"The Giver Quartet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lowry, Lois)

Jonas, nearing his home now, smiled at the recollection. Thinking, still, as he wheeled his bike into its narrow port beside the door, he realized that frightened was the wrong word to describe his feelings, now that December was al-most here. It was too strong an adjective.



He had waited a long time for this special December. Now that it was almost upon him, he wasn’t frightened, but he was . . . eager, he decided. He was eager for it to come. And he was excited, certainly. All of the Elevens were excited about the event that would be coming so soon.



But there was a little shudder of nervousness when he



thought about it, about what might happen.



Apprehensive, Jonas decided. That’s what I am.



“Who wants to be the first tonight, for feelings?” Jonas’s father asked, at the conclusion of their evening meal.



It was one of the rituals, the evening telling of feelings.



Sometimes Jonas and his sister, Lily, argued over turns, over who would get to go first. Their parents, of course, were part of the ritual; they, too, told their feelings each evening. But like all parents — all adults — they didn’t fight and wheedle for their turn.



Nor did Jonas, tonight. His feelings were too complicated this evening. He wanted to share them, but he wasn’t eager to begin the process of sifting through his own complicated emotions, even with the help that he knew his parents could give.



“You go, Lily,” he said, seeing his sister, who was much younger — only a Seven — wiggling with impatience in her chair.



“I felt very angry this afternoon,” Lily announced. “My Childcare group was at the play area, and we had a visiting group of Sevens, and they didn’t obey the rules at all. One of them — a male; I don’t know his name — kept going right to the front of the line for the slide, even though the rest of us were all waiting. I felt so angry at him. I made my hand into a fist, like this.” She held up a clenched fist and the rest of the family smiled at her small defiant gesture.



“Why do you think the visitors didn’t obey the rules?” Mother asked.