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

тАЬItтАЩs good to have some volunteers here today,тАЭ the attendant told him. тАЬWe celebrated a release this morning, and that always throws the schedule off a little, so things get backed up.тАЭ She looked at a printed sheet. тАЬLetтАЩs see. Asher and Fiona are helping in the bathing room. Why donтАЩt you join them there? You know where it is, donтАЩt you?тАЭ



Jonas nodded, thanked her, and walked down the long hallway. He glanced into the rooms on either side. The Old were sitting quietly, some visiting and talking with one another, others doing handwork and simple crafts. A few were asleep. Each room was comfortably furnished, the floors covered with thick carpeting. It was a serene and slow-paced place, unlike the busy centers of manufacture and distribution where the daily work of the community occurred.



Jonas was glad that he had, over the years, chosen to do his hours in a variety of places so that he could experience the differences. He realized, though, that not focusing on one area meant he was left with not the slightest idea тАФ not even a guess тАФ of what his Assignment would be.



He laughed softly. Thinking about the Ceremony again, Jonas? He teased himself. But he suspected that with the date so near, probably all of his friends were, too.



He passed a Caretaker walking slowly with one of the Old in the hall. тАЬHello, Jonas,тАЭ the young uniformed man said, smiling pleasantly. The woman beside him, whose arm he held, was hunched over as she shuffled along in her soft slippers. She looked toward Jonas and smiled, but her dark eyes were clouded and blank. He realized she was blind.



He entered the bathing room with its warm moist air and scent of cleansing lotions. He removed his tunic, hung it carefully on a wall hook, and put on the volunteerтАЩs smock that was folded on a shelf.



тАЬHi, Jonas!тАЭ Asher called from the corner where he was kneeling beside a tub. Jonas saw Fiona nearby, at a different tub. She looked up and smiled at him, but she was busy, gently washing a man who lay in the warm water.



Jonas greeted them and the caretaking attendants at work nearby. Then he went to the row of padded lounging chairs where others of the Old were waiting. He had worked here before; he knew what to do.



тАЬYour turn, Larissa,тАЭ he said, reading the nametag on the womanтАЩs robe. тАЬIтАЩll just start the water and then help you up.тАЭ He pressed the button on a nearby empty tub and watched as the warm water flowed in through the many small openings on the sides. The tub would be filled in a minute and the water flow would stop automatically.



He helped the woman from the chair, led her to the tub, removed her robe, and steadied her with his hand on her arm as she stepped in and lowered herself. She leaned back and sighed with pleasure, her head on a soft cushioned headrest.



тАЬComfortable?тАЭ he asked, and she nodded, her eyes closed. Jonas squeezed cleansing lotion onto the clean sponge at the edge of the tub and began to wash her frail body.



Last night he had watched as his father bathed the new-child. This was much the same: the fragile skin, the soothing water, the gentle motion of his hand, slippery with soap. The relaxed, peaceful smile on the womanтАЩs face re-minded him of Gabriel being bathed.