Unveiling the bridge Post 5 (pages 115-149)

Dr Eleanor came to our house when I was in the basement working on my bridge.  She came down to see me and the progress I was making on it.  She was amazed at the detail I was putting into and the number of matches that I cleaned and used.  Cause, every match had to have the phosphorus removed from it.  Dr Eleanor then began to question me about Andy.  How often do I see him and talk to him.  I tried to lie, but couldn’t.  I said I see Andy all the time, why.  Then Dr Eleanor asked if I was taking my meds – no I hate them they make me tired and sleepy.  I cannot sleep I need to finish the bridge.  She continues to ask me about the bomb threat.  Over and over she tells me that I put the coins in the phone and not Andy.  She tells me I know what happened to Andy.  She says Andy is dead.  I try and block it out but it is filling my head.  We started a fire in a vacant house.  I was carving our initials with a knife that Andy gave me.  When the fire got out of control we ran out of the house we got out together.  Andy even ran back in and got my knife.  I go into my box and get the knife.  But - -it isn’t the new shiny knife I had yesterday; it is a burnt pile of plastic and metal.  I said NO, Andy got out.  I saw him.  Dr Eleanor tells me that Andy went back in to get my knife but he never came out.  Andy died in that fire 4 years ago.  Dr Eleanor gave my parents a new prescription for medicine.  I tried not to take it, but my mom checks to make sure I swallow it every day.  I am not able to focus any more. I cannot count by 17s the way I used.  I hate this medicine.  I was now told that I will be sent to an all boys home and not be able to come home for the first 3 months.  I have 72 hours to finish the bridge.  It is November 17, supper time.  The bridge is just about finished.  My parents would like to come down for the unveiling.  I said I wanted to be alone.  I fill all the train cars with the phosphorous from the 20,400 matches that I cleaned.  The train starts.  Some of the teenage plastic boys jump from the bridge and die.  The town’s people are dying from too much smoke that is coming from the sparks of fire from the phosphorus falling off the trains and igniting.   The engineer makes the trains go faster, more powder is falling, faster and faster so fast one of the trains jump tracks.  Powder is everywhere the pink is mixing with the red.  I can feel the heat.  The basement ceiling in engulfed in flames.  …….. I’m then sitting in a wheelchair and Andy is at my side.  He says he will never leave me.  I notice the sign above Andy’s head.  Madham Hospital.  I know my grandpa is there, I wish I could find him.  Andy said he will never leave me.  We are together again.   

interragation Post 4 (pages 74-114)

The cops came to my house last night.  Mr. Haverman is accusing me of spying on Melissa.  Melissa says I stare at her all the time at school and she knows it was me in the tree.  I tell my dad that I was sleeping.  The policeman said that they could not file charges since they did not actually see the person in the tree.  Andy keeps telling me that I’m going to get caught.  The next day at lunch Freddie flings a meatball in my face.  The first one hit me but I was able to avoid the other ones, but the person at the next table was hit.  A food fight started.  I crawled under the tables and escaped the lunch room.  Freddie was calling me a pervert and saying I was spying on Melissa.  Freddie was sent to the office.  But after school that day Freddie and his friends met me on my way home.  They beat me up real bad.  I told the policeman that they were trying to kill me and that they should be put in prison.  That didn’t happen, because no one saw them beating me up.  When I was finally able to come back to school they changed my schedule.  I was now going to have to go to B lunch, no longer in Melissa lunch or calculus class.  I was upset at first, but now I can have lunch with my best friend Andy.  I left study hall and went and sat on the bleachers.  Andy came and sat with me.  He had an idea.  I went with him and when we got back to school all the kids were outside.  Some were saying a bomb threat others were saying a drill.  I imaged what the school would be like on fire.  The hot bricks and steel melting into slag.  My sigil was now showing intense flames in it.    After everyone was brought back into school, I was called to the principal’s office.  They are saying I called in a bomb threat.  No I didn’t.  They said I was seen leaving the school at 1:30 and sitting in the bleachers minutes later you were seen leaving the bleachers.  At 1:39 the bomb threat was called in.  The clerk at the store said they saw me on the pay phone.  Why would say it was only me Andy was there with me all afternoon.  I couldn’t take it anymore.  I yelled it was Andy.  He put the metal discs into the box.  As I was escorted out of school I saw Andy and told him I was sorry.  The interrogation didn’t end there.  My parents continued when I got home.   When they were done I went downstairs and continued to build my bridge.  I was hoping Andy would come by and forgive me. 

My bridge Post 3 (pages 51-73)

I am making a suspension bridge based upon the Golden Gate Bridge. Opening day will be November 17^th. I wrote a report about the bridge but my teacher said it was too much info. He makes little sense. Why would I want to cut out the specifics of the bridge out of my report? Everyone needs to know that I used 8,600 matches with the phosphorus carved off. I collect the phosphorus into jars. Other details of the bridge I listed were the exact materials I’m using for every part of the bridge such as using international orange which is the same color the golden gate bridge is. I’m making the deck by inter locking the matches like you would logos. Our neighbor Mr. Fuller came to talk to my father. He wants to know if I could move to another bedroom because he’s sick of hearing yelling at night. I don’t understand what he’s talking about, all I’m doing is talking to Andy every night. I had to go to my therapy appt. today no one was happy that I missed the last one. She asked if I had been taking my meds and every week I tell her yes. I have to lie but it’s a necessary one. She asked me about my bridge and I told her opening day will be Nov. 17^th. She asked me who was coming to the unveiling of the bridge and I almost said me and…but I stopped myself. She asked…who????? She knew who I wanted to say but I stopped myself. I told her about my art class and she wanted to see what I have been drawing. Show I sketched my latest version of the sigil. She wanted to know what it meant. I said nothing…I lied. But it did look like flames so I said flames. She then took my paper then put it in my folder. At 10:17 I went to Mellissa’s house again, while sitting up in the tree a light shines on me. A man yells for me to get down. But I scramble like a squirrel to get away. I zigzag through the trees and run all the way home. Andy tells me I’m going to get caught.

Melissa Haverman (pages 26-50)

She has blonde fine hair, green eyes; lips are shaped exactly the way you would imagine perfect pair of lips to be. On a scale of 1-10 Mellissa is a 9.7. I cannot stop starring at her in calculus but she doesn’t like it. She tells the teacher to make me stop.  Friday night football is going on. I find myself in the stands watching Andy play. But when he’s not playing I look down on the ground and see a rat take some garbage. I take my matches out of my pocket and one by one I drop them. The rats scurried away and came back. I dropped another match this time a bigger fire started and the rat didn’t come back. I was out of matches so I went home. In art class the teacher doesn’t seem to think I am drawing from the heart. What does she know I am perfecting my sigil. They don’t understand that you must perfect each line and the way you perfect it is by ding it over and over again. The art teacher made me put the sigil away and do something with clay. I did I flattened it and carved my sigil in it.

 At 10:30 at night I like to go to the green way or belt of trees by Mellissa’s house. I sit in the crotch of an oak tree looking at her window. I count in intervals of 17 until she turns her light on. At 9,520 her lights go on. I see her talking on the phone and it looks like she was saying the word worm like she could see me. But she doesn’t. Back in my bedroom I tell Andy about it. He says I’m going to get caught

All about me. Post 1. (pages 1-25)

Hey, my names Doug.  I’m 17years old. I’m working on building my own city mad from 22,400 match sticks, 208 plastic people, and 17 train pieces that I got from my grandpa. I can focus on one thing at a time, many other can’t do that. My best friend Andy and I built a tree house 4 years ago. We called it peanut woods because it was behind a Skippy peanut butter factory. One day when we were up there I carved our initials in the trunk. The tree house is no longer there because we burned it down but our initials still are. My father loves his suits he’s where them all the time even when he mows the lawn. Every tie he owns is red and blue striped. He is a professor and has written 14 books.  My mom writes crossword puzzles. Her puzzles are even in the New York Times. People at school call me a worm or a loaner and I don’t understand why. I am with my best friend Andy all the time. Andy is an awesome football player, has many friends and is liked by everyone unlike me.  Every Thursday I’m supposed to meet with Doctor Eleanor but it’s a waste of $95 an hour.