Breaking Down Walls

"Giver can I ask you something?" Jonas asked.

"You can ask me anything; it was in your instructions," the Giver replied.

"Is it okay if I borrow a book?"

Jonas looked at the book in his hands as he got onto his bicycle. When he was on, he tucked it away in the pocket of his coat. The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks… The Giver had told Jonas that it was full of emotion – love especially… the love that only Jonas and the Giver could feel… the love that Jonas felt for Fiona.

Finally Jonas stopped his bike in front of Fiona's home. Fiona was sitting on her porch, her flame red hair forming a beautiful frame around her face.

"If only she could see how beautiful she was," Jonas thought.

But that was why he was here; to show her what true beauty was. Fiona looked at him.

"Do you want to go ride by the river?" Jonas asked, gesturing to her bike.

"Sure," Fiona said happily.

But of course she wasn't really happy, because she didn't know what happy was. She had never felt happy. No one in this village ever had, except for Jonas and the receivers before him. Now Jonas felt nervous. He also felt afraid, because he didn't know that this would work, no matter how much he prayed that it would. If this didn't work, then he and the Giver's plan was doomed to fail.

He remembered what the Giver had told him the night before. The Giver told about the walls that the sameness had formed inside of people through generations; the walls that held back the memories. But Jonas had the gift of wisdom. Wisdom let him grasp the memories from behind the wall. Of the traits he had been selected for, this was the most important. The Giver had not given him the memories; he had given him wisdom! And that was what he would give to the people.

Jonas and Fiona got off their bikes and sat down near the edge of the river. Jonas pulled the book out of his pocket.

"Silly Jonas; why have you brought me here to read the rulebook?" Fiona asked.

"This is a book you have not read before," Jonas said simply.

"But that's forbidden!" she exclaimed.

"Just listen."

So, Jonas read to her, and as he read her eyes widened like a startled child's. As she heard the different words she became confused. She didn't know what the words meant, but she recognized them. It was as if someone had once whispered them to her; just an echo in her mind. Then Noah and Ali kissed.

"What's a kiss?" Fiona asked.

"I'll show you," said Jonas.

So, he took her face in his hands, and he kissed her. And as he kissed her, Fiona's wall crumbled to pieces. Memories flooded her mind. Birthday parties, sunshine, grandparents… it was like all of these memories had always been there! As if they were supposed to happen but never did! And then her stomach fluttered. She felt something – love. And as she opened her eyes the sameness melted away from her. She looked into Jonas' eyes. They were beautiful; a light shade of blue. Jonas took a strand of her hair in his hands and held it up to her eyes.

"What color is your hair?" he asked.

"Red," Fiona said.

Tears formed in the corners of Jonas's eyes and he wrapped his arms around her.

"You give me hope," he told her.

"You give me hope for a better world; a better life – where things are different.

"Please; finish the story," Fiona begged.

"It's so beautiful."

As Jonas read, people gathered around him. Slowly their expressions started to change and they began to feel too. Some had tears in their eyes and some had smiles on their faces. And as the story went on, Jonas's voice never faltered and Fiona never left his side. He read for so long, but eventually the story began to come to an end. As it ended, the sameness crumbled away forever, just like the walls in their mind did, the win tousled Fiona's hair, and Jonas's blue eyes sparkled.

And then, the Giver (who was in the crowd) said, "I'm proud of you Jonas. I really am."

The End