Author's Note; The Book Thief! It's the Christmas after the Himmel Street bombing. I'm not that good at sad stuff so…
Disclaimer; I do not own The Book Thief.
Oneshot #3: Christmas In Mourning
It was Liesel's first Christmas with the Hermann's. Granted, Herr Steiner was there too, but still. Ever since the bombing, she'd been in mourning. Always wearing all black. Nightmares every night again.
Liesel had gotten a doll, colored pencils, a drawing pad, and a few books for Christmas. "Thank you Frau Hermann." She'd said quietly.
She spent the rest of the day in the library. Not that she didn't any other day. She was dressed nice enough, in hand-me-downs from Frau Hermann. Again, that's what she wore everyday.
She usually read while in the library, but she couldn't. She would read the same sentence seven times and still not know what it meant. So after a while she just sat there, staring into space.
It was getting better, but Christmas was supposed to be spent with family. First it was Mama and Werner. Then Mama (Rosa), Papa, Trudy, and Rudy. Even Max at some point.
Now only Trudy was left, but she hadn't visited or even contacted Liesel. After a while Frau Hermann came in.
"Do you want to come to dinner?" She asked.
"Yes." Liesel answered quietly.
The four of them ate Christmas dinner in complete silence. Afterwards, Liesel went back upstairs to the library. She started reading a book about a girl who has a perfect life in her opinion.
She read well into the night, and got halfway through before she had to stop. It was too much. So she started drawing instead.
It took her a bit to realize she was drawing her, the Hubermanns, and Rudy. She realized she was crying when a teardrop rolled onto the page.
Liesel Meminger was crying for her birth parents. Her brother. Her foster parents. Her best friend. She was crying for her friend Max who she still liked to imagine was fighting the Führer in the basement.
But she smiled. Max was still out there. Werner was still a little boy. And hey, Rudy wasn't starving now.
After that revelation, Liesel still mourned, but she never again let it consume her.
"Goodbye, Rudy. Goodbye, Mama, Papa. Goodbye, Werner."
And she never once had a nightmare again.
Really short, Percy Jackson and Harry Pitter are the longest ones so far. Anyway, review please! I didn't get any on the last one.