Right, well I've never written anything for The Book Thief before, so don't be surprised if this turns out terrible ... Also, some things might be wrong because I gave my copy of the book to someone else to read (and she most likely won't, she never reads anything) so sorry! So let's just say that this is my version of the ending of the book.

Liesel stumbled onto Himmel Street. Except it wasn't Himmel Street. It was a smoking place with no houses, no pavements, no children playing football on the road. It was a lonely place full of dirt and rubble.

The LSE officer followed her, completely shocked by her being alive. He followed her warily, holding out his hands in front of him just in case she fell.

"Mama," Liesel said, surprisingly clearly. "Where's Mama?"

The LSE officer held his breath cautiously, hoping she'd figure it out for herself so he wouldn't have to tell her what had most likely happened to her mother.

That was when Liesel saw the remains of her parents lying in the middle of what was apparently Himmel Street.

"Mama. Papa," she mouthed, taking a hesitant step forward. Then she ran to them, sobbing because what she knew was true and screaming because of what she wanted to be true.

When she reached her foster parents, her knees gave way and she fell down beside them, crying yet still shouting incoherently.

She looked at her Mama. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open, as if I had taken her in the middle of a snore. "Mama," Liesel whispered, touching her face. "Mama, you were beautiful. Goddammit, Mama, you were so damn beautiful." Her voice broke the two times she said 'were'.

"Mama," Liesel said, her voice trembling. "Mama, I saw you . . . I saw you when Papa was gone. I saw you with the accordian, Mama."

She kissed her cheek and turned to her papa, not daring to look at him as it would all become believable then.

"Papa, I should have asked you to teach me how to play. Thank you for everything. Thank you for letting me roll your cigarettes, thank you for playing the accordian for me, and thank you for teaching me how to read."

I stood over her, looking at her foster father when she would not. His silver eyes had rusted and were open. I think he knew what was coming. He was smiling. He was ready.

"Mama . . . Papa . . . I love you both so much." Liesel murmured, playing with Mama's hair.

Then, a couple of yards away, she saw two LSE officers dragging some bodies out of what was once the Steiners' house. She saw them drag a small body that could easily be a skinny, lemon haired boy.

"Rudy." She said loudly, standing up. Then she tried to shout out to him but her voice broke, and his name came out as a whisper. She ran towards him, but her legs failed her on the way and she scraped her bare knees. She got up again and this time made it to where he lay. The LSE officers walked away, letting her do whatever she had to do.

"Rudy, wake up. Goddammit, Rudy, wake the hell up. Rudy! Rudy! Just wake up, Rudy, just wake up."

When I saw her grasp his scrawny shoulders and give him a hard shake, I had that rare (extremely rare, mind you) feeling. Maybe it was because I knew her. Because I had seen her more than this one time. But I felt .. empathy. I felt like I, too, had lost my mama, my papa and my best friend and God only knows who else. I felt like there was a big hole inside my body, a hole that would never, ever go away.

So what I decided to do was very risky indeed. I decided to play with death, play with nature. By right, Rudy should be dead. He was dead. But I would give him back his soul, just to see what would happen. Maybe his body was gone beyond living, which was fair enough. But I would try. I would try to save Rudy Steiner.

I slowly bent down to place his little soul back into his body. As I pressed it in, I felt Liesel shudder beside me, as if she felt me next to her, reaching across her.

I stood back to watch the magic (if there would be any).

A cough. Then another. And another. Then a gasping, choking sound. I felt a sinking feeling low in my stomach. I had done the wrong thing, hadn't I? I let him live, but in pain. He was in pain. Was it not better to leave him dead but at peace?

"Saumensch?"

She was sobbing into his chest, and hadn't realized my gift to her. How long that gift would last, I didn't know.

"Ru - Rudy?"

"Liesel, why are you crying?"

"Can't you see? Himmel Street is gone. My mama and papa are dead. I thought - I thought you were dead . . . I . . . "

"Liesel, stop. Please. Himmel Street is not gone. Your mama and papa are not dead. Neither am I. It's . . . It's just a bad dream, that's all."

Staring into his earnest eyes, Liesel found herself believing him. No one was dead, and this was just a bizarre dream.

"Okay," she whispered. "Okay."

"Liesel . . . will you kiss me now, Saumensch?"

Liesel studied his pained face. It was only a dream. Where was the harm?

As her lips met his, I smiled to myself. It had been worth it. I knew that that was what Rudy wanted. And I watched him close his eyes in happiness, and they never opened again.

Liesel pulled back. "Rudy!" she cried, shaking him. "Come on, Rudy! Come on, Saukerl!" She cried and cried and cried. And I stood over her, watching her heart break.

It was just a dream. Until she woke up and everything came crashing down on her. "You lied to me, Saukerl," she said ruefully, teasingly. It was her way of coping with everything. "You lied to me." Her tone was bitter now. "It's not a dream. It's real life."

Then Liesel realized that Rudy was always more than just a friend. They had a bond that went far beyond friendship. And her foster parents weren't really her foster parents. They were her real parents. Liesel had never cried as much for her biological parents. Hans and Rosa Hubermann were a completely different kettle of fish.

And Rudy .. Liesel loved her brother, but found, not without sheer horror, that she loved Rudy even more. As a brother, yet more than a brother at the same time.

They were Liesel's real family. As I picked up her little black book and walked away, her cries and screams echoed in the back of my head. She called for Hans and Rosa mostly. But then there would be a chorus of Rudys. It was too much to take in for a child. It was plain cruelty.

As I'm sure you remember, I never said I was nice. But life isn't fair. Neither am I, but I'm pretty sure Liesel would much rather be dead and with her family and those she loved than alive and left alone.

The one that was left behind.