The Name Beneath the Bridge

Chapter 1The Strong Span

Dovid's class made paper models for the school display.

Dovid had suggested a bridge over a blue paper river.

Yanky designed the folded supports. Meir measured the deck. Dovid drew the river and fastened the teacher-approved pieces while Rebbi supervised.

After several practice tries, the bridge stood straight on its base.

Rebbi placed a blank maker card beside it.

Dovid wrote his own name neatly across the card.

He had thought of the bridge first.

Yanky read the card.

"Where do our names go?"

"It was my idea," Dovid said.

Meir held the ruler they had used for the deck.

"I measured this part. Yanky made the supports."

Dovid looked at the space beneath his name. There was room for more writing, but he had already made his letters large and centered.

"I put it together," he said.

The boys stopped talking about where to place the bridge on the display.

Rebbi came to check the model and its card.

He asked who had done which part.

Dovid described his river and fastening. Then he described Meir's measuring and Yanky's folded supports.

A practice deck lay beside the base. Without the supports, it sagged into the paper water.

Dovid remembered their first bridge doing exactly that.

His idea had not folded the supports or measured the finished span. The other boys' work was standing right under his large name.

"We all made it," Dovid said.

Rebbi supplied a fresh card. The boys agreed to write their three names in the same size.

They added one short line describing each contribution.

Dovid did not erase his part from the story. He also did not let it cover the others.

Yanky checked that the support line was accurate. Meir checked the measuring line.

Rebbi read the card before approving it for the display.

During the supervised display, a visiting teacher asked how the bridge stayed up.

Dovid began, "Yanky folded those supports."

Yanky explained the shape using the spare paper sample Rebbi had approved.

Meir pointed out how the deck had been measured to meet both supports.

Dovid showed the river beneath and explained the fastening.

The visitor looked at the model again.

Now the answer described a bridge the three boys had actually built, not one name doing everything.

After the display, Dovid apologized for leaving the other names off the first card.

"I wanted the idea to count," he said.

"It does," Meir answered. "It isn't the only part."

Rebbi helped pack the model safely.

Dovid kept the agreed card with it. The spare deck went into the approved scrap tray.

The bridge still had his blue river beneath it. Beneath the title, it now had all three makers' names.