Downward, downward, faster and faster. Suddenly he was aware with
certainty and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting for him; and that
they were waiting, too, for the baby. For the first time, he heard
something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing.
Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was just and echo.
*****
Jonas awoke to a throbbing pain in his head. He looked around at the room he was in. It was a white room with seashell wallpaper on the walls. The room was filled with beeping monitors and Jonas was lying on a bed. His tunic had been replaced with a gown of some sort. As soon as he tried to sit up to look around some more his head began to spin, and he fell back on to the bed. "Where am I," he groaned.
A soft voice proclaimed, "Howard, he's waking up!," A woman came over to Jonas and asked him how he was feeling. Before he could answer a man came into the room with a nurse.
The nurse, clad in a dress suit and white jacket, came over and checked his monitors. "Hay honey, how ya' feelin'?" she drawled.
All of a sudden Jonas bolted up, despite the dizziness it caused, and exclaimed, "Where's Gabe? I can't let them release him! Where is he?"
"Shh shh shh," soothed the man. He and the woman both had worried looks on their faces.
"The baby?," the nurse asked. Not waiting for a reply she went on, "The poor lil' thing has some frostbite on his fingers and toes, but otherwise he's fine. He's asleep in the next room"
Calmed by the knowledge that Gabe was all right, he once again asked, "where am I?"
The man leaned over and explained, "You're in the hospital. My wife and I found you on our front step. We heard Gabe crying and found you out cold, so we brought both of you here." Pausing, he than asked, "What is your name, son."
"Jonas."
"Well, Jonas, don't you worry about a thing. As soon as you get better my wife and I will take care of everything."
"Jonas here needs some restin' time so why don't y'all go on home for the night and come back tomorrow. We'll call ya' if anythin' goes wrong" the nurse shooed the man and woman out of the room. Turning back towards Jonas, she asked "Ya' need anythin' honey?"
Yawning, Jonas shook his head no.
"Well just push this here button if ya' do."
As the nurse walked out of the room Jonas sighed to himself and snuggled in for a much-needed nap.
*****
Jonas was driving down the road in a car, at least that's what Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson, the couple who had found him, called it. Jonas had vague remembrances of something like it in one of the memories he had received from the Giver. He looked out the window and watched the landscape whiz by. Gabe sat in the seat next to Jonas and played with a toy the hospital had given him. They were headed towards the Stevenson's house.
Mrs. Stevenson turned to face Jonas. "Jonas, later on this week we are going to our daughter's house. She and her husband are going to take care of you until we can find your parents."
"No!," shouted Jonas. "We can't go back to the community. They will release Gabe. Anyway, I don't want to back, Mother and Father don't love me."
"Of course they do!," protested Mrs. Stevenson
"No they don't," spat Jonas. "I asked them once. They said they didn't. They reprimanded me for 'improper use of language'. They have probably already performed the Ceremony of Loss. My Mother and Father will apply for a new Male to replace me. That's how life is in the community of Sameness."
The Stevenson's exchanged confused looks. "Well we will figure out what to do when we get to Jamie's house, O.K. but for right now. We're here." Mrs. Stevenson announced as they pulled into their driveway.
*****
Jonas sat in a bedroom in the Stevenson's house, he was packing some old clothing Mrs. Stevenson found in her attic from when her son's were little. He was going to live with her daughter, Jamie, and Jamie's husband, Nick.
Earlier that day, Mrs. Stevenson told him about a scientist who had discovered portals to little worlds attached on to what she called the United States. Mrs. Stevenson had said she thought that what Jonas called the Community of Sameness was one of these little worlds, or at least part of one. Since he was only half conscious when he stumbled through the portal it would be near impossible to find the portal to get back. She also told him that her daughter and her husband had been thinking about adopting a child. Since Jonas had no way to get back, Jamie and Nick had petitioned the court to let them adopt Jonas and Gabe. The courts had accepted and Jonas and Gabe now had a new family.
"Well, Gabe," Jonas stood up and walked over to Gabe's crib, another attic treasure, "It looks like we have found Elsewhere."
*****
Christmas night, as Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson were about to leave, they kissed Gabe and hugged Jonas goodbye. Hugging Mrs. Stevenson, Jonas whispered, "I love you. Grandma."
Squeezing him extra tight she whispered back, "I love you too."
Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was just and echo.
*****
Jonas awoke to a throbbing pain in his head. He looked around at the room he was in. It was a white room with seashell wallpaper on the walls. The room was filled with beeping monitors and Jonas was lying on a bed. His tunic had been replaced with a gown of some sort. As soon as he tried to sit up to look around some more his head began to spin, and he fell back on to the bed. "Where am I," he groaned.
A soft voice proclaimed, "Howard, he's waking up!," A woman came over to Jonas and asked him how he was feeling. Before he could answer a man came into the room with a nurse.
The nurse, clad in a dress suit and white jacket, came over and checked his monitors. "Hay honey, how ya' feelin'?" she drawled.
All of a sudden Jonas bolted up, despite the dizziness it caused, and exclaimed, "Where's Gabe? I can't let them release him! Where is he?"
"Shh shh shh," soothed the man. He and the woman both had worried looks on their faces.
"The baby?," the nurse asked. Not waiting for a reply she went on, "The poor lil' thing has some frostbite on his fingers and toes, but otherwise he's fine. He's asleep in the next room"
Calmed by the knowledge that Gabe was all right, he once again asked, "where am I?"
The man leaned over and explained, "You're in the hospital. My wife and I found you on our front step. We heard Gabe crying and found you out cold, so we brought both of you here." Pausing, he than asked, "What is your name, son."
"Jonas."
"Well, Jonas, don't you worry about a thing. As soon as you get better my wife and I will take care of everything."
"Jonas here needs some restin' time so why don't y'all go on home for the night and come back tomorrow. We'll call ya' if anythin' goes wrong" the nurse shooed the man and woman out of the room. Turning back towards Jonas, she asked "Ya' need anythin' honey?"
Yawning, Jonas shook his head no.
"Well just push this here button if ya' do."
As the nurse walked out of the room Jonas sighed to himself and snuggled in for a much-needed nap.
*****
Jonas was driving down the road in a car, at least that's what Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson, the couple who had found him, called it. Jonas had vague remembrances of something like it in one of the memories he had received from the Giver. He looked out the window and watched the landscape whiz by. Gabe sat in the seat next to Jonas and played with a toy the hospital had given him. They were headed towards the Stevenson's house.
Mrs. Stevenson turned to face Jonas. "Jonas, later on this week we are going to our daughter's house. She and her husband are going to take care of you until we can find your parents."
"No!," shouted Jonas. "We can't go back to the community. They will release Gabe. Anyway, I don't want to back, Mother and Father don't love me."
"Of course they do!," protested Mrs. Stevenson
"No they don't," spat Jonas. "I asked them once. They said they didn't. They reprimanded me for 'improper use of language'. They have probably already performed the Ceremony of Loss. My Mother and Father will apply for a new Male to replace me. That's how life is in the community of Sameness."
The Stevenson's exchanged confused looks. "Well we will figure out what to do when we get to Jamie's house, O.K. but for right now. We're here." Mrs. Stevenson announced as they pulled into their driveway.
*****
Jonas sat in a bedroom in the Stevenson's house, he was packing some old clothing Mrs. Stevenson found in her attic from when her son's were little. He was going to live with her daughter, Jamie, and Jamie's husband, Nick.
Earlier that day, Mrs. Stevenson told him about a scientist who had discovered portals to little worlds attached on to what she called the United States. Mrs. Stevenson had said she thought that what Jonas called the Community of Sameness was one of these little worlds, or at least part of one. Since he was only half conscious when he stumbled through the portal it would be near impossible to find the portal to get back. She also told him that her daughter and her husband had been thinking about adopting a child. Since Jonas had no way to get back, Jamie and Nick had petitioned the court to let them adopt Jonas and Gabe. The courts had accepted and Jonas and Gabe now had a new family.
"Well, Gabe," Jonas stood up and walked over to Gabe's crib, another attic treasure, "It looks like we have found Elsewhere."
*****
Christmas night, as Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson were about to leave, they kissed Gabe and hugged Jonas goodbye. Hugging Mrs. Stevenson, Jonas whispered, "I love you. Grandma."
Squeezing him extra tight she whispered back, "I love you too."