a/n: I took a little liberty with this, as I didn't have the book on me. Just timeline things.
.: fabled flowers :.
Because she's fourteen before she realizes it's all a lie.
April showers bring May flowers. That's what her mother used to tell her. Not Rosa Hubberman, no. Her real mother, the half faded memory that floats around the back of her cluttered brain. April showers and May flowers. Blooming spring, gorgeous and peaceful. They were always connected, always trustworthy.
She's fourteen years old when she realizes it's bullshit.
Because she's fourteen years old when she stands on a flattened street with a man with swampy eyes and feather hair resting his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. The rain is pouring down and death is still freshly imprinted on her soul and her hair falls into eyes, sticking to her face. She doesn't move to remove it, she doesn't move at all. She just stands there, cold April rain beating down on her.
On the muddy remains of heaven, flowers are the last thing on her mind.
.-.-.
The rain goes away- all things do eventually- and once again she stands on heaven, though this time lacks a comforting hand.
And the street is nearly the same as it was a month ago, sad skeletons of building swaying in the breeze. Swirls of dust poke through overturned brick and stone. Ghost patter along, minding their own business. Liesel blinks, begging them to leave her alone.
They do, leave her alone that is. However, they don't simply go away because they're an exception to that rule, you know, the one where everything goes away eventually? And this if anything, makes the Book Thief angry. Not sad, remorseful or any other related adjective you can think of. Just angry.
Because all April showers bring are May dust and grime. The only flowers are old, wilting early bloomers from April, resting on a row of graves nearby the destroyed street.
Because April turns into May and nothing changes, all is still shit for the bomb broken girl of Himmel Street.