For nicky hemmick, I hope you like it.
Word Count: 900
PROLOGUE
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featuring:
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an innocent child — the book thief — a tutor — and two frightened young men
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A SHORT INTRODUCTION
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I first saw the book thief and her brother in a train.
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***A FACT***
There is more than one universe.
There are many different worlds, just like there are many different colors.
Some show contrast, some compliment each other, and some are so close they are only a shade or two apart.
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As Death, I am universal. I am everywhere and I collect everyone.
Some people I collect sooner or later, depending on which world we are speaking of.
Most of the time, that difference is minimal, a year or two, but others spent decades more or less on this planet.
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***A FEW WORDS ABOUT ONE SUCH BOY***
His name is Werner Meminger.
He is six years old, almost four years younger than his sister Liesel.
When he grows up, he wants to find his father.
He doesn't die in a train in every universe.
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This universe is one of those.
Both Liesel and Werner arrive in Munich, at the door of Hans Hubermann and his wife Rosa.
Neither of them wants to leave the car, but Liesel takes a deep breath and opens the door.
"I'll keep you safe, Werner ," Liesel whispers. "I promise."
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***A DEFINITION***
promise, noun:
a) a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified
b) something that many people make but few people keep
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Liesel certainly intends to do so, but, eventually, she fails.
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THE FIRST BOOK
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Despite the change that occurred, Liesel Meminger still steals The Grave Digger's Handbook from its place in the snow.
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***SOMETHING NOT MANY PEOPLE LIKE TO HEAR***
More often than not, a life must be taken to save another.
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The siblings' father had been taken away by the Nazis.
The siblings' mother had been taken away by me.
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She was a quiet soul.
She went willingly, she knew it was her time.
With her husband and children taken away, she had nothing to live for.
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It is Werner who notices it first.
"Mama?" he asks.
He shakes her slightly, but she doesn't respond.
"Mama?" he repeats, causing his sister to notice and join in.
She did not wake up.
Not many do, after I get my hands on them and those who manage to escape — temporarily — are never with me as long as she has already been.
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The other passengers eventually notice two crying children.
The train stops.
There is a funeral, with two gravediggers, a master and an apprentice.
The apprentice drops his book and the book thief takes it.
Werner notices and looks at her.
Liesel puts a finger to her lips.
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***A TRANSLATION OF WHAT THE BOOK THIEF TOLD HER BROTHER***
"Shh. It'll be our little secret."
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Werner smiles and nods as his sister hides the book under her clothes.
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CHILDHOOD LOVE
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Rudi Steiner wanted to be the friend of Liesel Meminger from the very second he saw her and her brother walking down Himmel Street.
He isn't sure why, not completely, but his first guess is confirmed when he and his siblings walk Liesel and her brother to school a few weeks later, the first time she had really left the house.
She was a really nice girl and her laughter was beautiful.
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***A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE***
"Really?" Liesel laughs.
"Yes," Rudi admits, blushing.
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Werner and Liesel Meminger had been at the Hubermanns for about two months when Rudi became aware of Liesel's trouble in school.
"I can help you," he offers, as he walks through the town with the siblings. "Both of you," he emphasises.
"Thank you, but Papa already helps us," Werner immediately says.
"More help is always nice," Liesel disagrees. "I would enjoy it."
"Saumensch," Werner mutters under his breath as Rudi and Liesel smile at each other.
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***ANOTHER FACT***
Werner never really understood romantic love and that was fine.
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The three of them sit around somewhere and read for an hour or so every day.
It's never at the same place, but it was always outside town.
They couldn't be seen reading in their free time, after all.
The fun the three of them had was worth missing a game of soccer on the street.
Most of the time.
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Both Liesel and Werner made a lot of progress over a comparatively little time with the help of Hans Hubermann and Rudi Steiner.
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COMPLETE DARKNESS
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In Stuttgart, Max Vandenburg enters a dark cellar.
There is barely anything in it.
"It's not much," Walter Kugler apologizes, "but it will do."
"No," Max disagrees. "It's very much. How could I possibly thank you for this?"
"Oh," Walter says, a suggestive smile on his face, "I have a few ideas."
"Is this really the time?" Max asks.
"Is there a guarantee there ever will be a better one?" Walter retorts.
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***A SUMMARY OF THE EVENTS THAT FOLLOWED***
There were no clothes involved.
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It's just the first of many days Max spends in the cellar, but it could start of worse.
Of course, it could also have started off better, or have never been necessary, but Max had never liked to dwell on 'what if's.
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Despite appearances, both men are very afraid.
Both know what would happen if they ever are discovered, in more than one sense.
They would have met me.
It would have been stupid not to be afraid.