Disclaimer: I don't own The Giver (awesome book) but I do own Breena

Lily could remember how excited she'd been when her application for a female

child had been approved. How happy she and her husband felt when they brought her

home and their male child kept rambling on and on about everything he was going to

teach her. If only they'd known then that they hadn't been given a child, they'd been

given Breena. The first odd thing about her had been noticeable from the moment she

opened her eyes. They were different from everyone elses in the community. Not dark, or

pale. Something no one had seen before, but of course it was rude to point out others

differences.

As for the second thing, Lily scolded her daughter when she got home having

Heard that Breena had arrived late to class and refused to apologize for

inconveinincing her learning community.

"I couldn't." Breena explained "Because I came in when they were saying the

pledge, so technically nobody had learned anything yet and to apologize for interrupting

their learning would be lying."

That was Breena for you. She was pretty reliable, except when it came to being on

time. She remembered everything, but could never pay attention in class long enough to

learn something to remember. When the other children had to button eachothers coats

down the back Breena figured out a way to do it herself. When the other children had

gotten their braids removed Breena tied two halves up at the top and let the rest of her

long hair hang loosely (ponytails), and when it had been her turn to receive a bicycle

she'd gone on stage and politely said,

No thank you, I can walk." Then left

Lily had done everything she could to get Breena to be like the other children, but

nothing worked. If it hadn't been for their male child people would've questioned her

parenting skills more than they already were. It was at the point where Lily had called

Breena by her number so often that most had forgotten she had a name and referred to her

as 12. But the worst part was that Breena seemed to enjoy being different.