the giver
Storyboard Text
- 22
- He was newly aware that Gabriel's safety depended entirely upon his own continuedstrength.They saw their first waterfall, and for the first time wildlife.Plane! Plane! Gabriel called, and Jonas turned swiftly into the trees, though he had notseen planes in days, and he did not hear an aircraft engine now. When he stopped thebicycle in the shrubbery and turned to grab Gabe, he saw the small chubby arm pointingtoward the sky.Terrified, he looked up, but it was not a plane at all. Though he had never seen onebefore, he identified it from his fading memories, for The Giver had given them to himoften. It was a bird.Soon there were many birds along the way, soaring overhead, calling. They saw deer;and once, beside the road, looking at them curious and unafraid, a small reddish-browncreature with a thick tail, whose name Jonas did not know. He slowed the bike and theystared at one another until the creature turned away and disappeared into the woods.
- And the weather was changing. It rained for two days. Jonas had never seen rain,though he had experienced it often in the memories. He had liked those rains, enjoyedthe new feeling of it, but this was different. He and Gabriel became cold and wet, and itwas hard to get dry, even when sunshine occasionally followed.Gabriel had not cried during the long frightening journey. Now he did. He cried becausehe was hungry and cold and terribly weak.Jonas cried, too, for the same reasons, and another reason as well.He wept because he was afraid now that he could not save Gabriel.He no longer cared about himself
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- It's called snow, Gabe,. snowflakes. They fall down from the sky,and they're very beautiful.
- The memories had fallen behind him now, escaping from his protection to return to thepeople of his community. Were there any left at all? Could he hold onto a last bit ofwarmth? Did he still have the strength to Give? Could Gabriel still Receive?He pressed his hands into Gabriel's back and tried to remember sunshine. For amoment it seemed that nothing came to him, that his power was completely gone. Thenflickered suddenly, and he felt tiny tongues of heat begin to creep across and into hisfrozen feet and legs. He felt his face begin to glow and the tense, cold skin of his armsand hands relax. For a fleeting second he felt that he wanted to keep it for himself, to lethimself bathe in sunlight, unburdened by anything or anyone else.But the moment passed and was followed by an urge, a need, a passionate yearning toshare the warmth with the one person left for him to love. Aching from the effort, heforced the memory of warmth into the thin, shivering body in his arms.Gabriel stirred. For a moment they both were bathed in warmth and renewed strengthas they stood hugging each other in the blinding snow.
- Jonas began to walk up the hill.The memory was agonizingly brief. He had trudged no more than a few yards throughthe night when it was gone and they were cold again.But his mind was alert now. Warming himself ever so briefly had shaken away thelethargy and resignation and restored his will to survive. He began to walk faster on feetthat he could no longer feel. But the hill was treacherously steep; he was impeded by the snow and his own lack of strength. He didn't make it very far before he stumbledand fell forward.On his knees, unable to rise, Jonas tried a second time. His consciousness grasped at awisp of another warm memory, and tried desperately to hold it there, to enlarge it, andpass it into Gabriel. His spirits and strength lifted with the momentary warmth and hestood.But the memory faded, leaving him colder than before. If only he had had time toreceive more warmth from The Giver before he escaped! Maybe there would be moreleft for him now. But there was no purpose in if-onlys. His entire concentration now hadto be on moving his feet, warming
- Gabriel and himself, and going forward.He climbed, stopped, and warmed them both briefly again, with a tiny scrap of memorythat seemed certainly to be all he had left.The top of the hill seemed so far away, and he did not know what lay beyond. But therewas nothing left to do but continue. He trudged upward.As he approached the summit of the hill at last, something began to happen. He was not less exhausted; onthe contrary, his steps were leaden, and he could barely move his freezing, tired legs.But he began, suddenly, to feel happy. He began to recall happy times. He rememberedhis parents and his sister. He remembered his friends, Asher and Fiona. Heremembered The Giver.Memories of joy flooded through him suddenly.He reached the place where the hill crested and he could feel the ground under hissnow-covered feet become level. It would not be uphill anymore.
- We're almost there, Gabriel,I remember this place, Gabe.
- He hugged Gabriel and rubbed him briskly, warming him, to keep him alive. The windwas bitterly cold. The snow swirled, blurring his vision. But somewhere ahead, throughthe blinding storm, he knew there was warmth and light.Using his final strength, and a special knowledge that was deep inside him, Jonas foundthe sled that was waiting for them at the top of the hill. Numbly his hands fumbled forthe rope.He settled himself on the sled and hugged Gabe close. The hill was steep but the snowwas powdery and soft, and he knew that this time there would be no ice, no fall, no pain.Inside his freezing body, his heart surged with hope.They started down.Jonas felt himself losing consciousness and with his whole being willed himself to stayupright atop the sled, clutching Gabriel, keeping him safe. The runners sliced throughthe snow and the wind whipped at his face as they sped in a straight line through anincision that seemed to lead to the final destination, the place that he had always feltwas waiting, the Elsewhere that held their future and their past.He forced his eyes open as they went downward, downward, sliding, and all at once hecould see lights, and he recognized them now. He knew they were shining through thewindows of rooms, that they were the red, blue, and yellow lights that twinkled fromtrees in places where families created and kept memories, where they celebrated love.Downward, downward, faster and faster. Suddenly he was aware with certainty and joythat below, ahead, they were waiting for him; and that they were waiting, too, for thebaby. For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard peoplesinging.Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, hethought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.
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