The Boy in the Basement

Chapter 24

When I woke up Christmas morning, Liesel was shaking my shoulder. "Wake up, Adeline."

"What's wrong? What is it?" I rubbed my eyes.

"You have to come downstairs. Mama made breakfast! Also, it's Christmas!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of bed. Still half asleep, I went downstairs into the kitchen. Liesel was right - Mama had been cooking up a storm, I could tell.

"You're certainly cooking a lot." I said as I began to help her.

"We needed something exciting for Christmas, do we not?" She said. "And... I just figured it would be nice for Max. He gets so lonely downstairs, I figured he would like this."

I smiled. "You finally have a soft spot for him, Mama. Last year you didn't want him around at all."

"Well, a person kind of grows on you when they have a happy, kind personality like he does." She looked down. "He's part of the family now, I have to admit that."

"I'm glad you finally like him." I said. We finished cooking the rest of the food, and Liesel and Papa joined us for breakfast. The two of them had gone out to get a newspaper, and Papa told us the unfortunate news on the front as we ate.

"Stuttgart was bombed 2 days ago." He said. "It wasn't too bad, but... there were a few deaths."

"So it's beginning..." Mama muttered.

"Didn't Max live in Stuttgart?" Liesel asked.

"I believe so." Papa said.

"Hans, what if it happens here?" Mama asked. "What would we do?"

"Well, we have a basement, don't we? We could survive." Papa said. But it was clear he even had his doubts. Since America got involved in the war, there had been a few similar situations when places got bombed. I felt Liesel take my hand, and I looked over to see that she looked terrified. She even had tears in her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry." I squeezed her hand.

"I don't want anything to happen." She said, her voice wavering. "I don't want to lose you, or Mama or Papa or Max."

"You're not going to lose any of us." Papa said. "We have the basement, as I said. We're safe, Liesel, I promise you that." Liesel nodded, but that fearful look never left her.

"Hey, why don't we bring some of this down to Max?" I said softly to her. "I'm sure he would love some food."

That brought a small smile. "Ya, lets do that." Liesel got a plate ready, and we went downstairs. Max was apparently just waking up.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." I said with a smile.

"Good morning." He replied. "Something smells good."

"It's breakfast." Liesel said with joy. "Mama and Adeline made it, and we thought that you would want some." She handed him the plate.

"This looks wonderful, thank you." He took a bite. We both sat down next to him. "Do either of you have anything planned for today?"

"All the Himmel Street kids are having a snowball fight with the next street. It's going to be the biggest one yet!"

"That sounds like fun." Max commented. the 3 of us talked for a while, and then Liesel went out for that snowball fight. "She certainly seemed happy." 

"She was. It certainly was better than 20 minutes ago."

"Why?" It was then I realized that maybe I shouldn't tell Max about Stuttgart. That was his home.

"Well, um... America is involved in the war, right?" They bombed Stuttgart." Max looked down and was silent for a moment. I waited  there with baited breath, to see how he would react to the news.