Read Online Messenger by Lois Lowry - Free Book Online Page B

I went to Trade Mart,” he said. “I hadn’t been before.”
    Leader shrugged. “I wish they’d vote to end it,” he said. “I never go anymore, but I did in the past. It seemed folly and time-wasting. Now it seems worse.”
    â€œIt’s the only way to get something like a Gaming Machine.”
    Leader made a face. “A Gaming Machine,” he commented with disdain.
    â€œWell, I’d like one,” Matty grumbled. “But Seer says no.”
    The puppy wandered to a corner of the room, sniffed, made a circle of himself, collapsed, and fell asleep. Matty and Leader, together, watched it and smiled.
    â€œIt isn’t just Gaming Machines and such.” Matty had wondered how to say it, how to describe it. Now, into the silence, as they watched the sleeping puppy, he found himself simply blurting it out. “Something else is happening at Trade Mart. People are changing, Leader. Mentor is.”
    â€œI’ve seen the changes in him,” Leader acknowledged. “What are you telling me, Matty?”
    â€œMentor has traded away his deepest self,” Matty said, “and I think that others are, too.”
    Leader leaned forward and listened intently as Matty described what he had seen, what he suspected, and what he knew.
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    â€œLeader gave me a name for him, but I don’t know if I like it.”
    Matty was back home by lunchtime, after delivering the last of the messages. The blind man was at the sink, washing some clothes.
    â€œAnd what is it?” he asked, turning toward Matty’s voice.
    â€œFrolic.”
    â€œHmmmm. It has a nice sound to it. How does the puppy feel about it?”
    Matty lifted the puppy from where it had been riding, curled up inside his jacket. For most of the morning it had followed him, scampering at his heels, but eventually its short legs had tired, and Matty had carried it the rest of the way.
    The puppy blinked—he had been asleep in the jacket—and Matty set him on the floor.
    â€œFrolic?” Matty said, and the puppy looked up. His tail churned.
    â€œSit, Frolic!”
Matty said. The puppy sat instantly. He looked intently at Matty.
    â€œHe did!” Matty told the blind man in delight.
    â€œLie down, Frolic!”
    After a flicker of a pause, the puppy reluctantly sank to the floor and touched the rug with his small nose.
    â€œHe knows his true name already!” Matty knelt beside the puppy and stroked the little head. “Good puppy,” he said. The big brown eyes gazed up at him and the spotted body, still sprawled obediently on the floor, quivered with affection.
    â€œGood Frolic,” Matty said.

Nine
    There was much talk in Village about the coming meeting. Matty heard it everywhere, people arguing about the petition.
    By now, some of the latest group of new ones were out and about, their sores clearing up, their clothes clean and hair combed, frightened faces eased, and their haunted, desperate attitudes changing to something more serene. Their children played, now, with other children of Village, racing down the lanes and paths in games of tag and hide-and-seek. Watching them, Matty remembered his own child self, his bravado and the terrible anguish it had concealed. He had not believed anyone would want him, ever, until he came to Village, and even then he had not trusted in its kindness for a long time.
    With Frolic scampering at his heels, Matty made his way toward the marketplace to buy some bread.
    â€œGood morning!” he called cheerfully to a woman he encountered on the path. She was one of the new ones, and he remembered her from the recent welcome. Her eyes had been wide in her gaunt face that day. She was scarred, as if by untended wounds, and one arm was held crookedly, so that it was awkward for her to do things.
    But today she looked relaxed, and was making her unhurried way along the path. She smiled at Matty’s greeting.
    â€œStop it,