Many years after the Himmel Street bombings, after being a part of some of the biggest tragedies – the atomic bombs, 9/11, among other things – my curiosity soon got the better part of me. After several years, I finally decided to check up on the Book Thief. I found that she had lived her life as she always had – headstrong, breaking the rules, and with a heart of rubber, always bouncing back.
After marrying Klaus Bauer, another German with hark darker then hers and sea foam blue eyes, the two moved to Australia, and began their life together. Klaus stayed true to his family name, and became a farmer. Expecting a family, Klaus bought a big farmhouse, enough for as many kids they would like. Liesel turned one of the rooms into her sanction. She wrote many of her best-selling books in that room, including a few she just wrote for herself. After a few years together, they finally began to have a family, and by the time Liesel was thirty, her eldest child was eight, and her youngest was three.
First there was feminine and bold, Karla Annaliese Bauer, who looked more like a Steiner then a Bauer. I wondered if Liesel saw that too. Then there was Heidi Flora Bauer, another perfect German. I wondered how two dark haired people could give birth to such blonde haired-blue eyes girls, but surely enough, they did. Finally, there was Leon Ansel Bauer. He had dark eyes like his mother, but hair so light, you would have sworn you could see through it.
Liesel and Klaus wanted to teach their children all about their German culture. Heidi and Leon were proud German blood, but Karla went her own way. Nonetheless, all the kids had a thick German accent until they started their education at the local public school, where they learned their Australian accents.
Still, people grow, and Liesel's children grew too, having their own children. Let's start with little Leon, and his wife Emmeline. They had only two kids; Felix Ansel Bauer and Nina Ava Bauer. Heidi married Abel Smith, and had four kids; Alexander Abe Smith, Kaspar Alaric Smith, Elsa Crystal Smith, and finally, Sara Paige Smith. Then there was their eldest daughter, Karla. She had five children with her husband Alvin Jones. Sophia Paige Jones, Kai Jacob Jones, Max Wilhem Jones, Bruno Warren Jones, and Charlotte Estelle Jones. In case you weren't keeping track, that's 16 people, including Liesel and Klaus.
Ah, little Charlotte. She was the youngest of all the grand children, only seven years old. Still, why I could tell from her life was that it wasn't worth living. Leukemia had taken over her body, and instead of going to a public school, her mother homeschooled her from the hospital room. Liesel made a point to come out and see her several times a month.
However, before I can tell you the story of little Charlotte, I must give you the story of the first time I saw Heaven. It was also the first time Liesel saw Heaven. What I did not mention before is that I checked up on Liesel many times, whenever I could. One thing I don't get to do in my job is see where people end up after they die. I just lead them down the road, and destiny, or God, or afterlife decided their fate. I don't. One day, though, my questions were answered, as were Liesel's.
When I came to check up on Liesel at the age of thirty, she and I both got a shock. It was just like any other night for the Book Thief. She was brushing her teeth, preparing for bed, while three year old Leon was grabbing her hands and shaking it, insisting that she come read him a book. Liesel ignored his cries because she was used to it by now. She bent over to spit her toothpaste out, and when she looked up in the mirror… well, there was no mirror. In front of her was Heaven. Her face in the mirror became the face of a small boy, with eyes the color of her sons favorite blue Crayon and hair the color of lemons. Liesel could only stare at him, even as toothpaste drooled out of her mouth.
There was no words exchanged between young Rudy and grown Liesel. Instead, Liesel watched very slowly as his hand came through the mirror frame. His bunched up fist opened, and out popped a little silver circle with a yellow stone on it. Liesel looked at the small ring, and then back up to him. He insisted she take it. By this point, even little Leon was frozen, watching this strange man interact with his mother.
Liesel use her fingertips to pick up the small ring. It was a ring Rudy had been saving, but he died before he could give it to her, so instead, he gave it to her from Heaven through her mirror. After she took the ring, and he gave Liesel one last look into her eyes, and he disappeared. Liesel longed for him to come back, but realized it must have been her imagination. However, the ring that was placed just above her wedding band said differently.
From that point on, every time she walked past that mirror, she would look into with a morning look on her face, just praying that eventually someone else would come through and speak to her. Whether someone came through or not, both mine and Liesel's questions were answered; there was a Heaven, and they were all waiting for her over there.
Now, I shall continue on with my story of little Charlotte, the seven year old with her life stolen from her. I'm not really sure how to start, so let's begin with the day that could break anyone's heart; the day she told her grandmother about Heaven.
Liesel was sitting on her hospital bed as Charlotte colored on a big piece of paper. She had every color of Crayon's imaginable, because Liesel wanted to make sure that whatever came from Charlotte's heart, she could draw it. Karla insisted it was ridiculous, but whenever Charlotte would sit on her bed and look at all her pretty colored Crayons, Karla would have to just let it go.
This particular day, it looked like she was only drawing clouds. She drew her grandfather, who had died the year before. In case you were wondering, Klaus died from a heart attack at age eighty nine. That was really all that Charlotte knew that died, so she began drawing people whom she heard about from her grandmother; Hans, Rosa, Isla, Rudy. She had never seen what Rudy looked like, but she drew him anyway. Like any seven year old, she wrote their names with arrows pointing to them.
Sick little Charlotte looked up to her grandmother. Liesel thought she saw death in her eyes, but I was only standing next to the bed.
"Grandmother?" she asked.
"Yes?" Liesel asked softly.
"What do you think Heaven is like?" Charlotte asked. Charlotte knew she would be going there eventually, and she just wanted to know that if she did, she would be safe.
Liesel peered at Charlotte's picture, and softly removed from her granddaughters grasp. She looked at the drawing, happy, shocked, and sad that her seven year old granddaughter had drawn such a thing. Her family, her best friend, her ex-husband, all in one picture… well, would be ex-husband. He died before it was official.
"Is this Heaven?" she asked Charlotte. The little girl nodded her bald head, anticipating what her grandmother would say next.
Liesel had always been good at touching people's hearts. Whether it was the heart of an old man who took her in as his daughter, or a strange she had never met that happened to pick up her book, she always left a mark wherever she went. She didn't believe that it was right to tell a child who was sick that they were going to die, but she felt that she could at least say something that would help ease Charlotte's mind.
"Do you want to know a secret?" she whispered to Charlotte. For all of her grandkids, 'Do you want to know a secret?' was like a code to say 'I am about to tell you something great'. Charlotte smiled and sat up in her bed. Liesel leaned in too.
"I saw Heaven once," Liesel said. Charlotte's eyes widened.
"You died?" she asked. I would have laughed, but I was afraid that if I did, it would have been too loud, and the jig would be up. Liesel chuckled and shook her head.
"Nein, this boy right here," Liesel said, pointing to the boy marked 'Rudy'.
"He came to me, long, long before you were born. He came to me through my bathroom window, just to give me this ring," Liesel said, slipping off the tiny yellow-stone ring off her finger. She held it up for her granddaughter to see, and with the same expression and carefulness that Liesel had when she first saw it, she picked up the ring with her two little fingers. She held it in her hand and looked at it questioningly. Was this ring really in Heaven? Liesel felt that in heart, what she was about to say would go against her own rule to tell Charlotte was going to die, but she felt that Charlotte knew it already. So, she just said it.
"Charlotte, I refuse to say that you will die before I do. The universe doesn't work like that. Grandchildren do not die before their grandparents. Besides, I constantly have a foot in the grave. I am very, very old, you know? I will surely pass away soon. You however, your future is a little more flexible. Still, if it will make you feel better, I will give you one piece of advice," she said. She pulled out her mini-photo album out of her purse, and pulled out a picture for Charlotte.
"If you die before I do, you look for this boy. I know he is in Heaven, and I know he will protect you, and he will make you happy. He had many sisters, some younger then you. He will take care of you," Liesel said. She handed Charlotte the only picture she had left of Rudy, and watched as little Charlotte scanned through the picture.
"This is Rudy?" she finally asked.
"Ya, this is Rudy. He will protect you, I know he will," Liesel said.
"Promise me you will look for him," Liesel added. Charlotte's eyes began to water. It wasn't because she was scared of dying. No, she cried because she thought about her parents after she died. She had seen how her mother reacted when her father died, and she did not want such a thing to happen when she died.
"I will grandmother, if you promise that you'll take care of mum and dad after I die," Charlotte said. Liesel was crying real tears of sadness; another young soul being taken away from her, but she tried to keep it together, they way she always had.
"I promise," Liesel replied. They hugged each other a cried, and Liesel gave Charlotte one of the last kisses she would ever give her.
Charlotte died on a stormy Australian night. After years of fighting for her life, everyone, including Charlotte, agreed that it was no point for Charlotte to be fighting for her life anymore. The youngest of Liesel's grandchildren slipped away while Liesel held her hand. Charlotte's soul practically jumped into my arms. She wasn't scared of dying, now that she knew what to do. She held the picture of Rudy in her hands, and I watched as Liesel slipped a note very subtly into Charlotte's hands as well.
After I sent Charlotte on her way, I felt for the first time, a real need and want to see where she ended up. I am never saddened by someone dying; it's how the universe works. I did, however, want to see if she really found Rudy. Rudy was always such a character, and seeing Liesel's and Rudy's relationship built up to the moment he died was very entertaining for me. I simply felt it was unfair that after taking people's lives, I never get to see where they go. I begged the universe for a chance to just see where Charlotte would go, and to know if she found Rudy.
The universe granted me that wish.