The Short Blue Edge

Ages 12-15

Esther cuts three arches from a strip of blue paper. She lays them above her map of an imaginary town.

The arches look like the bridge she has drawn across the river.

She puts a small pencil dot at the bottom corner of the map, where the two sides of the blue border will meet.

"Do you want me to make some too?" Raizy asks. "We could finish the border together."

"Thank you. I'll do it."

Esther holds the sample against the side of the map. Blue arches all the way around, with one at each corner. She has enough paper.

Raizy goes to the next table.

The class has half an hour to finish its displays. Esther has already drawn the houses and written the street names. Only the border remains.

She cuts another arch.

The thin paper between it and the next arch tears. She puts it aside and starts again.

The next one works. Esther lays it beside the first three.

There is still nearly a whole side to fill.

At the next table, Raizy is holding a ruler while another girl draws a line. They turn the large sheet together and begin the other side.

Esther cuts two more arches. One has a flat top.

She looks at the classroom clock. Fifteen minutes are left.

"Raizy, could you help me with these now?"

Raizy lifts her ruler off the paper.

"I can't now. I said I'd help here until the bell."

"Oh."

"Show me the map when it's finished," Raizy says. "I want to see where that bridge goes."

Esther carries the strip back to her desk.

She sets the six arches along the top. They leave a gap before the first corner. The other three sides have nothing.

She tries spacing them farther apart. Now the little arches do not make a bridge. They make six separate humps.

The girl at Raizy's table asks her to check a measurement. Raizy bends over the ruler again.

Esther gathers the arches into a pile.

She takes a fresh blue strip, turns it white side up, and draws one straight line. She cuts along it without stopping for arches.

The plain strip fits beneath the town's name. It is too short to reach either side of the map.

She centers it and glues it down.

At the bell, Raizy comes over.

"Where does the road go after the bridge?"

Esther points across the river.

"Past the mill. Then behind those houses."

She holds up the map. Its corners are bare.

Esther gathers the unused arches with the scraps and carries her map to the display table. Beneath the short blue edge, the pencil dot sits alone at the bottom corner.