Now he was on the bridge, hunched over on the bicycle, pedaling steadily. He could see the dark, churning water far below.
"Jonas!" someone shouted.
His heart leapt. The bike came to a halt as he looked back. Fiona was riding up, her long, silky red hair flowing behind her. As she reached the bridge she jumped off the bike and ran over to his. "Jonas……"
She was hunched over, breathing heavily. "Fiona! What in the world! What are you doing here!" he whispered loudly.
Fiona looked up at him. She looked as if she had ridden all the way from the other end of the community. Her usually pale cheeks had become bright pink. Small sweat droplets were glistening upon here forehead and neck. "I…….Came…….To……..Stop……You!" she gasped, out of breath.
Jonas looked at her quizzically. She was staring at him, a gleam determination in her pale blue eyes. "Fiona, I have to go." He muttered, "This is beyond your understanding."
He turned away, his foot on the pedal. Little Gabe whimpered quietly, grabbing the back of Jonas' tunic. He slowly pushed off, but Fiona jumped in front of the bicycle and he stopped. "Fiona! Move!" he said hurriedly.
Fiona shook her head, red hair falling down her shoulders. "I'm not going to let you go alone!" she said.
Jonas could see that she wasn't going to move until he agreed. He thought for a moment then said, almost thinking aloud "Come away with me."
Fiona stared. For a moment she said nothing. Then she smiled. "Yes! I will come with you!" she said cheerfully.
Jonas was surprised. Not only had he not intended on saying what he had, but he hadn't been expecting Fiona to except his offer. She had run over to retrieve her fallen bicycle. He watched as she lifted the bike with her delicate hands. He remembered those hands, washing the elderly with such care and gentleness. This brought the memory of his first stirrings back to the front of his cluttered mind. He shook his head, trying to push the memory back. Fiona had now wheeled her bike to stand beside his but she hadn't mounted it. "Jonas?" she asked "Will I ever be able to come back?"
"No. We can never come back." He sighed.
"I understand…" she said sadly.
She slowly mounted her bicycle. "You don't have to come with me, Fiona." He said biting his lip "You can stay here with your mother, your father, and Asher."
Fiona nodded. "I know..." she said, but she didn't look up at him "I really don't want to but……."
He cut her off. "Then stay! No ones making you come!"
Fiona moved her eyes to stare into his. He cloud see a shine in them, I shine he had never seen before. "But I want to go with you." She finally finished.
Jonas didn't say anything else. Thou, he was tempted to ask several burning questions there was no time to waste. The two of them pushed off on there bicycles, little Gabe bouncing up and down, happily, behind him.
After riding through the night in sustained silence, the three of them came to a halt by a field. "We'll stop here for the day." Jonas said. Fiona nodded solemnly. Jonas felt guilty. He knew that Fiona hadn't wanted to leave the community but had gone with him for some reason. He dismounted his bike and turned to un-strap Gabe from his seat. Fiona had already leaned her bike up against a nearby tree and was now sprawled out in the field. Jonas set Gabe down next to the road and went to lean his bike up against a different tree. Then he went over and sat next to Fiona. The question that was burning in his mind finally escaped. "Fiona?" he asked. "Why did you decide to come with me?"
Fiona looked slightly embarrassed. "Well…" she began "you know what Stirrings are?"
Jonas nodded. Of course he knew what Stirrings were. But he let her continue.
"You see," she said shifting uncomfortably, "not too long ago I started to have them myself and…" she trailed off.
Jonas stared at her for a moment. He thought he knew what she was about to say, but he urged her on in his mind.
"Despite what my parents told me, I stopped taking the pills and these strange feelings came to me."
Suddenly it dawned on Jonas, "F-Fiona…" Stumbling over his words he said, "I-I-I've been h-h-having feelings too."
They didn't need to say it; Jonas knew. The Stirrings that they had been having had consisted of two people: themselves. Something (he didn't know what) compelled him to move a little closer to her. So giving into his intuition, he scooted closer to her. She glanced at him and shifted again in discomfort. Jonas realized that she felt uncomfortable. She was so use to the laws of privacy in the community, she didn't know that it was alright now that they had left that, in Jonas' opinion, dreadful place. She hadn't seen the things he'd seen; she didn't understand.
"Fiona?" He questioned. "Would you like to know why I had to leave the community?"
She gazed intently up at him. "Yes," she said. "I would like to know why you had to leave."
"Then lie down in front of me," he requested. She obliged happily.
Jonas didn't know if he could transfer the memories to Fiona. But he was going to try…he HAD to try. He placed his hands on her back. Jonas hesitated. He couldn't think of which memory to start with. Then that wonderful memory of that first sled ride came back to him. He began to move his hands in that rhythmic pattern he knew so well. He thought only of that memory.
At first nothing changed. Everything was the same. The sled, the snow, the hill, everything; but then slowly it began to fade. Shimmering snow became more grayish in color. The sled's usual bright scarlet hue had become an ugly mud-brown. The memory continued to fade from Jonas' mind until all that was left was a wisp…a wisp of what used to be.
Fiona opened her eyes and sat up. "OH Jonas! That was wonderful!" she burst out. "What…what was that?"
Jonas just sat in shock. He had not expected her to be able to receive so easily. Then he realized now that they were further away from the community, the memories were starting to leave him anyway.
"Jonas," Fiona asked again, "what was that?"
Jonas answered, "The swirling fluff is called snow. The board beneath you, upon which you sat, is called a sled. The large incline you propelled down was a hill."
Fiona sighed happily. "It was amazing!"
"Would you like me to share an even better experience?" Jonas inquired.
She nodded then laid back down in front of him.
Jonas again placed his hands upon her back and began to transmit another memory; his favorite memory. There they were: the family, the grandparents, the dog, the gifts, the decorated tree, and the feeling of love. But again it all began to fade away. Yet still he was happy. He wanted Fiona to know the feeling. The feeling he cherished above all others. He wanted her to feel it too…to feel it for him. The memory ended and Fiona opened her beautiful baby blue eyes.
She rose back up. They gazed at each other. Her eyes had changed. Not a bad change, as he had seen in memories of hate when eyes would grow cold or dark. Nor as they did in his memories of greed where the eyes would narrow and flicker with desire. But instead her eyes had grown brighter and they almost looked appealingly at him.
"Jonas," she whispered. "What was THAT feeling?"
"It was called 'Love'" he said, feeling it surge through his body.
"Because," she murmured, moving closer to him. "That feeling is what I feel for you." She laid her head on his chest.
Jonas sat in shock for a moment. Then smiling, he held Fiona gently. "I feel it for you too," he whispered.
As the day went on, the three of them set off to complete the journey they had begun. And together that is what they did.