Giver Trilogy 01 - The Giver Read Online Free PDF

on the woman's face as she lay in the water unprotected, exposed, and free.
    From the corner of his eye he could see his friend Fiona
help the old man from the tub and tenderly pat his thin, naked body dry with an absorbant cloth. She helped him into his robe.
    Jonas thought Larissa had drifted into sleep, as the Old often did, and he was careful to keep his motions steady and gentle so he wouldn't wake her. He was surprised when she spoke, her eyes still closed.
    "This morning we celebrated the release of Roberto," she told him. "It was wonderful."
    "I knew Roberto!" Jonas said. "I helped with his feeding the last time I was here, just a few weeks ago. He was a very interesting man."
    Larissa opened her eyes happily. "They told his whole life before they released him," she said. "They always do. But to be honest," she whispered with a mischievous look, "some of the tellings are a little boring. I've even seen some of the Old fall asleep during tellings—when they released Edna recently. Did you know Edna?"
    Jonas shook his head. He couldn't recall anyone named Edna.
    "Well, they tried to make her life sound meaningful. And of course," she added primly, "all lives
are
meaningful, I don't mean that they aren't. But
Edna.
My goodness. She was a Birthmother, and then she worked in Food Production for years, until she came here. She never even had a family unit."
    Larissa lifted her head and looked around to make sure no one else was listening. Then she confided, "I don't think Edna was very smart."
    Jonas laughed. He rinsed her left arm, laid it back into the water, and began to wash her feet. She murmured
with pleasure as he massaged her feet with the sponge.
    "But Roberto's life was wonderful," Larissa went on, after a moment. "He had been an Instructor of Elevens—you know how important that is—and he'd been on the Planning Committee. And—goodness, I don't know how he found the time—he also raised two very successful children, and he was
also
the one who did the landscaping design for the Central Plaza. He didn't do the actual labor, of course."
    "Now your back. Lean forward and I'll help you sit up." Jonas put his arm around her and supported her as she sat. He squeezed the sponge against her back and began to rub her sharp-boned shoulders. "Tell me about the celebration."
    "Well, there was the telling of his life. That is always first. Then the toast. We all raised our glasses and cheered. We chanted the anthem. He made a lovely good-bye speech. And several of us made little speeches wishing him well. I didn't, though. I've never been fond of public speaking.
    "He was thrilled. You should have seen the look on his face when they let him go."
    Jonas slowed the strokes of his hand on her back thoughtfully. "Larissa," he asked, "what happens when they make the actual release? Where exactly did Roberto go?"
    She lifted her bare wet shoulders in a small shrug. "I don't know. I don't think anybody does, except the committee. He just bowed to all of us and then walked, like they all do, through the special door in the Releasing Room. But you should have seen his look. Pure happiness, I'd call it."
    Jonas grinned. "I wish I'd been there to see it."
    Larissa frowned. "I don't know why they don't let children come. Not enough room, I guess. They should enlarge the Releasing Room."
    "We'll have to suggest that to the committee. Maybe they'd study it," Jonas said slyly, and Larissa chortled with laughter.
    "
Right!
" she hooted, and Jonas helped her from the tub.

5
    Usually, at the morning ritual when the family members told their dreams, Jonas didn't contribute much. He rarely dreamed. Sometimes he awoke with a feeling of fragments afloat in his sleep, but he couldn't seem to grasp them and put them together into something worthy of telling at the ritual.
    But this morning was different. He had dreamed very vividly the night before.
    His mind wandered while Lily, as usual, recounted a lengthy dream, this one a frightening