Matthias Oreklein’s Blog

In a way, it was destiny… I had never really given much thought to how I was going to die, or even the idea of death itself.  Why the sudden interest, I know not, but all I knew is that the first moment you realize that you have the power to kill someone is a scary feeling.

It all started the day I got my learners permit.  I know, a weird place to begin such a tale but either way, this is the truth.  My father and I walked out of the high school and he handed me the keys to our semi-brand new car.  The glossy red finish was so alluring, I couldn’t stand it.  I turned to see him smile as I opened the door.

“Now be careful,” counseled my father as he climbed into the passenger seat.  “Now let’s take a time around the block just to see where you are in your driving skills.  To see if these driver’s ed teachers know anything.”

I agreed and backed out of the parking space.  I turned around and drove out the parking lot onto a fairly empty road.  I looked left, then right, then left again and pulled out.

“Good job,” whispered my father, “I’m impressed.  You were always so timid.  It looks like you’ve become braver.”

I nodded and took a left when instructed.  The highway was fairly clear and the speed limit was fifty, so I revved the engine and accelerated up.  This car was a lot more powerful than the driver ed car!  My eyes were wide with amusement, then the thought graced my ming:

“Kill your father…”

I froze.  It wasn’t really a voice but more so the thought that if I wanted to I could simply turn the wheel slightly and probably kill us.  I finished around the block and my father was slightly impressed.

“You did it better than I thought you would have,” he sang.  “Of course, the key to being impressed is low expectations.”

“In a way that’s really reassuring,” I replied trying to get my mind on anything but that foreboding sense of power.  I was scared.  How could I hold a human life in my hand’s so delicately and gently.  It was absurd to want such a thing.  It’s not the power or the responsibility that frightened me, but the actually thought that I had thought was even more frightening.

In a way, I guess it was destiny.  It’s not that I can control what comes into my mind, but I can ignore what I don’t want there…

(Author note: so what did you think?  Please leave feed back in the comments.  Criticism (positive), relation, and anything else will be accepted.  Original prompt: http://afinemuse.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/the-book-thief-by-marcus-zusak/)

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