I wrote this a few years ago as a part of a project and I wrote it in less than a few hours but it was the best part of the project. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not any of the characters or The Book Thief. They all belong to Markus Zusak.
She was finished. Finally finished. Her story was done, but it was the middle of the night. She sat on an empty paint can in a painfully empty basement without anyone. She looked down at her last words.
** * THE BOOK THIEF – LAST LINE ***
I have hated the words and
I have loved them,
And I hope I have made them right.
She read them carefully, over and over. It never ceased to fill her up with emotions. She had finished her story and this was the line that made the book, the ones that summed up her life. She sat thinking. She wanted company. She wanted someone to come read her book, someone to fill the void she was feeling. Her feet pounded slightly as she walked up the steps as quietly as she could. She went down the long hallway which seemed even longer in the brisk night. She opened the squeaking door trying to make it hold its mouth. She peeked into it and saw two peaceful faces. Smiles were plastered under their eyes. Her Papa and Mama were beautiful, as they soundly slept. She didn't realize this was the last time she would see them alive.
She closed the door and briskly sat in the dark hallway thinking. She knew who she wanted to come down to the basement…but he was a house away. Most likely sleeping snug in his bed. She stood up. She just thought she would retreat back to the basement and reread her story. But her feet turned the other way. Her hand reached forward and opened the front door and she walked down the sidewalk and into the neighbor's property. Without a second thought she found a round rock and went through a rusting gate that creaked loudly when she opened it. She was startled by the noise but kept on going forward to a certain window that sat quietly on a house protecting the people inside from harsh winds. She stood unsurely. Wondering if she should actually throw the rock.
She put her foot closer to the window. She winded her arm back ready to throw and moved her other foot forward. As she did she lost her balance and threw the rock awkwardly at the door with a small thud and feel on the narrow porch with a loud thud. She sat on her feet and rubbed her sore chin regretfully. She wondered why she had come out in the first place. But she knew why. To see Rudy. She wanted to see him and she wanted him to kiss her. But he had stopped asking for a kiss, 'why had he stopped,' she wondered. She could feel the tears in her eyes welling up. She loved hearing his voice, the way he talked, the way he called her name lovingly. She loved hearing that phrase. She loved it with all her heart and yet she no longer heard it.
"One more time, please. Just once more…" She wished hard. That's all she wanted in the cold dead night. The wind blew into her, shoving her in the direction of the door. She shivered and got up. She turned and walked back through the squealing gate. She walked down the sidewalk again to her door when she heard footsteps behind her. They were rushing towards her. She looked sullenly behind to see a pair of ice blue eyes racing towards her. A warm hand was clasped around her wrist.
"Hey, what're you doing?" A voice asked her. It was Rudy. She could feel her eyes widening and she felt her face heat up.
"W-what do you mean?" She managed to say back while a small pout worked itself on her face.
"You made all that noise outside and then you just walk away? And in the middle of the night?" He sounded angry but he was happy inside. He knew that she had been thinking about him and he was so glad.
Before she could even get anything out she sneezed loudly and in Rudy's direction. He groaned but told her something surprising. "Come on; let's get you inside before you catch a cold." She was taken back but followed him through her front door, "Good night, Saumensch." He whispered before he waited for her to go through the creaking door. He then began walking out of it and started to close the door.
"Wait!" The girl cried. She was so close to getting him to come to the basement, "Read my story before you go!" She clasped her hands around his wrists and swiftly dragged him down through the basement. She left the door wide open and sat him down on the hard paint bucket. He just looked at her silently. Then he looked over at the wall with the drawing on it. He said nothing as he looked down and saw a story called the Book Thief. What he always had called her. He looked up her and saw her standing in front of him with excited eyes. He smirked. He opened the front page and saw sentences of her writing. He started to read. He read and saw such passion in her writing. He came into the story and he smiled, one thought whisking through his head, about how she had put him in his story.
"Do you think it's good?" She asked him. Her brown eyes were sparkling a rich coffee brown.
"From what I can see, it's great!" And he meant it to. He could almost see the pictures of the things she described. But then suddenly, in the distance he heard something. He stopped cold and a feeling passed through his gut while a shiver ran down his spine. He got up and ran to Liesel who was in front of the basement door. He knew what was happening. There were bombs being rained on them. The next one came close and rocked the once silent house it was soon blown to oblivion.
At the last second Rudy had grabbed Liesel and thrown her over to the cement wall. Debris shot through the basement door and came colliding into Rudy. Liesel screamed as parts of the houses beams were thrown on top of him. He was pinned to the ground and she saw blood everywhere. That was about the time I came to take her Papa and Mama and the other residents.
The basement stairs had collapsed and there was no way out for help. Liesel ran towards Rudy. She was shaking so fiercely and she was above Rudy with hot tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Heh, you're crying for me?" Rudy asked her as he laid trapped helplessly.
"You're alive! Wait, I'll get help, I'll-I'll-" Liesel looked for a way out while fumbling out words but Rudy interrupted her.
"I'm sorry." He told her with a sad look in his eyes. She shook and looked into the deep blue eyes. She knew. She had already known. She saw all the blood, and his whole body was being crushed. She could hear his ragged breath. How he was breathing too slowly and gasping for breath desperately. She bit her lip. She didn't want him to die. She wanted to rewind time. He had saved her, that should've been her.
"You saved me…" She told him in between her tears. She was gasping for breath now too.
"I loved your story." He smirked. He stopped, the smirk faulting before coming back into a soft smile, "How about a kiss, Saumensch?" He asked her gently, the smirk coming back. He was minutes from his death. He could feel it. He wanted his one wish granted. One of his ribs cracked and he groaned.
She cried. She was happy he asked, but he was dying. She nodded and sucked in air then wiped away her tears. She leaned forward and kissed his lips lightly. She could feel warmth. She had gotten her wish. He had asked her for a kiss once more.
His lips were dirty and soft. She could feel the warmth slipping away and she felt tears rolling down her cheeks again. She released and looked at Rudy. He was smiling happily with his eyes shut.
"I love you, Rudy," She whispered before beginning to sob loudly.
I watched from above. I held in my arms Rudy's soul. I wish I could've given it back but it doesn't work like that. I turned and looked over my shoulder at the small girl crying in a basement alone. She hadn't even noticed me this time. I was glad.
I walked off and went to collect the other souls and I again watched her reaction as she saw her Papa and Mama and Frau Holtzapfel and the others. I wish I hadn't gotten so curious. It pained me to see her crying in the dark street.