From the future, narrator Charlie Reade begins to tell a story he is sure “no one will believe” (6).

Charlie is born in 1986 in the town of Sentry’s Rest. The same year, the rickety wooden bridge over the local Little Rumple River is replaced by a new steel bridge. On a rainy evening in November 1993, Charlie’s mother goes to the convenience store to pick up dinner, crossing the “goddam bridge” (9) on the way. As she walks back across the bridge to return home, a plumbing van begins to cross the bridge. When the driver sees her, he brakes and skids on the ice, crushing her against the railing and killing her.

After his wife’s death, Charlie’s father develops an alcohol addiction. Although he is just seven years old, Charlie learns to take care of both himself and his father. Outside of school, he hangs out with Bertie Bird, “a good friend who is also a bad friend” (24). Charlie and Bertie get into trouble often before Bertie moves away.

Several years after the accident, Charlie’s father loses his job. Although he’s not religious, a desperate Charlie prays for a miracle, promising to do something good in return if his father recovers from his alcohol addiction.