The Last Handle

Ages 15-18

Zevulun rolls a wooden button between his fingers.

Ovadia puts his schoolbag on the classroom bench beside him. A corner of his old sketch sticks out of the front pocket.

"We cleared the model table yesterday," Zevulun says.

"Your house?"

Zevulun nods. His thumb covers the button's two holes.

"The roof came off first."

Ovadia pulls the sketch halfway out.

"Mine went in the rain. The window was open. Water got under the roof and split it right across."

"Mine didn't break. I took the roof off. Then the upstairs rooms."

"I still have the drawing," Ovadia says.

His sketch shows the house before the rain, with a small porch and two windows under the roof.

"I couldn't even pick mine up," Ovadia says. "The bottom stuck to the table."

Zevulun puts the button on the bench between them. A thin circle of brown paper is stuck to its back.

"The last part was the handle."

Ovadia keeps hold of his sketch.

"From the front door?"

"Yes."

Ovadia slides the sketch into his bag. He pushes its corner below the pocket's edge.

Zevulun picks up the button again.

"You could turn it and pull. The door opened."

"What came off after the rooms?"

"The back wall. Then the two sides. I had all the furniture in a box already."

Ovadia rests his hands on his knees.

"The front wall stayed up by itself," Zevulun says. "I stood it on the bench while I put the other pieces away."

He sets the button down, paper side up.

"I closed the door. Opened it. Closed it again."

Ovadia looks at the paper circle.

"Then I took the front wall down. The door was still on it."

Ovadia's bag shifts against his elbow. He moves it to the floor.

"I peeled the handle off last," Zevulun says. "A little bit of the door came with it."

He touches the paper with his thumbnail, then leaves it there.

Zevulun turns the button over. He puts his thumb beside the holes instead of over them.

"The hall was this wide."

He sets two fingers apart on the bench.

Zevulun moves the button from the space in front of his fingers into the gap between them.

"And the door opened this way."