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"Intelligence" she said "We are all aware that Jonas has been a top student throughout his school days
"Integrity" she said next "Jonas has, like all of us, coressions" She smiled at him "We expect that We hoped, also, that he would present himself promptly for chastisee," she went on "Only one of us here today has ever undergone the rigorous training required of a Receiver He, of course, is the most important member of the Coain and again, of the courage required
"Jonas," she said, turning to hi in a voice that the entire co required of you involves pain Physical pain"
He felt fear flutter within him
"You have never experienced that Yes, you have scraped your knees in falls froer in a door last year"
Jonas nodded, agreeing, as he recalled the incident, and its acco misery
"But you will be faced, now," she explained gently, "with pain of a nitude that none of us here can comprehend because it is beyond our experience The Receiver himself was not able to describe it, only to remind us that you would be faced with it, that you would need ie We cannot prepare you for that
"But we feel certain that you are brave," she said to him
He did not feel brave at all Not now
"The fourth essential attribute," the Chief Elder said, "is wisdom Jonas has not yet acquired that The acquisition of wisdo
"We are convinced that Jonas has the ability to acquire wisdom That is e looked for
"Finally, The Receiver must have one more quality, and it is one which I can only name, but not describe I do not understand it You members of the community will not understand it, either Perhaps Jonas will, because the current Receiver has told us that Jonas already has this quality He calls it the Capacity to See Beyond"
The Chief Elder looked at Jonas with a question in her eyes The audience watched him, too They were silent
For a moment he froze, consumed with despair He didn't have it, the whatever-she-had-said He didn't knohat it was Noas the moment when he would have to confess, to say, "No, I don't I can't," and throw hiiveness, to explain that he had been wrongly chosen, that he was not the right one at all
But when he looked out across the crowd, the sea of faces, the thing happened again The thing that had happened with the apple
They changed
He blinked, and it was gone His shoulders straightened slightly Briefly he felt a tiny sliver of sureness for the first ti him They all were
"I think it's true," he told the Chief Elder and the community "I don't understand it yet I don't knohat it is But so And maybe it's beyond"
She took her ar not to him alone but to the entire community of which he was a part, "you will be trained to be our next Receiver of Memory We thank you for your childhood"
Then she turned and left the stage, left hian spontaneously the collective murmur of his name
"Jonas" It was a whisper at first: hushed, barely audible "Jonas Jonas"
Then louder, faster "JONAS JONAS JONAS"
With the chant, Jonas knew, the co hiiven it to the newchild Caleb His heart swelled with gratitude and pride
But at the same time he was filled with fear He did not knohat his selection meant He did not knohat he was to become
Or ould become of him
9
Now, for the first time in his twelve years of life, Jonas felt separate, different He re would be alone and apart
But his training had not yet begun and already, upon leaving the Auditoriuiven hi for his family unit and for Asher People ht he could hear whispers
"Ash!" he called, spotting his friend near the rows of bicycles "Ride back with me?"
"Sure" Asher smiled, his usual smile, friendly and familiar But Jonas felt a moment of hesitation froratulations," Asher said
"You too," Jonas replied "It was really funny, when she told about the sot more applause than almost anybody else"
The other neelves clustered nearby, placing their folders carefully into the carrying containers on the backs of the bikes In each dwelling tonight they would be studying the instructions for the beginning of their training Each night for years the children hadwith boredoerly to nratulations, Asher!" soain "You too, Jonas!"