Bruno ran through the forest, following the path that took him somewhere he went everyday, this time clutching a spade as though it were a spear.
He didn't know that this day was the day that would change his life forever.
He knew where it all began.
Before Bruno had come here, he'd lived in a big house in Berlin with his father, mother and 12-year-old sister, Gretel, who he didn't always get on with.
He was a very active little boy who loved to play and hated boredom. He loved exploring and adventures. He also loved to read adventure stories and fancied himself as an explorer. He had three best friends, Karl, Martin and Leon.
Everything changed though, when his father met the Fury, and was given a more important job and a fantastic uniform. Bruno and his family moved to the countryside to a place called "Out-With", where their house was much smaller.
Bruno remembered the train journey there and how he would spend ages gazing out of the window, watching the fields with the hedges and fences that surrounded them wiz by, some of the fields had animals in them and gradually the towns and villages got smaller and smaller and there were less and less of them and the countryside bigger. It carried on like this until he was quite sure they were very, very far from Berlin.
But when Bruno got there he became homesick and confused by his new surroundings. There is nothing to do, no other children to play with, and soldiers walked in and around their house all day.
Since arriving at Out-With Bruno became home educated and wasn't mixing with any of the other children from the local towns or villages.
He was bored and lonely and couldn't understand why he was forbidden to explore or wander the grounds or play at a nearby farm.
But then, Bruno made a very odd discovery that made him start to wonder. Because what he saw from his bedroom window were lots and lots of people living in small huts behind a fence, and they all wore striped pyjamas.
Eventually he could not hide his curiosity which was becoming too much and so one day, he slips out after his studies and investigates.
Though Bruno didn't know this, the "farm" he thought he lived near was in fact a concentration camp which was the very reason they'd moved here.
Bruno walked alongside the fence for a while. He hadn't expected to find much; none of the people in striped pyjamas ever came close enough to the fence to talk to, except one. A strange boy with a shaven head, sitting behind the fence.
Bruno remembered their first meeting quite clearly.
When Bruno first saw Shmuel he was sitting cross-legged staring at the ground, alone and separated from the others in the camp.
At first when the little boy looked up he looked nervous, and for a moment it looked as if he were going to stand up and flee from the fence, but as soon as he saw it was no more than a boy his own age and wasn't going to hurt him he stayed where he was.
When Bruno asked Shmuel if he had any friends on his side of the fence, Shmuel said he had a few, but that they fought a lot which was why he liked to come out to this corner, next to the fence, so he could be on his own.
It made sense to Bruno, he was lonely, Shmuel was lonely, so Bruno decided to secretly befriend the little boy and for the first time since he'd arrived at Out-With he didn't feel alone.
But the next day there was nothing else to do either and Bruno had questions he wanted to ask about the farm and wondered if the strange boy he met would still be there for he would most probably know the answers.
Bruno had never met a boy quite like Shmuel before; in fact he was like no other boy Bruno had ever known and quite interesting to talk to.
The next time Bruno came to see Shmuel they found that they had a lot in common. But Shmuel's life was quite different from Bruno's.
Bruno soon realised he was Polish and knew how to speak German.
He was an independent-minded eight-year-old who liked to do what any eight-year-old liked to do, play checkers, eat sweets, and talk to his best friend. But that was where the similarities between Shmuel's life and Bruno's life ended.
Shmuel was shy and generally quite quiet, Bruno thought this was understandable since they were strangers but then Shmuel told Bruno his story of how him and his family were forced to move by the soldiers which was quite scary for him and a bit risky for him when he was meeting Bruno since he had experienced bulling from non-Jewish kids in the past.
They weren't allowed to leave the camp and the soldiers were incredibly cruel to them every day. They didn't get enough to eat, and Shmuel said that he hated it here.
'I hate it here too.' complained Bruno 'the house is a lot smaller.' He added, even after Shmuel had told him about how he had to live with ten other people in a tiny squashed hut and how they had to work, but Bruno was never serious and usually talked about playing and exploring instead.
'I've just moved here.' explained Bruno.
'How long have you been here?' asked Shmuel.
'About four months now.' said Bruno.
'We arrived here six months ago.' said Shmuel.
'You must know more about what the exploration is like here then.' said Bruno.
'Not really.' said Shmuel. 'I've never been beyond this fence.'
'Why ever not?' said Bruno. 'Why would you stay in one place all the time?'
'We're not allowed.' said Shmuel.
'Well.' said Bruno 'I wasn't really allowed to come out here either, but I still came though, because I wanted to see the farm.'
'Farm?' said Shmuel, puzzled. 'I haven't seen a farm around here.'
'Of course you would have.' said Bruno. 'It's where you are now.'
Shmuel stared at Bruno but said nothing; he then went back to starring at the ground.
'And where are all the women and girls?' Bruno asked. 'I've only ever seen men and boys.'
'I don't know.' said Shmuel. 'They separated us before we came here, I suppose they're in a different camp. But before that they took our clothes and then they gave us these.'
Bruno in fact thought it would be great to walk around all day in pyjamas and didn't think it fair that he had wear boring grey shorts while Shmuel and the others got to wear stars and stripes.
'And then our heads were shaved.' continued Shmuel.
'They shaved all your heads?' said Bruno.
'Yes.' said Shmuel 'All of us, including Mama's. She had beautiful hair and I watched it fall to the ground and then the soldiers took her away with all the other women, we haven't seen her since and then a man with a broom came and swept all the piles of patchwork hair away.'
'What colour was your hair?' asked Bruno. 'Before it got shaved off?'
'A bit like yours.' replied Shmuel 'Only not as dark and thick.'
'Why did you ask to have it shaved off?'
'I didn't.' said Shmuel. 'We were all made to.'
Bruno paused, considering this strange story. He also noticed that his friend didn't look that comfortable.
'What's wrong with you?' he asked 'You look as if you're in pain.'
'I'm hungry.' said Shmuel, simply.
This wasn't the first time Shmuel had said this. Within minutes of their first meeting he had asked Bruno if he had any food, Bruno said that he hadn't, are you hungry? He added.
'Yes.' replied Shmuel, nodding. 'All the time.'
Suddenly Bruno remembered.
'I brought some chocolate with me; I was going to eat it later cause I wasn't really hungry. You can have some if you want.'
As soon as Bruno said these magic words Shmuel's eyes immediately lit up.
Bruno took out the chocolate from his trouser pocket and broke off a piece and handed it to Shmuel through the fence.
He took it hastily and put it to his mouth and it was gone and swallowed within seconds, but Bruno still had a whole bar left and Shmuel's expression was just telling him could I have some more.
It made sense since Shmuel probably needed it more than Bruno did.
'Go on, then.' he said passing the whole bar through the fence. Shmuel took it from him quickly and started to bite chunks off.
'It's so sweet…' he said, through a mouthful.
'Slow down.' said Bruno. 'You'll choke on it, and take the wrapping off first.'
When Shmuel had finished the rest of the bar, he tried to find all the tiny pieces of chocolate that had broken off that Bruno would have just left or brushed off.
'You must take the wrapping.' He said passing the wrapping back through the fence.
'Why?' asked Bruno.
'In case the soldiers see it.' said Shmuel.
'Don't you have any bins over there?' asked Bruno.
'We only burn stuff.' said Shmuel.
From then on Bruno made it a habit to bring food when he went to meet Shmuel.
One thing he could be sure on is that Shmuel would always be hungry and would always take what Bruno gave him.
Sometimes Bruno would bring some bread and cheese or an apple or some biscuits.
But sometimes on the walk to the fence he would become hungry himself and before he realised it he had already eaten half of what he meant to give to Shmuel and it would be cruel to give what was left to him since it would only serve as an appetiser and only make him hungrier.
When Bruno arrived at the fence Shmuel asked 'Did you bring any food today?'
'No.' said Bruno 'Not today, sorry.'
Shmuel looked disappointed, but it wasn't only food sharing Shmuel appreciated Bruno for, it was also the company. Just to have some one there to talk to about everything that had happened to him.
They met at the same spot every day and talked about all sorts of things whenever they could.
Bruno would come every afternoon after his lessons, coincidently this was around the same time Shmuel finished most of his daily work in the camp, which was the only time he got to sit in his corner to be by himself.
It just happened and it continued in this pattern during the next few weeks.
The two had formed a timid, unlikely and careful friendship, doing simple things like talking, playing board games and catch through the fence.
As a result when Bruno brought food to Shmuel, he learnt more about where his new friend lived and about why the fence was there and why his friend was on the other side, he also learnt more about where he lived too.
Shmuel did find some happiness when he met Bruno, but before that he wasn't used to being asked so many questions, he was surprised and appreciative of the company. In the camp there were no questions or answers and he was generally used to being ignored.
Bruno's questions made Shmuel wonder and begin to ask himself what all this was about.
They went back and forth a few more times and soon Bruno was starting to realised that the place where he went to meet Shmuel wasn't what he thought it was.