Page 471 - The Book Thief

THE END OF THE WORLD (Part I)

Again, I offer you a glimpse of the end. Perhaps its to soften the blow for later,
or to better prepare myself for the telling. Either way, I must inform you that it
was raining on Himmel Street when the world ended for Liesel Meminger.

The sky was dripping.

Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasnt quite managed.
The first drops were cool. I felt them on my hands as I stood outside Frau
Dillers.

Above me, I could hear them.

Through the overcast sky, I looked up and saw the tin-can planes. I watched their
stomachs open and the bombs drop casually out. They were off target, of course.
They were often off target.

A SMALL, SAD HOPE
No one wanted to
bomb Himmel Street.
No one would bomb a
place named after
heaven, would they?
Would they?

The bombs came down, and soon, the clouds would bake and the cold raindrops

would turn to ash. Hot snowflakes would shower to the ground.

In short, Himmel Street was flattened.

Houses were splashed from one side of the street to the other. A framed photo of