Authors' Note: In this story, Rudy attended the Hitler Youth school and his father never went to war. Rudy lived in place of his father. This story takes place a decade after the bombing of Himmel Street.
Liesel Meminger turned 23, her birthday marking almost ten years from the day she had begun another life.
She tried to push thoughts of the Steiners, Max Vandenburg, Rosa and Hans Hubermann, everyone she had loved, from her mind, for it was the day that Himmel Street, her home, was bombed.
She couldn't do it. The people she lost that night had meant the world to her. Liesel quickly walked home from the school she had recently begun working at. Her small house was only a few blocks away.
The twenty minutes it took her to get there was plenty of time to wonder if her best friend, Rudy Steiner, had changed after attending his big shot school. Did he still love her? She still loved him. Was Max Vandenburg alive? Had he made it through that dreadful camp?
It had been years since she'd seen the Mayor's wife - Ilsa Hermann - in person but she sent Liesel a telegraph every year around this time. Liesel would read the telegraph tonight with a tall glass of wine and reminisce about how she'd crept in through the window to read as many of the kind woman's books as she could. Not just Liesel; she and Rudy. They had been partners in crime.
After the bombing, Liesel had tried to stay near Molching for as long as she could, hoping in vain that word of the bombing would have reached Rudy, prompting him to return.
He didn't come back. Whether it was because he had no family to return to, couldn't leave his training and education, didn't care for Liesel anymore, or simply didn't want to return, she had no idea.
Liesel was allowed to stay in the Mayor's household late into her teenage years; Frau Hermann had always cared for the girl and refused to have her sent to an orphanage, preferring to have company similar to that of her late son. It was like a hole was filled in her heart, and she was allowed to indulge once more in the joys that came with children, though it took Liesel many months to come out of mourning.
Soon after her eighteenth birthday, Liesel, a legal adult capable of making her own decisions, decided that she wanted to leave the Hermann's house and make a home for herself elsewhere. She took all the earnings that she had made working at a book shop on the corner of the street and bought a one-way train ticket to Frankfurt, where she attended college.
Almost immediately after Liesel left, Ilsa and her husband had decided to downsize. They moved into a modest cottage in the countryside and made sure there was still room for their books. Ilsa had made sure to send their new address to Liesel, who was pleasantly surprised to learn that they had moved closer to her.
Four years later, she graduated with a teaching degree. Liesel then found herself a job teaching young children to read at a small elementary school near the college she'd graduated from.
Max Vandenburg had found out about Himmel Street's death when he returned, looking for the people he'd been a family with. Even though things changed for Jews after Hitler died, people still crossed to the other side of the road to avoid them. Though Max knew of Himmel Street's bombing, he'd never received clear information regarding any survivors.
Max had a better life now, but he still got his newspaper from the garbage. He remembered how Liesel used to do this for him when he was staying in her basement. He flipped right to the crossword puzzle. It's one of the only things that entertained him during those long hours at the Hubermann household. Above the puzzle something caught his eye.
It was a sketch of a girl.
It was a sketch of Liesel Meminger. Max quickly scanned through the short article.
I am looking for a girl named Liesel Meminger. She has blond hair and brown eyes. She would be in her early twenties now. She is a book thief. Anyone with information please send a telegram to the following address: 623 Freund Street. Thank you. - Rudy Steiner.
Max could not believe it. He remembered Liesel telling him adorable stories about her best friend, Rudy Steiner. Was Liesel alive?
Rudy knew this was the day his entire family had died. He was given the news the morning after the bombing. He knew Liesel had lived. He was told there had been a survivor and that they had lived simply because they'd been writing in their basement late at night when the bombs had fallen. Rudy knew there was only one person this could be.
For months his sole purpose had been getting to her. Because nothing was left of his family's things, he was not permitted to leave his boarding school. He had even tried failing everything so they would send him away. He had no such luck.
After that didn't work, Rudy was thrilled to hear that the boarding school was closing; he thought this would be a chance to see Liesel. He was transferred to an orphanage instead.
When he'd finally been let loose at the age of eighteen, Rudy checked everywhere for his old best friend. His father's shop had been shut down and Liesel didn't work at any of the local establishments. The only thing he had on her was that she was the author of a moderately successful book called The Word Shaker. It was apparently co-written by someone of the name Max Vandenburg.
Is he her boyfriend?! Rudy initially thought, equally confused and terrified. Then he remembered it was the Jewish man that had lived with Liesel through a few of their childhood years.
Rudy had read the book cover to cover many times. He remembered Liesel loved to read but he hadn't known how good of a writer she truly was. The book she wrote was very good. It just wasn't very popular because it challenged some anti-semitic ideas spread by Hitler. The little saumensch.
Rudy still loved her. It was why he put out an ad in the paper for her or her whereabouts. It had taken him years to save up for a spot in the paper. He even stayed close to Molching in the hopes that she would turn up.
On a particular night, Rudy was wandering the very street that he and Liesel had grown up on. He had thought and hoped she might come back on the anniversary of the bombing. He had returned every year on that night for six years. Liesel had yet to show.
This paper was his last hope of ever finding Liesel. It had taken Rudy over five years to save up for a spot in the paper, but it was worth it when a man of the name Max Vandenburg approached him on the street late that night.
Feel free to point out any typos. Constructive criticism is welcome. :)