Anne Frank's Missing Diary

Prologue

Everyone knows the story of Anne Frank and how she was taken to a concentration camp at 15. No one knows what happened there....until now. Madison Net is about to find out a secret that Anne left behind.

“Class, I know that you’re all excited about Spring Break,” Mrs. Ladile apprised the class. “I am as well.” It was 7th period, the last class of the day. In just five mere minutes, the bell was going to ring and then I would be able to say “Adieu” to Bangor High School for a whole week. No more classes, no more homework, no more teachers. Soon I would be on a plane to Germany to visit my Opa Bernt, who lived not too far from Berlin. (By the way, “Opa” means Grandpa in German.).

“I still can’t believe you’re going to Germany for Spring Break, Madison,” one of my best friends, Belle Tinton, told me. Belle was definitely the Class A book nerd. I mean, I was too- still am in fact- but Belle knew everything; at least, it seemed like she knew the important stuff. She had her brown hair tied into a bun with her green eyes fixated on the door, like me. Even though she was a book nerd, Belle would get stressed out about the work we did and she was just as excited about the vacation as I was; even if she wasn’t doing anything spectacular like me.

I smiled at Belle. “It’s not that big a deal,” I replied. “I’m just going to see my Opa.”

“I know, but you’re going to Germany for goodness sake!”

I sort-of tuned Belle out after that. I wasn’t trying to ignore her, but I was more focused on the clock on the wall. Tick. Tick. Tick. The second hand seemed like it was moving so slowly, like, it was trying to stop before reaching 3:00pm. Maybe time was trying to stop just to aggravate me. Still, I needed to have patience.

“Oh class, before you leave, I have an important announcement to make,” Mrs. Ladile enunciated from the front of the classroom. All 28 pairs of eyes- that’s right, 28 students- turned to the middle-aged History teacher, wondering what she was going to say just moments before the bell rang. “As you know, we’ve been studying WW2 and the Holocaust. Over Spring Break, I know you’ll all want to relax, but I would like all of you to do a little research for me.”

The whole class moaned at the same time. Of course Mrs. Ladile was going to spring a paper for us to do over Spring Break. I wasn’t too surprised, but I was still upset that she was deciding to inform us on the paper moments from the bell ringing. “I want you to do a paper on any part, or person, from World War 2. It can be on the Jews, the Germans, the military, Anne Frank-”

An inaudible sigh escaped me after Mrs. Ladile mentioned her. Anne Frank; probably one of the most famous young victims of the Holocaust. A young girl, who wanted nothing more than to have her story told to the world, got her wish. However, it was at a costly price; her life. Her life was cut short by the hatred of mankind, yet her story was able to capture the attention of millions of people all over the world.

I then continued to listen to Mrs. Ladile’s instructions; “The paper must be at least two pages, or longer, and must have at least three or four paragraphs, not including the introduction and conclusion. It’ll be due the Friday after Spring Break.”

Once she was finished, the bell rang through-out the school and everyone jumped out of their seats and ran out the door faster than cheetahs that had a whole cup of adrenaline. I calmly walked out of the room and made my way to locker 276, my locker. The whole time I was putting away my books, I thought about the paper. In a way, I was at an advantage for it, considering most of WW2 happened in Europe. Plus my Grandpa knew a lot about the war since his Father, my Uropa, my Great-Grandpa, served in the German army.

After putting my things away, I strolled out of the school and made my way towards one of the many yellow buses that were parked in front of the school. My bus was at the end of the line of buses so I had to walk all the way down towards it, passing several students who were either talking about sports, or talking about their vacation plans.

The bus ride home was loud and chaotic, like usual. The bus driver tried his best to block out the noise, but I could tell from seat twelve that he was getting ready to lose his mind. I had my book in hand as I heard the two people in front of    me, who were a “power couple” at the school, arguing back in forth. There something about the guy looking at another girl or something. I really didn’t pay attention. Luckily for me, my house was the first stop so I was able to get off before any “Mama Drama” started.

As I was getting off the bus, I noticed my Dad packing up the car with all these different suit cases. He was trying to squeeze his and Mom’s suit case into the trunk along with my brother’s suit case that was probably full of dinosaur toys instead of clothes like Mom told him to pack. The trunk refused to shut though, considering that all the content inside was not secured correctly.

“Hey Dad,” I greeted as I passed him and made my way up the porch.

“Hey Maddy,” Dad replied, using the nickname he gave me when I was a toddler. “How was school?”

“Good. Need help packing?”

Dad shook his head. “Don’t worry, I got it.” Somehow, the trunk was able to close and just when Dad was about to claim victory, the trunk snapped open and all the clothes and luggage went all over the drive-way. Dad sighed and just picked up the clothes, trying to figure out which pair of pants goes in what luggage.

I suppressed the urge to laugh and went inside to hear Jacob, my 10-year old brother, arguing with my Mom. “But Mom, why can’t I take all my video games?” Jacob whined. “It’s so boring at Grandpa Bernt’s house.”

“Now Jacob, there’s plenty of stuff to do at your Grandpa Bernt’s house,” Mom replied. “Besides, I don’t want you sitting inside the whole time we’re in Germany.”

Jacob murmured about it not being fair that he couldn’t bring his video games soft enough so Mom couldn’t hear him. Jacob was always on his video games, at any time of day, no exaggeration. He’d always play “Assassin’s Creed” or “Call of Duty” up until midnight on weekends.

I climbed the stairs to my room and went inside it to get all my stuff together. My suitcase was already filled with the basic things, except for a few odds and ends that were lying around. I placed my backpack onto the floor and then grabbed the rest of the things that needed to be added to the suitcase; my toothbrush, hairbrush, a pillow, etc.

After I finished up, I went to my bookshelf, trying to decide which books would make the voyage with me across the Atlantic to Germany. I was really debating whether or not to bring “Divergent” with me. Then I spotted a book with a young girl on the front. She was in a black-n-white photo with a big smile on her face. From just one glance, anyone could see the bright passion that burned in this young girl.

I picked up the book and opened it up to a random page. I skimmed the journal entry and sighed as I read Anne’s words. I could really connect with Anne Frank. She was just like any other girl; she had a best friend, a pet cat, crushes and admirers, trouble with a teacher, etc. If only….if only what? Anne didn’t get captured? Sent to a concentration camp? Tortured? Humiliated?...Dead? I just wish that I had gotten a chance to meet her, maybe ask her a few questions. 

“Maddison, are you almost done getting ready for the trip?” Mom called up from downstairs, knocking out of my thought.

“Yes Mom,” I replied. “I’m almost done.”

“Well hurry hon. We’re leaving in half an hour to go to the airport.

“Okay Mom.”

Without much thought, I took Anne Frank’s Diary and put it into my suitcase. Once it was zipped up, I went downstairs as I heard Dad cussing at the trunk for not closing all the way. 

So the rewrite begins. Please comment on what you think guys. Thanks!