret all of these years.

He had arrived at the hall. When he burst open the doors, screams sounded, before silence enveloped the throng.

He climbed up to the stage. "People," he paused, "I know that what you are experiencing right now is unlike anything you have felt before. But you must accept these feelings. For this is true emotion, this is what our ancestors felt. This is how they lived. This is how they died. But now, we must live with this. We are in a revolution, a time of great change and growth. We are strong, we can take this. You all seem to be handling this pretty well already." He indicated the crowd, "So… let us embrace our new way of seeing, hearing, and feeling life."

On that note, an enraged battle cry exploded in the hall, followed by many others, escalating, until the whole community was roaring with hatred.

The Giver tried to get their attention, but all he could get were objects like whole bicycles being hurled at him.

"They seem to have the memories of rioting." His heart fell. "This is all going wrong!" he cried.

Just then, a flaming arrow streaked though the air and grazed the top of his head. Another arrow followed closely, tacking his foot to the floorboards.

"AARRGH!" he snarled.

He heard someone behind him. He twirled his head back to see Lily charging towards the self- destruct button for the community.

"NO!" The Giver screamed.

Lily smashed the glass casing and raised her clenched little fist over her crazed head.

She was going to hit the button.

"WHAT? But when did we die? HOW did we die?" Jonas panicked.

"I knew you wouldn't take this well…" Goober mumbled over Jonas's mad rant.

"But this feels so real, how could we be dead, this doesn't make sense-"

"JONAS." Goober cut him off.

"What?" Jonas whined. He was almost in tears now.

Goober sighed. "Kid, really."

"Really?"

"Really. You both died when you reached the top of that hill. I mean, how did you know there was a 'special sled' waiting for you? And did you really think that the music was coming from 'elsewhere'?" he sighed again. "Jonas…" he trailed off. "Let me show you something…Just… take my arm, please."

Jonas sniffed. "Okay."

The world and Jonas himself where twisted into a knot. Literally, he felt himself being broken and bent into an undistinguishable swirl with a weird whoosh of air.

Then it stopped, and he was seeing a memory of the past.

"Jonas and Gabe, welcome to New York City, 2010" Goober declared.

"Is this a memory?" Jonas asked, astonished.

"Nope, this is the real deal."

"Wow. This feels so different!" Jonas noticed the people rushing around them, and he began to ask questions at a fast- paced rate.

"What's that?"

"iPod."

"What's that?"

"iPhone."

"Why is it yellow?"

"It's a taxi."

"What kind of animal is that?"

"Zebra."

"Whoa. That's what zebras look like?"

"Yup."

"Sweeeeet." Jonas looked around. "They seem, kind of… Happy."

"Who wouldn't be?"

There were beautifully colored flashing lights and blinking signs, car exhaust and old trash, sirens and the roar of people talking on their 'iPhones'. But the thing that really got Jonas was the enormous buildings with their little yellow twinkling lights up so high. He almost fell over backwards looking up at them.

"Here…" Goober said grabbing his arm again. He lifted them up and up, above the city.

"Oh my god!" Jonas cried with delight. "That's so… Beautiful."

"Yeah, it's something else. We have to go now, sadly."

"What? Why? I want to stay forever!"

"We're ghosts from the future. They can't see us. We aren't real. Besides… we don't belong here anyway."

The knot tied up New York into a shiny swirl until it disappeared. They were someplace new.

"Goober, I can't see much, where are we?"

"The future. Yikes, I've never seen it this unclear before!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means that the future is uncertain, and it is waiting for what will happen next."

"Oh. That's smart, I guess."

"Look into the fog of the future, Jonas. Look deep into its depths, to see what will become of your old community."

Jonas squinted and leaned forward. He saw Asher, and his parents and Lily acting kind of like the people in New York, riding around in a car, laughing with the max volume up. The community looked more like a plastic town, a homey, comforting little place.

"They look happy!" he exclaimed joyfully.

Goober smiled. "Well, let's go find out what happens to make them that happy." He chuckled as he tied the knot around the 'fog of the future'.

They were floating above the main hall's giant plastic skylights. Jonas had thought they would be ecstatic with all of the new colors and emotions like love and joy. But sounds of pain and anger rattled out of the hall instead.

"Oh no…"

It looked like a mini- war inside. Jonas combed the crowd frantically for signs of The Giver. He finally spotted him on the stage with a small puddle of blood at his left foot, which was hammered into the floor with a smoldering arrow.

"I have to save him!" Jonas yelled determinedly.

He saw Lily barrel up onto the stage to the self- destruct button.

"She's going to blow everyone up!" He gasped in disbelief.

The Giver then snatched a red apple and catapulted it towards Lily's head. She stopped, turned around and dove at The Giver with her hands outstretched. She started to beat him until a flaming arrow skewered her chest and set aflame her clothes.

Jonas quickly covered Gabriel's eyes.

She ran behind the curtains; Jonas never knew what became of her.

The Giver was really struggling now, Lily had half- strangled him

The rioters were moving outside, and they filed out until The Giver was alone in the hall.

Jonas flew through the skylights to his side and sat down. He placed his transparent hand on The Giver's solid one.

Slowly, the warmth and struggle left this body, and all that was left in the physical world was a bleeding corpse.

Jonas felt hot tears run down his cheeks, when he knew he shouldn't be crying.

Some one behind him put their hand onto his shoulder, kneeled down to his ear and went:

"Shhhhhhhh…."

Jonas wiped his face on his sleeve and turned around. There was a transparent man, holding a transparent Gabriel, with a halo of sunbeams surrounding them. Kneeling down in front if him was The Giver, with quiet pride. A warm breeze wafted in with the color green all around in the form of vines, trees, grass, and new life. The Giver placed his gentle hand onto Jonas's shoulder and they stood up together. Then, a beautiful young female with pale hair and eyes came forth from the sunbeams and stood beside them. Her and The Giver looked at each other and smiled.

"Rosemary." He whispered.

THE END. OF DA END. END.

Authors Note: This was an old english project I typed up almost a year ago in 7th grade... Then yesterday I realized that it was a Fanfiction! So I edited a few typos and uploaded it for you all to see! I think I got an A on this... Yes, Goober IS based off of Mater and a few other Disney hobos! First AND last Giver fic... Don't expect more... Sorry. Please review!