24
The sled slowed to a stop. Snow piled against the runners, and Jonas dragged himself off the sled. The singing got louder and louder as Jonas neared a towering steel gate that rose from the ground. The gate doors had been left slightly askew, and Jonas squeezed through the gate holding Gabe close to himself. The snow crunched beneath his numb feet, and Jonas stumbled along, his eyes blinded by the bright lights. The voices rang in his ears, and his head pounded uncontrollably. Jonas fell forward in the snow. The cold blanketed his vision, and he lay there hugging Gabe.
As Jonas comes to his senses the first thing he notices is the air which is pungent with the decadent smell of flowers. Light floods his field of vision, as Jonas opens his eyes slowly. He assesses his surroundings and finds himself in an empty room. He feels around for Gabe. “Gabe!” Jonas’ eyes widen, and he whirls around, frantically.
“Are you looking for this young one?” A cold, sonorous voice grabs Jonas’ attention, and he whips around. Tall and striking, a figure sits imposingly on a throne made of glass. It’s not something out of any of the memories which Jonas had received before. This thing is something out of a dream, out of a nightmare. It had four deer antlers protruding from its head. Numerous eyes cover its face and crawl down its neck. Its pupils flit about, looking around the room. It has six wings and spikes covering its arms. It has a small beak for a mouth and long claw-like fingers. Jonas sucks in a breath of air. Then he looked down into those spike covered arms and saw Gabe.
“Who are you?” Jonas’ voice sounds meek and small in the large room. His eyes dart about, warily. He plants his gaze onto Gabe who is fast asleep in its arms.
“I am what you’d call a god, a higher deity,” It says.
“I don’t understand,” Jonas replies confused, “I left the community and I was looking for Elsewhere… and…”
It smiles to itself. “There is no Elsewhere. There is only here, only now.”
Jonas feels every muscle in his body loosen. He had left the community expecting there to be an Elsewhere at least a somewhere, but there was nothing but here. Wherever here was that is. He looks up at It. He wasn’t sure what to trust anymore.
It looks down on him, “Jonas, I have known you for a long time. I have watched your journey from the day the universe first created you and sent you forth, till today.” Gabe moves restlessly in its arms, and It pats his head. It smiles, gently.
“Do you know the journey of life, Jonas?”
Jonas shakes his head.
“Life has a journey. It has a way of working, of making ends meet. You may not think it, but there is a sort of destiny in the universe. That’s just the way it works,” It pauses, thinking to itself. “Jonas did you know the day you were born we were destined to meet? I will oneday have met everyone this universe has to offer.”
“I don’t understand.” Jonas said, “What do you mean by journey of life and destiny of the universe?”
“I mean exactly as I say,” It replies. “The universe has a journey, and it all starts with the birth of a life.” It stretches out a hand pressing a claw to Jonas’ chest. Jonas’ heart jumps, but he stays still. His eyes glued onto It. “It always begins with a life like yours on Earth,” It draws back the claw, and ruffles Gabe’s hair, thoughtfully. “The life is lived out, and the person dies.”
“Then it’s the end,” Jonas says, “they’re gone.”
It shakes its head, “No the journey is only beginning. Do you know where we are right now? We’re in heaven, the final step of life. Before here, before now, there is a place you may know as the community.”
Jonas’ eyes widened. “The community…?”
“Yes, the community. It’s where you go after your short life on Earth. It’s a purgatory of sorts. You live in the community. A place of perfect society unlike Earth, and then-”
“No. The community was far from perfect.” Jonas looks It in the eyes. He felt shaken by the multiple gazes which met his.
It smiles, tilting its head rather menacingly to the side, “Well, everyone was happy. Isn’t that good enough?”
Jonas shakes his head, “It was never enough.” He clenches his fist. His voice trailing off. “Once I had a taste of color, of life I could only hunger for more...”
It nods. “You’re right. You were deprived of the things which made you human, but that’s only part of the journey of life.”
Jonas thought back to The Giver. He thought back to how much they both wanted the community to experience love and life, and yet here was someone who brushed it all off, easily.
“Can I have Gabe back, please?”
It looks down at Gabe before handing him over to Jonas. Jonas hugged Gabe close to himself. It watched them closely before it closed a few of its eyes as it leaned back on the throne.
“The community was just a test and only the worthy learn the truth and find heaven. Is that an easier way of thinking about it?”
Jonas sighs and buries his head between his knees, squeezing his eyes shut as the reality reeled through his mind.
“So was the community just the gateway to heaven?”Jonas mumbles. It nods as Jonas continues. “What about my life on Earth?”
“We all forget our past lives as we live out the journey of life. As we advance we forget where we came from.”
“What about all the people who were released?” Jonas asks, anxiously thinking back to the twin who seemed like just a memory from years back.
“They return as a life on Earth and try again to reach heaven. We are all trying to arrive at our final destination, here, but the journey to heaven is different for each of us. We keep on living in this circle of life until we find heaven.”
Jonas thinks about Rosemary living another life on Earth. He thinks about The Giver again. “And the memories were all fake then? Were they made up by people like you just to humor us?”
“Actually,” It replies, “The memories are from people’s past and future lives on Earth.” It leans forward on the throne, its wings stretching open almost lazily. “If you use them wisely you may just find heaven, but that is rare.” It sighs. Its gaze shifts over to Jonas. “You’ve made it Jonas. You’ve made it to heaven, to paradise, to nirvana.”
It claps, slowly. Jonas looks around. The bright lights that seem to radiate off everything fill his vision, and the sound of singing continues to ring in his ears. The colors, the smells, and the feelings are there and they’re brighter and more vivid than ever. They are almost suffocating. He looks back up at It who was lying back in the throne languidly.
“What do I do in heaven?” Jonas asked, perplexed.
It cocks its head to the side. “You can do anything you want and nothing at all.”
Jonas’ face scrunches up. After years of rules the sudden freedom felt unnatural to him. It all seemed unreal. The world around him seemed so garish and lurid. Jonas closed his eyes but the world continued to spin.
“Everything, and nothing at all…” He muttered to himself. He looks up at It once more, “You said this was the last step in the journey of life. Does that mean this is the end?”
“Yes, this is the end for eternity, your friends have yet to join us here.”
“What about when we all make it to heaven? Every single being every existing in the universe, then what?”
It tilts its head forward and whispers like it's telling a secret.
“Then humanity will have all lived through every emotion and every moment universally possible. Then the universe will end, and it will truly be the end of a life, and just maybe, the start of another.”
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