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There he is. Jonas. Almost unable to talk, walk, and breathe, out of pure exhaustion because of his successful – although difficult – escape from the community. Still embracing Gabe closely on his chest, he starts rubbing the baby's back to give him some warmth, despite the fact the he too, is freezing. Now, they finally reach the bottom of the hill. Everything is covered in white, just like the memory that the Giver presented to him while he was still on his first few days of training. Jonas keep thinking, at this very moment, that the real snow indeed is very beautiful up close.
After looking around in astonishment, he whispers to his little companion, "We made it, Gabe. We made it." The poor, worn-out kid is smiling while breathing heavily. Taking pride of the challenges they both managed to overcome. He then gets off the sled. "Oh, I love you so much, little guy." He can't restrain himself from putting into words the kind of relief he is feeling, at last the baby is now free, with choices, with colors and music, with love. "This is it."
A small crowd of people dancing and singing is being heard from a distance. Jonas tries to fathom the reason why they are doing so, but his knees tremble because of the coldness of his surroundings. "Ahh," he groans as he falls to the ground.
A girl with pigtails and 3 layers of jackets, notices Jonas and immediately runs toward him and asks, "Hey.. hey, are you okay?" He makes no reply. She gasps when she sees the baby, shivering under the harsh weather. "Oh my goodness!" The girl takes off one of her jackets and puts it on Jonas' back. She also takes off her mittens and gives it to him. "I need you to stand up, alright? We are going inside the house... You can do this." Her voice is so soft and melodic that it helps Jonas regain his consciousness for a bit. He stands up weakly, and she grabs his arm and waist, aiding him to walk. "You got this," the girl reassures him. "Just a few more steps.."
When they finally get inside the house, Jonas sits on the sofa, but he has absolutely zero energy left inside him that he instantly faints while still holding Gabe, who then cries quite loudly. The girl's mother hears the child's cry and then hurries to say, "What on earth?" Seeing her mother's face all shocked and confused, she grins at her, yet it melts into a face of panic and concern. "Momma.... look."
Her mother caresses Gabe and rocks him. At the same time saying "Shhh, honey. It's alright baby. It's alright..." The girl then stares closely to Jonas, and thinks to herself that she has never seen him before in this town. And that he may be from the mountains and not the city. His clothes are odd too, a brown tunic with a belt, surely it did not help him from freezing.
"The baby's asleep, thank heavens." Her mother blurts out, emerging from the bedroom. "Let him sleep on the sofa. I don't think he'll be waking up soon, anyway."
"He is.... not from here.. Right, Momma?"
"We don't have any clue for now, sweetie.."
The girl stays silent.
"Here, cover him with these blankets. He needs warmth. I think they might have stayed outside for too long.." Her mother instructs her.
The girl lays the blankets on top of him, still gazing at the boy. "Who are you?" she mumbles.
* * *
"Aaaa!" Jonas screams as he wakes up. He looks down to his clothes and there, placed layers of blankets. He also has mittens, and a pillow where his head rested the whole time. "What??" He asks in surprise when he glances at the stack of books across him. His eyes shift quickly around the house, beside him is a window with green curtains, then a small speaker, then a doormat, a table with pictures, a bread with a glass of juice.
He then realizes that the baby is not on his chest. "Gabe? Gabe! Gabe! Ga–"
The girl who he vaguely remembers from yesterday, rushes to observe him. But her steps, when she moves toward him, are tiny and cautious. She remains standing, meters away from the boy.
"Where's Gabe? Where's the baby?" His voice cracks, and his pale eyes widen with worry.
"He, uhm, he is outside with my Momma... uhh, walking. And playing," she explains.
"What?" He stands up right away and falls back to the sofa. "My ankle.."
"Don't worry, he is safe... We were waiting for you to wake up—"
"Who are you?" Jonas then looks at his covered hand, and doesn't know what the hand covers are called. He takes it off.
"No, who are YOU?" She returns the question to him. "And where are you from? And how old are you?"
"I‐ I'm Jonas." He pauses. "I just want to see.... my little brother." There is a big part of him that has been wanting to say that even since he was still in the community. To tell the world that Gabe is his little brother– to whom he is willing to give his utmost love and protection. "Thank you also, for, uhh, letting us here.." Suddenly, he feels his head throb and his stomach grumble.
"My name is Dolly." She smiles. "Come look, your brother is here."
Both Jonas and Dolly look outside the window. They fix their gaze to the baby, who is sitting on a wooden table, laughing while her mother plays with him.
"Told 'ya he's fine.." she says as a matter of factly. Jonas smiles, but he is still starving and his stomach grumbles one more time.
"Woah, you must be very hungry!" Dolly exclaims. "We have soup and bread and tea and, I think orange juice too." She lists them with her fingers. "But I am not sure with the orange juice, I may have finished all of it," she chuckles.
Truly, he is delighted to see Dolly's friendly personality. He turns his head to Gabe again, as far as he can remember Gabe's clothes are now different. It is more colorful now than before. "Did you change my brother's clothes?"
"Yes, my mom did! Those are my old baby clothes. Took a while for Momma to find it though..."
"How old are you, Dolly?"
"Oh, I am ten years old!" She squints her eyes at him. "You, how old are you?"
"I am twelve. No, thirteen... I am thirteen."
"Alrighty!"
She goes to the kitchen for about 15 minutes and then comes back with a bowl of soup, a couple of bread rolls, and a glass of orange juice in a single serving tray. "I thought I drank all of it, but we got another box in the fridge this entire time! You're lucky, Jonas. It's your lucky day." Jonas suddenly feels embarrassed about all the help she's doing for him.
So without thinking, he tells her, "No, no." Even though it's a lie, he needs help. He's hungry. And he is injured. How can he possibly find any place else to stay?
"Hmm, let me guess, not the juice? You don't like orange juice? 'Cause to be honest, I think you look more like a tea drinker.."
"Dolly, I don't know how to repay.... this.. kindness." His face goes red and warm.
"Well, you reaaally gotta pay for this."
"What?" Jonas bolts upright on his seat.
"You gotta play with me!" She looks at his ankle. "Maybe after you heal your foot."
He reaches for the bread and eats it. Meanwhile, Dolly keeps talking about the things she loves to do which Jonas finds adorable and interesting. At first, he was plagued with fear that Elsewhere would be hostile and merciless. Or that war and famine would be the first things that he and Gabe would have to deal with. But his fears are wrong, there are people who will be caring and generous even though you have nothing to offer back to them. Kind people are everywhere. This narrative that everyone is cruel – is unjust and distorted. It leaves no place for hope. It removes our capability to look at our own human nature in the eye and say to it, "I will make you the home of love."