I read The Book Thief before Thanksgiving for a book talk and I absolutely fell in love with the book. It's on my top ten favorite books right now. For the project that went along with the book talk, I had the opportunity to write a short story about it. So, I gladly excepted that challenge and I wrote this. My teacher shared it with all the Language Arts teachers in my school and they could not believe how well this short story was written. Won a small award for writing it. I don't think it deserved an award, but glad I received one.

Hope you like it.

It All Happened In A Split Second

Once upon a time, there was a blond haired, chocolate brown eyed girl named Liesel Meminger. You would say that she was your typical 'coming of age' girl. Sometimes it's never good to assume things. She's always wanted to be free from all the trouble around her. Some people have all the luck, she would say to herself as she threaded the shoe string through the holes in the shoes. This wasn't her passion. For a thirteen year old, this wasn't the perfect opportunity to get away. Not every kid though had the life of laziness and adventure. Some worked for their ways.

Gazing out of the factory's windows one day, Liesel caught a figure in the river away. He seemed to be splashing around in the water with a younger girl. Their lemon colored hair glistening in the summer light. She wanted to be like those kids…free from work.

Placing her shoe down on her desk, she grabbed the book that was beside her equipment. This book was very close to her. The Word Shaker. It was given to her by a man whom appeared right in front of her eyes. Like magic, almost. It happened a long time ago, but it seemed so recent to her. Shaking the flashback from her mind, she looked back out the window towards the two kids. She wanted that. She wanted to get away. From a sudden thought, she decided that it was now or never. Liesel was ready to leave her cell.

Stepping ever so carefully to the window, making sure no one saw her leaving, she cracked open the window and pushed it up. Tossing the book into the bushes below, she hopped onto the window ledge and jumped out of the window landing carefully into the thorn bush. Letting out a gasp of pain, she bit her tongue and grabbed the book from the ground. Pushing her way through the shrubbery, she looked back up at her building and stood their in complete awe. She just escaped from her 'prison' and into the real world.

It felt exhilarating to her.

Now her goal was to catch up with the boy and the little girl. Hugging the book to her chest, she made a mad dash to the river which was quite a long way from where she was. She didn't care, though. She was away from there and ready to start something new. Why didn't she do something like this before? The river was coming into view now. But this time, the little girl wasn't there, only the boy. His shirt and shorts were soaked to the point where they were hanging off his scrawny body.

Liesel stopped dead in her tracks. What was she thinking? She can't just run up to this boy and immediately become some type of friend to him. A nearby tree was to her left and she quickly hid behind it.

"Hello?" The boy called out, gazing in Liesel's direction. Her breaths were short and sharp. Why did she feel like this? She was more courageous than this.

"Come on, Liesel. This was the reason you escaped."

She dropped the book into the grass and was about to walk around the tree trunk when the sound of whistles and shouting were coming from down the road. Liesel's heart stopped. Did they find out she was gone?

"Who's behind here?" The boy called again. The whistles were getting louder, but they weren't for her. It was a group of ghastly people marching down the road. They looked hungry and tired.

"Ah ha! Got you!" The boy came from around the tree and grabbed Liesel's arm. She gasped and tried to loosen his grip on her arm. He wasn't budging.

"Who are you?" He yelled, letting her go.

"I should be asking you the same question." Liesel said back. He gave her a confused look.

"I found you; shouldn't you be confessing who you are? Fine… I'm Rudy. Rudy Steiner. And you?" He said with a grin. Liesel was befuddled by the sudden change in attitude. She thought it was weird…and intriguing.

"Liesel Meminger." The shook each others hands and grinned.

"Who are those people?" Liesel asked in wonder, pointing to them. Rudy looked down at the overgrown grass and back at the street where she was pointing.

"They're Jews on their way to a Concentration Camp. Adolf Hitler doesn't want them here so he sends them away. Well, that's how I view it at least. I don't know the real reason though." Rudy shook his head like a wet dog to try and dry his hair. Liesel jerked a little as a few water droplets smacked onto her dirty skin.

The parade was making its way down the road and out of sight. Liesel had a feeling that she had to do something about it. This sounded like a terrible thing. Reaching down for her book, she sprinted to the streets. Rudy felt the wind blow his hair as she ran past him.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Come back!" Rudy cried. She wasn't turning back. He ran to catch up to her, but she wasn't slowing down. She was getting faster…

"Liesel!" Rudy screamed.

Liesel knew she had to stop this parade of Jews that were making their way to the camp. Maybe this was the sudden urge that made her escape from her disgusting desk and the rough shoes. Stopping something like this might do something for this city. She was now beside the Nazi Guard who was leading the way. She threw the book at him; the Jews were staring at her the whole time. One though, was trying to make his way through the crowd of Jew to her.

"LIESEL!"

It happened in a split second. Rudy finally caught up to her, kneeling down beside her body on the ground. A very deep dash was on the right corner of her forehead. Another body was beside Liesel's. He was alive, barely. He was grabbing her hand, squeezing it tight. The book was in his hand. The Word Shaker. A single tear was in his eye, cascading down his cheek. Guards were assuming he was dead and calling for someone to take him away. They continued on down the road to the camp.

Rudy couldn't believe what he was seeing. A girl, whom he known for not even a whole day, had captured a part of his heart. He couldn't get to know her. She wasn't here with him now. The Jew…he wasn't moving. On his hat, a name was embroidered into it.

Max. Max Vandenburg.

Rudy grabbed the book and flipped to the first page. The author's name was written sloppy on the page under the title. The names matched.

"How do you know her?" Rudy asked softly to the man through quiet tears. His swampy brown eyes looked up at the lemon colored hair boy. He grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

"She's treated me like no other man or woman has. She is my friend. Liesel…I lost my friend." He grabbed the girl's body and hugged her tightly. Tears were spilling from his eyes. Rudy stood up on his feet and felt a strong breeze blow by him. A guard came up to Max and pried the girl from his grip. A whip was pulled from the guard's belt and he slashed the man over and over again, dragging him away from the girl. An older man came and scooped Liesel and the book in his arms and carried them away. Rudy was left alone to recap everything that had happened before his very blue eyes.

Everything in life seems to happen in a split second, whether it is for the good or bad in the end. Risk are meant to be taken in this world…they reveal the strong from the weak. Love in the end is sometimes too powerful for the others to handle.