What is life?

(the book thief movie still)

What is life? you may ask. Well, I may be the last person on universe to answer that. But I decided to take a leap of faith.

I have spent centuries trying to figure out human life, yet it still puzzles and haunts me. What I can do is, tell you a story of someone I could never forgot. That way you may get an idea of, what it means to live.

The first strike of a spear, first blood shed of a brother, wonders of kings, Evil of dictators, love that poets shared, first kisses and lasts, Birth of deities, Philosophers, I’ve been with them. And as no one lives forever, I kissed them all. But the story I’m about to tell you, is about a girl who lived. Forever? you may wonder.

She was a little girl, with blonde hair, eyes of a deer and heart of a wolf. She didn’t look like much, not more than a scared rabbit. Even though I tend to stay away from the living, sometimes I can’t stop thinking about who were left out. And Liesel, was a survivor. When someone decided ‘to be a communist’, is a crime, she lost a father. Her mother decides to run away with her and the little brother. It was the first time I saw her, I had to take the 06-year-old boy, it was time. And I promise you, he was playing with his father with a smile in that last dream. Then her mother left her too, maybe she shouldn’t have, but she had to. I almost forgot; the story began when the book thief picked up the grave digger’s handbook.

When Liesel finally reached Heaven Street, Hans and Rosa were waiting for their new daughter. Even though Rosa was wrapped in a thunder within days Liesel knew she has a big heart just like Hans. Rudy, the yellow haired boy, knew that heaven street met their little angel. I knew he is full of love, the moment the boy asked her for a kiss.

While she was learning the art of words, someone else was fleeing for his life, as someone has decided that ‘to be a Jew’ is a crime too. I remember the moment vividly. Fear, Love, Guilt, Relief and a loud heart beat was there that night with Max. And even when he finally came to me, he was still haunted by the moment which he had to left his loving mother.

As Max mentioned later, humans are nothing without words, and ideas. The book thief stole the second book from a pile of burned books. And was exploring the new found world. Sure, Max saw her curiosity just as Hans saw it. I think meeting Max opened new doors inside her mind. And of course, the ability to see a mesmerizing world which no one has ever saw. This one time, I came to see Max. But as I was early, I waited in that basement while Liesel was diving into new stories every day, the book thief had started to steal from the mayor’s library. You could see the desire in those glittering eyes while she reads to Max.

‘He reminded people of their humanity.’ Max says as another Jew was taken away. The bitterness humans had shaped the world since a long time, I thought to myself. When they think they are winning a war, a conflict, they weren’t, they were riding right into my arms. They don’t understand all that rushing and pumping of the blood, that passion for blood and aggression, doesn’t matter. Liesel knew that, they took care of a lost Jew, then lost him, why went through the trouble? ‘Because that’s what people do.’ She answered. Well, that’s what people should do.

While hundreds of frightened souls were hiding in a basement, one Jew thanked God for the starry skies that he could see that one night. See it’s about accepting, acknowledging and grasping the very moment you are in. What is life? I suspect he knew.

Liesel was a survivor, and she knew many stories, a ghost of a boy who waited in the shadows for her sister, a yellow haired boy who pursuing his friend’s treasure, a tall boy who believed in hatred and burning books, a man that was with a child’s soul, a woman who loved her child, and of course a Jew who said good bye while walking into a dark alley.

I came for the third time, for time had come for many. It was said no one wanted to destroy a little place called Heaven Street, but was a mere mistake. Then again, I was amazed to see the book thief among all the rubble, holding Rudy in her hands, and crying. And just as he rolled into my arms, the book thief kissed the boy.

When I finally came for Liesel Meminger, the book thief, after decades, she had stolen many hearts with her own stories. I knew that she had lived her life knowing what it is to be alive. When I finally took her 90-year-old soul into my arms I was still in that train, with a little girl who is sleeping, next to her brother, dreaming.

'I'm haunted by humans' said Death.