Shmuel was waiting for Bruno when he arrived, and for the first time ever he wasn't sitting cross legged on the dust beneath him but standing, leaning against the fence.
"Hello Bruno" he said when he saw his friend approaching.
"Hello Shmuel", said Bruno.
"I wasn't sure if we'd see each other again—with the rain and everything", said Shmuel.
"Did you bring the pyjamas?" said Bruno.
Shmuel nodded and handed Bruno the pyjamas through the fence. Bruno undressed himself and put on the filthy striped pyjamas, picked up the shovel and started to dig a hole under the fence. Shmuel and Bruno looked at each other in the eye and smiled for the first time without a fence in between them.
"Okay. Let's go and find your Papa", said Bruno.
The two boys ran off, and headed to the cabins to find Shmuel's Papa, hoping they might be able to find him in there.
"Papa?" Shmuel exclaimed scaling his eyes around the room, before a loud whistle goes off huddling all of the people out of the cabin towards the gas chamber. The Nazis jammed all of the Jews into the gas chamber. Bruno covered his mouth, and stood at the back of the room. He tucked the collar of his new striped pyjamas over his nose, and turned towards the door. The room was tightly sealed, but Bruno felt as if he could open the door if he tried hard enough. He tugged on the sleeve of Shmuel's pyjamas and pointed. He nodded. Shmuel looked even more pale than he had when he walked in.

Leaning against the door, Bruno remembered those things in the back of his closet that were his, and were none of anyone else's business. He was sure that Gretel had found them, and that if he returned, she would smear it in his face that he had secret things, and that she had found them. This inspired Bruno to push harder, and he did. Soon, Shmuel was helping him push. He heard a creak. The creak turned into a whine. The whine turned into a squeal. The squeal turned into a burst. He was out.

He didn't even think about closing the door, but took off in the direction he thought he had come after he crawled under the fence. The mud was cold on his feet, and he suddenly wished he had his too-tight shoes, his trousers, his button down shirt, and his tie.

"Shmuel," he said, running as fast as he could, and he knew that his friend was also nine therefore he should have been able to keep up with Bruno. He didn't hear Shmuel say anything, but he kept running, thinking Shmuel was just concentrated on running, and found it difficult to do more than one thing at once.

The fence came into view, and Bruno wondered if Shmuel really was behind him. He would need someone to hold up the fence, so he could roll under. Bruno turned around and Shmuel was no where to be found. He ran back to the gas chamber hoping to find Shmuel on the way, but he was no where in sight. He arrived back to the gas chamber and saw many men lying on the ground, as they were not able to escape as fast as Bruno did. At the end of the gas chamber, he saw a little nine year old boy, laying on the ground. That little boy was Shmuel.

-By Inika Byford