Not Leaving {The Book Thief}

5

                        Rudy's POV
  I woke up choking on dust. People walked around, herding children into a farmers wagon. "Son, how old are yah?" An old man asked me. "16", I lied. I've been saying this since I was 13, since I am quite tall. "Well I suppose you can care for yer' self then, eh?" I nodded and sat up to add to my point. The man walked away. The sirens stopped half an hour ago. I ran towards the shop. "Liesel I'm back! Liesel!" Max crawled from behind the counter. "Liesel isn't back, wasn't she with you?" I ran my fingers through my cropped hair. "We were seperated. Shortly after I lost her a bomb dropped a street away from us." I released a single sob. "There were people all around us, collecting the dead, taking people to safety." I remembered the man who asked my age, he would have taken me away if I had admitted my age. But Liesel wouldn't have known to lie, she wouldn't have had a reason to. "Max, I think Liesel has been taken away. To a house for children." Max rested his elbows on his knees. "I woke up when. A bomb dropped not far from here. The sirens stopped so I ran in here, to make sure the shop was still standing." I sat down beside Max. I no longer felt jealous of him. He was Liesels brother of sorts. "I can ask around, try to find someone who knows where the nearest home for children is." Max nodded and wiped his tears.

   The next morning people were roming the streets in great numbers. Few people still had a house. I asked around if people knew where a orphanage is nearby. Some people said as close as Munich, others said as far as Luxemburg. I returned to the shop to eat the bounty of apples I had picked with Liesel the other day. Was that really yesterday? The book. She didn't bring her book. I grabbed an apple and sat in the pallet. I pulled the book from the cabinet. I have never enjoyed reading but perhaps this will bring me closer Liesel. I opened the clean white pages and devoured the first chapter. "Liesel, you would love this. It's about a boy who has no family but he simply lives in a beautiful land, full of pirates and mermaids. There aren't any Hitlers or Bombs." I said aloud. Max stared at me with a sad smile. "You love Liesel, don't you?" I turned scarlet. "I've loved her since she arrived here 5 years ago." I replied. "I have never been in love myself, I've barely even read about love. But when I see love I can't help but smile. And you and Liesel make me smile." I looked down at the clean white pages of the book and closed it. "Max, tonight we can begin our journey to Munich. People told me there was an orphanage there." Max exhaled loudly. "If they find me they will take you too." He said. "If can find you a hat, and you a blade to shave with. You will blend in marvelously." Max pondered for a few minutes. "Liesel is definitely worth the risk, isn't she?" He replied at last. "Of course she is!" I yelled. "I guess you have some errands to run, Rudy."

   I happened across a newsboy cap already in the shop. "Halfway there already!". I walked down the street to an odds and ends shop I had visited often when I was much younger. Luckily it was still light outside and all the shops were still open. "Guten tag, Herr Schultz. Do you have any razor blades?" The old man peered at me over his spectacles. "Ah, little Rudy Steiner! It has been years! Now why would you be needing a blade?" Think Rudy, think! "Um, like you said, it's been years. I might be needing one soon. I just happened upon a silver piece and thought why not." Old Herr Schultz with his fading memory and vision believed me or at least pretended to. "Well your in luck little Rudy Steiner, I just got some yesterday." I handed him the silver piece but he shook his head and folded my hand over it. "It was payment enough to see you." I smiled at this kindness I wasn't used to. I spotted a jar of red candies, like the one me and Liesel shared so long ago. "Herr, can I use the money to buy a few pieces of candy? He reached into the jar and pulled 4 pieces. "Don't eat them all at once!" I ran down the street, eager to get Max cleaned up and get to Liesel.

   As soon as I got to the shop I trusted a looking glass and the blade at Max. "Hurry! It's almost completely dark!" Max cleaned up well and looked like a proper German man. "You look great, now let's get going." We walked down the road as casually as we could turning and laughing, to give the illusion of us being care free. We walked past a group of German soldiers. I elbowed Max. "Heil Hitler" We said in unison. The soldiers nodded at us casually and echoed us.

   We had just reached  Munich when sirens sounded. "Where are the shelters around here?!" We followed a flow of people. The shelter in Munich so much more crowded than the one in Molching. "Max, do you think Liesel could be here!?" I yelled over the noise. "She very well could be! Let's look around." We walked the outside perimeter of the shelter found no Liesel. "Let's split up." I told Max. I saw many blonde haired girls but not a single one had Liesels face. I heard someone screaming my name. I turned around, doing a quick 360 of the room. I saw a quick flash of Liesels face. I ran in her direction. She was right here. Right on front of me. I heald her close in my arms. "Liesel, I Lo-" But then the sirens stopped. Everybody started streaming out of the room. A group of girls grabbed Liesel and swept her away from me. The brief period with her in my arms gave me great joy and now I know for sure that she is here in Munich. Max ran over to me. "I couldn't find her I'm sor-" "I found her! She was swept away by the crowd. But she is here in Munich!"