Thought I'd try my hand at The Book Thief fanfiction. I'm nowhere near as good as Markus Zusak (to whom everything belongs), but this wouldn't get out of my head. Italicized parts are taken from page 548.
Enjoy!
Reunited and Safe
A man with swampy eyes and hair like feathers stood in front of the pile of debris that used to be 33 Himmel Street. The October air swirled around him as he stared at the place he spent so much time hidden away, now unrecognizable.
"It was bombed," a man said. Max turned and saw him, old and sad, standing not too far behind him. "Himmel street was destroyed. There was only one survivor."
Only one survivor.
Max couldn't help but hope. He tried not to; he felt guilty doing so, but he couldn't deny the seed blossoming in his heart.
Hope does that. It grows inside you, and there is no pesticide for hope.
"A little girl," the old man said, and the world went away as Max's whole being filled with one wish. He closed his eyes. "She was in the basement," he heard, yet the words sounded far away. His ears were rushing, he could hear his heartbeat accelerating. "It was a miracle. She lives with the Mayor now, I think. Sometimes she works in the tailor shop – Herr Steiner lost his family that night, as well, you see, he was in the army when it hap—hey!"
But Max was already running. He stumbled, over rocks and rubble, dashing to the end of the street. His eyes were fixed on the sign above the building he was quickly advancing upon. He slowed as he approached the shop, trying to catch his breath.
At last he stood not five feet away from the door. He stayed there for many long minutes, gathering his thoughts, and, I suppose, his courage. Finally, he opened the door and stepped inside.
"Is there someone here by the name of Liesel Meminger?" he inquired, tentative.
"Yes, she's in the back," the man answered, looking at him with a strange expression. "May I ask who is calling on her?"
Liesel came out.
They hugged and cried and fell to the floor.
The word shaker and the strange, small man, reunited and safe