Disclaimer- All chacters, settings, memories, etc, belong to the brillent Lois Lowry except for the ones I create.

Authors Note-I had to read The Giver for English, and end of loving it! Although we had to do this as an assignment, I had os much fun wrighting this I thought I'd go ahead and post it here. Sorry for all the grammer and spelling errors!

Alternate Ending

All too soon the sled's speed began to slow as they neared the bottom of the hill. Much to Jonas's relief and delight, the sled did not stop imminently after reaching the bottom of the hill. The sled was able to glide across the snow a couple of feet before gently coming to a halt. Jonas knew he needed to continue on, to reach Elsewhere. They were waiting for him, all of them were, and he could see all the beautiful lights that were shining through the windows, where families shared and created memories of love.

He looked down at Gabriel, who was staring back at him with those pale blue eyes that they shared. Letting out a squeal of delight, Gabriel pointed his small fingers towards the sky, his eyes sparkling with joy. Jonas slowly looked up towards the night sky, expecting to feel snowflakes land on his numb face. Instead of seeing gray clouds, his eyes were met with a wondrous sight: stars. Of course, Jonas has seen stars before through memories he had received but never had he seen them shine so brightly, so magnificently. All the stars seemed to be shining down upon them, urging them to continue on with their journey. Using all the strength he could muster, Jonas slowly rose from the sled and began walking slowly towards the lights that he saw.

All around him he could hear singing; it was such a beautiful sound. The stars seemed to be singing a soft clear melody in his ears, something that only a mother would softly singing to her baby as it fell asleep. As he trudged through the snow, Jonas tried not to grimace when a white hot pain shot up his ankle every time he took a step or when the wind whipped across his face. Trying to ignore the pain, Jonas focused on all the happy memories that he had. He remembered tossing an apple with Asher, he remembered Fiona's kind smile, he remembered his family all sitting around the table, and he remembered The Givers pale eyes gazing down upon him with kindness.

Shivering slightly, Jonas looked down at Gabriel, wondering if he should try to transmit a happy memory to him. But it seemed the child didn't need any happy memories for it seemed he already had some of his own. Gabriel smiled up at Jonas and let out a small cry of delight pointing up at the stars again. It seemed the child already knew the journey was coming to a close and that they would very soon be reaching Elsewhere. The lights were becoming brighter as Jonas made his way across the barren landscape. He could vaguely make out the shape of the houses where the lights were coming from, and they looked nothing like the ones in his community. Unlike the single floor houses that everyone in his community lived in, theses houses were all different shapes and sizes. The houses all were painted different colors and some even appeared to have two floors instead of one!

Jonas quickened his pace, hardly taking notice of the sharp pain in his ankle. They were so close to the lights and the music. Soon they would safe and warm. Jonas's heart fluttered with hope and excitement as they drew nearer to the lights, he could just make out someone standing beside a window on the top floor of a second story house when suddenly his ankle gave away. Jonas let out a cry of pain and surprise as crumbled into the snow.

Lying in the snow, Jonas couldn't help but let out another cry of agony as his ankle throbbed with immense pain. More than anything, Jonas wished he had a pain relief pill he could take, it was worse than any painful memory he had received because this pain wasn't a memory. It was real. As Jonas lay lying in the snow, he realized how quiet it had become. The wind had stop howling and he could no longer hear the singing. Jonas stared up at the stars that twinkled down upon him and he couldn't help but think how easy is it would be to just stay there. How effortless it would be for him to close his eyes and fall into a never ending slumber. To never have experience pain again. Jonas was just letting his eyelids droop when Gabriel let out a piercing wail, breaking the peaceful silence that had fallen over the valley. Realizing that Jonas was about give in to the sudden drowsiness that had overcome him, Gabriel continued to cry and wail. It seemed that he very much wanted to reach Elsewhere and reach the pretty lights that they were so close to.

Slowly but surely Jonas began to shake away the sleepiness that had suddenly fallen upon him. The stars seemed to be encouraging him to continue on once more; they shown more brightly than ever before and Jonas could hear them singing in his ear a melody that brought strength and hope back into his heart. Using all the remainder of his strength, Jonas heaved himself back onto his feet once more. The leg that he had twisted his ankle on was shaking violently and seemed to be bursting with pain. Very slowly Jonas began to limp towards the houses while his leg cried out in protest. More than anything all Jonas wanted to do was lie back down onto the snow. But he couldn't give up. Not now. Not when he and Gabriel were so close.

It seemed like it had taken an eternity to finally reach the door of the nearest house. It was a small square house with only one floor. His hand shaking slightly, Jonas knocked on the door three times before pressing his ear against the door. He could not hear sounds of movement from within the house. Jonas knocked again more desperate than before, but again he could not hear a sound not even the creaking of the floor boards or the crackling of a fire. Hugging Gabriel more tightly, Jonas limped to the nearest window. Peering through the musty window, Jonas heart fell; it was empty. It appeared the house had been abandoned, perhaps for five, ten years? What appeared to have once been the living room, now was dark and cold looking. The fire place looked like it had not been used in years and the room was covered in what looked to an inch of dust and dirt. Dark shadows were cast upon the wall by the moons light giving it an eerie feeling.

Jonas stepped away from the window, his heart beating a mile a minute. Frantically, his eyes searched the surrounding area; hoping with all his might that there was another house nearby, hoping that he hadn't just imaged all the lights and singing. Jonas let out a sigh of relief when he spied another house only a couple of feet away. Unlike the first house he had tried, this house was glowing with light. As Jonas neared the house, he realized this was the house where he had seen someone standing by the window on the second floor.

His hand shaking more violently than before, Jonas knocked on the door before sliding down onto his knees. Jonas rested his head against the door and closed his tired eyes; he could smell something baking inside the house. It smelled delicious and Jonas could feel his mouth watering, he hadn't eaten anything in so long. He remembered a memory he received of a mother baking cookies with her young son. The kitchen had been filled with the smell of fresh cookies cooking in the oven. Jonas remember fondly the mothers bemused smile as she watched her son press his face against the oven window. The boy had watched the cookies baking with hungry intent eyes, always asking his mother when they would be done. No matter how many times the boy had asked, the mother had always smiled patiently and told him they would be done soon. Jonas smiled as he remember the mother taking fresh baked cookies out of the oven, while telling her disappointed son he would have to wait till the cookies cooled. Watching the child anxiously grab a cookie of the cooling rack once his mother had said he could have one., Jonas's stomach rumbled as he remember seeing the child biting into the soft, warm cookie eagerly. His eyes had closed with pleasure as he chewed the sweet cookie slowly in his mouth. Jonas's lips lifted into a smile as he recalled the gooey chocolate chips smearing all over the boys face and seeing his mother wipe the chocolate off his face. The mother had laughed her eyes had been glowing with love and adoration as she ruffled her child's hair and kissed him on his forehead.

Jonas's eyes fluttered open when he faintly heard the sound of footsteps running down the stairs. Without warning the door was yanked open, and there in the door way stood a girl. She stared down at Jonas and Gabriel in shock. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth was opened into a shape of an O. Jonas couldn't help but stare back at the girl in wonder. Her skin appeared to be as smooth and flawless as porcelain. She had bright piercing green eyes that stared down at him in shock, but to Jonas what awed him most was her hair. It was the same color Fiona's had been, a pretty bright red color which cascaded down her shoulders in lovely curls.

For a moment the two just stared at each other, both appeared to be in complete awe of each other's presence. It was only when Gabriel let out a tiny cry did the girl's eyes flicker away from Jonas. Silently, the girl knelt down her eyes eyeing the blanket that Gabriel was wrapped in curiously.

"Go ahead," Jonas told the girl nodding his head towards Gabriel, whom he knew the girl, was dying to see. The girl nodded politely before gently pulling back the flap of the blanked, revealing Gabriel's small face. To Jonas's shock, the girl let out a small gasp of surprise and nearly fell on her bottom.

"It's you," the girl murmured, it was unclear whether it she had meant Jonas or Gabriel. For a brief second the girl met Jonas's eyes in complete wonder before the girl leaped to hear feet and yelled in a loud clear voice, "Mum! There here!"

From down the hall way, Jonas could hear what sounded like someone dropping a plate of dishes before the sound someone racing down the hallway could be heard. A woman appeared at the door way slightly out of breath and breathing heavily.

"My God," the woman whispered upon seeing Jonas and pressed her fingers against her lips, "he was right." Not waiting a second for Jonas to respond, she gently helped Jonas to his feet and ushered him into her house quickly. "Fleur, please close door or it will get quite chilly inside." The woman told the girl while she led Jonas and Gabriel down the hallway and into what appeared to be the living room. Inside the room a fire had been lit to keep the room warm from the cold weather outside. Thick carpets were rolled across the room and a squashy couch and armchair were seated in front of the fire with thick blankets draped on them.

The woman led Jonas to the armchair which he gratefully sank into. The woman must have seen how much pain he was in because she smiled when she saw Jonas's face relax.

"My, my, my," the woman clucked as she felt Jonas's forehead, "how long were you out there in the cold?"

Jonas looked down at his hands which were blue and numb to the bone. "I…I don't know." He whispered softly.

"Well," the woman told him while she wrapped at least three thick warm blankets around him, "it seems you were out there long enough to get a mild case of hypothermia. But nothing like a hot cup of hot chocolate and a warm bath that will make the coldness go away.' The woman added upon seeing Jonas's worried face.

"Here," the woman said moving to take Gabriel out of Jonas's arms, but Jonas tightened his grip on Gabriel. "Now now, I'm not going to hurt the wee lad," the woman told Jonas kindly. "I just want to take a quick look at him and perhaps change his diaper, that doesn't sound too bad does it?"

Jonas looked at the woman, she didn't seem dangerous. She had soft wavy that framed her round face. She had crinkles around her mouth that seemed to be caused from smiling too much, and her eyes were a warm brown color that gazed at Jonas like his mother had.

Jonas eyebrows furrowed, "H-how do you know us," he asked her suspiciously remembering what she and Fleur had said upon seeing him.

"The Seer saw you coming to us," the woman simply told him.

Although Jonas wanted to ask more about the Seer, he was too tired to ask. "You can take him, but please be gentle with him." He told her with pleading eyes as he handed Gabriel gently into the woman's arms.

The woman looked Jonas in the eyes before saying "Don't worry, I won't hurt him. I promise."

Jonas nodded silently before snuggling deeper into the blankets.

"And you young lady," the woman said turning to look at Fleur who had been leaning against the door way the whole, "aren't' you suppose to be asleep?"

"Yes well you see…about that," Fleur began to say.

The woman let out an exasperating sigh cutting into Fleur's sentence, "reading books were you? How many times do I have to tell you—"

"I wasn't reading!" Fleur injected stomping her foot and crossing her arms angrily. "I was looking at the stars, they were shining so beautiful tonight, I just had look at them! You saw them didn't you?"

"Yes, they were quite beautiful tonight," she admitted dreamily before leaving the room.

Fleur turned to look at Jonas, she was smiling and her eyes twinkled with excitement, "you're going to like it here, I just know it!" She told Jonas confidently

Jonas smiled at Fleur's, she remind him of his sister Lily, "Yes, I think I will." He heard himself tell her.

Fleur's smiles widen and she turned to look out the window gazing up at the stars in wonder. "I wonder why they were shining so brightly tonight," Fleur wondered dreamily as she remembered the pretty stars she had gazed upon out her bedroom window.

Jonas stared out the window his lips slowly lifting into a faint smile before saying softly, "They were shining for me."

Authors Note- Hope you enjoyed reading! Reviews are greatly welcome!