Write = Get Reviews Forum The Giver Sequel

Jonas collapsed at the snow-covered hill, Gabe still in his arms. He heard voices. Kind ones. He didn’t know what would happen next, but he knew he would be safe.    Six years later, Jonas couldn’t believe time had passed by so quickly. He still hadn’t returned to his community, and he wasn’t eager to. Here it was much better. He no longer lived in a “dwelling”, but a house. Nothing was the same anymore. There were different houses, different clothing, different everything. He had been introduced to a beverage called “hot chocolate”, and he was absolutely addicted to it. In this community, people were free to make their own choices. Sure, Jonas’ male guardian made it very clear that he hated Jonas, but his female guardian, Patricia, truly loved Jonas. Not just because it was her job.    Jonas wondered how The Giver is doing. And Asher. And Fiona. It’s been six years. Had she been assigned a husband? That thought infuriated Jonas very much, but Jonas couldn’t understand why. Jonas missed Fiona. He wondered if they’d meet again.   “WAKE UP, YOU LAZY NO-GOOD CREATURE!” Christopher roared. “There’s a newcomer. A girl. I certainly hope she isn’t as stupid a child as you!” Jonas was used to Christopher talking to him like that. The safest thing to do is to obey.    Jonas ran towards his fellow citizens, who were crowding around a girl lying on the ground, near the frozen river. She looked very familiar. She had red, wavy hair that hung near her shoulders. Then Jonas saw her face. He gasped. “Fiona?”    The Giver struggled against the Chief Elder’s bodyguards. “You can’t release me!” he protested. “You can’t kill me just because I’m no longer able to call back memories! It’s cruel!”     The Chief Elder smiled, as if all of this was just a joke. “I apologize.” She said sarcastically. “Ever since you planned Jonas’ escape, I’ve been longing for this day. Lock him up!” she cackled. The Giver had experienced so many memories, and yet he had never experienced such evil.      “Thank you for your instructions.” The bodyguard said in his monotone.     Fiona’s long eyelashes fluttered open. “Where…where am I?” Then she gasped. “Jonas!” she exclaimed.     ”Fiona,” Jonas said, “How did you get here? I missed you. Come with me! I have so much to show you—there’s this beverage called hot chocolate, and this other thing called fried chicken—“ Jonas had so much to tell his female friend.     Fiona blinked, confused. "Jonas, I didn't come here to look for you. I didn't even want to come here. I—I think I fell into the river. Now I want to go back. I haven't been taking my pills recently, and I'm feeling strange. I need to go back to my assigned job, and my family unit." Jonas hadn’t heard the word assigned in a while, because in his new community, nothing was assigned. Everyone could choose their jobs. Would Fiona understand? No, she’d say it’s a foolish thing, not being assigned. Still, maybe the memories had changed Fiona’s mind.         Then Jonas realized that Fiona was talking about leaving him. "But don't you want to stay with me?" Jonas asked. Fiona couldn’t leave! Fiona was everything to him!    Fiona smiled sadly. "Yes, Jonas. I feel...happy? No, I apologize for my imprecise use of language. I just don't have the words to describe it. But...I can't leave my family unit. Jonas, you have to come with me."     Asher saw the Chief Elder walking towards him. "Good morning, Chief Elder." he said respectfully.     The Chief Elder smiled. "Asher," she said. "I'm sure you do recall your friend Jonas from six years ago?"      The mention of his old friend startled him. "I remember him." He said.    The Chief Elder had a look in her eyes that Asher couldn't recognize. "Asher, we can get him back, but we need your help. You will find him, capture him, and bring him back for release."     Asher was shocked, but he heard his mouth say: "Thank you for your instructions."    Meanwhile, The Giver was in the prison the old were kept before being released. If the old were supposed to be honored, then why would they be locked up in a cold, empty cell? Why would they be fed only one meal a day? Why would they have to suffer such dishonor? While pondering about all of this, The Giver was watching the live recording on a nearby screen. He knew he had to do something, to save not only himself, but Jonas as well.     Gabe, now 7, sat in a corner, watching Jonas and Fiona talk in hushed voices. Hushed conversations made him nervous. He walked closer so he could hear. Fiona was saying “It’s not right, Jonas. You’ve been gone for six years. The Chief Elder said that we can’t—“     “Fiona, they know nothing.” He repeated, again and again. He realized that he sounded just like The Giver. Jonas missed The Giver.    Sunrise came at last, and the arguments faded.  “Jonas, I’m seeing something—everything changed, somehow—not the size, but the…I really don’t know what it’s called.”    “The color.” Jonas said. “Didn’t you get my memories? The sled, the color, and love?”     Fiona shook her head blankly. “What memories?”    Asher got onto the jet given to him. He recalled the Chief Elder’s words: “Find Jonas, capture him, and bring him back for release.” The instructions were simple, but they seemed so hard to follow. As the plane rose into the sky, Asher was so lost in his thoughts; he didn’t realize that there was a stowaway.    Huddled in a corner, The Giver’s brain began to develop a plan.    Fiona was wearing a dress. “Jonas? What is this? Do females in your community always wear this thing?” she asked.     Jonas ignored Fiona. “Do what I do.” He told Fiona. They began to dance. Fiona opened her mouth to scold Jonas, to say that they didn’t have time to do this, but laughter came out instead.     “This is so—“ Once again, Fiona was lost for the right word to describe this new activity called dancing.      “I think the word you’re looking for,” Jonas said, “is fun.”      “Fun.” Fiona repeated thoughtfully.       Jonas, however, couldn’t think of a word to describe how it felt, dancing with Fiona. As Fiona spun around and around, her red hair framing her face like an angel’s halo, her blue eyes shining, Jonas didn’t know a single word to describe her. Or how happy he felt.     Asher had been flying for hours, but so far, the only thing he could see were trees and more trees. Occasionally he saw something moving and detected some heat, but he was sure it wasn’t enough heat to be a human. He sometimes thought he saw the trees change, but of course it was a figment of his imagination. He also thought he heard someone mumbling behind him. I’m going paranoid, he thought. There was no way anyone could’ve snuck in. He had checked every single place in the jet before he left—everywhere except the oxygen section, because the Chief Elder warned that it could explode. No one would hide in there.     Once again Asher saw some movement in the empty landscape…Wait, he thought, it’s not an empty landscape! And indeed it wasn’t! It was another community! Asher had never participated in trips to other communities because he had always figured it was the same as his own, just different people. Now he saw how wrong he was. First of all, he heard a noise. Not a bad noise. In fact, it was a beautiful noise. The people were moving their bodies to the beat of the noise, spinning around. At first Asher thought they were in pain, because in his community people only twisted around and kicked their legs and spun around when they were in unbearable pain. Asher flew closer to see why so many people were in pain, but as he flew closer, he saw the people’s faces. They were smiling. The beautiful noise came from their mouths. Asher would learn, later, that these people were singing and dancing, but not now. Then he saw two familiar heads. One had wavy red curls that fell to her shoulders. She wore a strange item of clothing. Fiona, Asher realized. The other head took a while to figure out, because he looked so different, but Asher eventually figured it out.    “Jonas.” Asher gasped. Here it was. His target. He had found Jonas like the Chief Elder had ordered him to. Now all he had to do was to capture him.     Fiona no longer needed to copy Jonas’ dance moves. She twirled around like an expert. Laughing, she flipped backwards, just in time to see a jet flying above her. Wait, what? “A jet! Jonas, do they have jets in this community?” she gasped.     Poor Gabe was very, very startled. “PLANE!” he shrieked. “THERE’S A SCARY PLANE UP THERE!” Gabe has always been terrified of planes, and his shrieks were so loud everyone turned around to look at him. Everyone was panicking because they had no clue what was happening. Only two people were different. These two people were panicking because they knew exactly what was happening. One person was Jonas, and we all know why he’s panicking. The other was Asher.      Asher bit his lip. He fought the urge to let Jonas go, but it was so hard. He couldn’t believe how hard it was to follow simple instructions. Suddenly he remembered something the Chief Elder had whispered into his ears. “If you feel like you can’t follow the instructions,” she had said seriously, “take the pills.” Asher took a pill from the bottle. He put it into his mouth.     ”Jonas, what is going on?” Fiona demanded, panicking. “Fiona, listen, they’ve come to capture me—I can’t let them capture you too.” But Jonas knew Fiona didn’t want to stay. Fiona didn’t know what she had to lose. Jonas did, and he was doing whatever he could to make sure Fiona wouldn’t lose anyone of it.     Fiona opened her mouth to refuse, but there was something in Jonas’ eyes that forced her to obey. She ran and hid. The second she shut the door to Jonas’ house, Asher’s voice boomed from the jet loudspeaker: “Jonas. You have been surrounded. There is no escape. Come to me and do this the easy way.”     Hearing his name, Jonas looked up. “Asher,” he begged, “give me a chance. You’ve got to trust me. I—I can’t leave this place!”     Asher smiled coldly.  “Ah, you refuse to do this the easy way.” A look flashed in Asher’s eyes. It was the exact same look that had flashed in the Chief Elder’s eyes. “Then let’s do this the hard way.” Before Jonas could figure out what the “hard” way was, an arrow was shot at him. For a second, Jonas felt nothing but panic. Then he realized that he had not been shot. The arrow had pinned his shirt to a tree, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t leave the tree. “Old friend,” Asher hissed, “it’s time to say bye-bye.” Jonas closed his eyes and waited for his painful death.     It never came.    Asher placed his hand on the attack button. Press this button, and his mission will be accomplished. Asher smiled. The Chief Elder would be proud. Suddenly Asher was on the ground. He tried to struggle, but a pair of rough, strong hands held him down. He looked up and gasped. The person staring down at him looked like Jonas, if Jonas was 60 years old. “The Giver,” The Chief Elder had told Asher, “is trapped in the prison, scheduled for release. But beware, for he is your biggest problem.”     For the first time, Asher felt fear, for his biggest problem was right there in front of him, forcefully pressing Asher down onto the floor of the jet (which, fortunately, was self-sustaining, meaning it could stay in the air even when no one was steering). “I am about to give you a memory, Asher.” He said.      Fiona stayed inside Jonas’ house, looking at Asher’s jet. This was her chance! Why wasn’t she turning herself in? This was her chance to return to her community! Then she realized why. She didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay, and she…she loved Jonas. The meaningless word had meaning now. “I love him.” Fiona said again, savoring the words as if they were…what’s it called? Chocolate.      The Giver knitted his eyebrows together. He had to do this. He had to transmit this memory to Asher. But he couldn’t. It was so foggy, unclear. Then the Giver remembered Jonas. He loved the boy, the one who was brave enough to risk his life for the community. He remembered Rosemary, the one with the sweet smile, the intelligent mind, and a heart so kind it couldn’t bear to see any suffering. The Giver bit his lip.  I need to do this, he thought, for my daughter and my son. He raised his voice once again. “I transmit to you the memory of Jonas.”   The Chief Elder felt impatient. She needed to find Asher. And she’ll have to do it herself.   Asher was overwhelmed. Those memories of his best friend make them want to laugh, and to cry. He couldn’t capture Jonas. Suddenly he heard a deafening noise. The Chief Elder was in a jet, small, sleek and loaded with weapons. “No! I won’t hurt Jonas!” Asher hollered in what he hoped to be a confident tone, but even he could hear his voice trembling.   “Very well.” The Chief Elder hissed. “Hey look! I happened to have found the child that should’ve been released years ago!” A crying Gabe was tied up in a corner of The Chief Elder’s jet. “It’s time to say bye-bye, Gabriel.” She cackled.    “Why do you sound so stupid?” Gabe asked, giggling.    The Chief Elder growled, not used to being talked to this way. “Children nowadays. So rude! Why, look at me, I’m not rude at all! I’m always so polite.” Gabe snorted. “Shut up, child!” cried the Chief Elder. She continued talking. “Why don’t I bring the child back to the community for his late release?”    “No!” Asher pleaded. “Don’t hurt Jonas! Don’t hurt Gabe! Hurt me instead—please!”    The Chief Elder just cackled. “How about this: I hurt all of you?” she chuckled as if all this was unbelievably funny. As if on cue, two enormous bodyguards burst out from who knows where, and eyed Asher slyly.   “Leave Asher alone.” Growled a low voice. It was The Giver. His eyes were full of rage. “You’ve done enough, Evelyn.”    Evelyn looked surprised to be addressed by her real name. “Fight me, then.
  “Oh I will.” The Giver snarled.    The two old people, both way overdue for release, began to hurt each other. Gabe watched all of this and said his favorite word over and over again. “Stupid, stupid stoooopid!” he chanted.   “Make that child stop saying the rude word!” growled Evelyn. The fighting continued.   Evelyn kicks Gabe, hard. “Oh dear. Did I accidently kick the child out of the jet?” Sure enough, Gabe was desperately clinging on to the side of the jet.   “Gabe! No!” Asher cried. He quickly scrambled towards Gabe’s direction, but it was too late. Evelyn was slowly prying Gabe’s fingers off the edge of the jet door. Gabe’s hand slipped at last, and the poor boy fell screaming down from the jet. Asher sobbed uncontrollably and The Giver shed a tear. Before the two old ones began fighting again, they heard the deafening rumbling of more jets.    “Chief Elder, it’s time for your release!” boomed the loudspeaker. “You are at the age of 74, and you should have been released 4 years ago!”    Evelyn looked around in panic. There was no escape. She was surrounded. “How did you know?” she cried.    “Fiona told us.” Announced the loudspeaker.   Meanwhile, Jonas and Fiona hid. Fiona had freed Jonas from that arrow, then used the jet to fly back to the community and told everyone about the Chief Elder being overdue for release, and now Jonas was frantically transmitting memories to Fiona to calm the poor girl. Fiona’s face still had traces of tears from the memory of war, but her face was full of joy from yet another memory being given to her. The memory ended. “Feel better?” Fiona nodded. “One more memory.” Jonas said. “I’m sure you’ll love this one.”   Fiona waited for the memory, but instead, she felt Jonas’ lips against hers. “This is called a kiss.” Jonas told her, smiling. Fiona liked it. It was a wonderful feeling she couldn’t describe. For a second she almost forgot about saving The Giver, Asher, and Gabe. But she had no idea how much those two needed help right now…   Evelyn has been taken away, screaming things like “LET ME GO! RELEASE THE GIVER!!!” Asher and the Giver were safe. At least, they were for about five minutes. And then…   “Giver! The oxygen section is about to explode!” cried Asher. The two of them panicked. “We’ve got to get out of the jet!” Asher yelled. There was only one parachute. Believe it or not, the two of them panicked more than they would’ve if there were no parachutes.   “No! Asher, you take the parachute! You’re young, and you still have of time ahead of you! I could die any second anyway!” protested The Giver as Asher made him put on the parachute. “Stop it, you plenty foolish child!” Asher ignored him.   “Go to Jonas.” Asher sobbed tears in his eyes. “You’re the only family he has.” Without waiting for The Giver’s reply, Asher pushed him out of the jet.   Tears streamed down The Giver’s cheeks as he fell. He would survive, but there was no way Asher would. Asher would die a painful death. The Giver couldn’t bear to even think about it. Sure enough, before The Giver could reach the ground, he heard an explosion above him. Asher was gone.  The Giver lost it. He cried. Two waterfalls of tears streamed down his face. I’ll tell everyone. The Giver promised himself. I’ll tell them all about Asher, the boy willing to sacrifice his life for Gabe’s and mine.   And dear reader, you’re probably thinking that Asher wasn’t really dead, and soon Jonas will find him, but I guarantee you, Asher is dead.   Two months later, Jonas dug another large hole in the ground. Both Gabe and Asher’s body had been found. The two of them were buried next to each other.  Jonas was crying. He cried for Gabe, who was practically his brother. Gabe didn’t even live for more than ten years. Jonas thought sadly. He cried for Asher, the best friend anyone could ever have. He would never see him again. And he cried because Fiona was leaving today.   Fiona sat down next to Jonas. “I’m sorry, but the community needs me. I can’t stay. You’ve showed me many wonderful things, but I—I just can’t stay.”   “I understand.” Lied Jonas. Then a tear rolled down his cheek. Of course he didn’t understand, but he wanted Fiona to be happy.   Then suddenly, he felt Fiona’s soft lips on his own. Fiona ended the kiss slowly. “This is the best thing you’ve ever given to me. I want you to keep it.” Then suddenly, her sad expression changed into a happy one. She laughed. “Oh Jonas! You fell for it. Of course I wouldn’t leave you!”   From far away, The Giver watched the young couple, kissing in the colorful sunset. Fiona’s face was aglow with joy. Jonas’ face contained hundreds of different emotions. The gravestones stood under the beautiful pink and purple sky, peaceful.   As the kiss ended, Jonas thought about what had happened in the past three months. So much had happened. Fiona had found Jonas. The Chief Elder—ahem—Evelyn had tried to capture Jonas. Asher and Gabriel had died. People always say “all’s well that ends well”, and maybe that was true. He could spend the rest of his life with Fiona and The Giver. That was a happy ending, wasn’t it? But as Jonas stared at his best friend and his brother’s gravestone, he wondered if his ending was really a good one.