The boundary stone

Source: an original fiction extract.

“The stone had stood between the two gardens longer than either neighbour could remember. When the surveyor's letter arrived, it said the boundary lay thirty centimetres to the east. Mr Doran read the measurement aloud at breakfast, then went outside with a tape. Next door, Mrs Shah was watering beans. He told her the news over the fence. She looked at the stone, the beans and the narrow strip of soil between them. 'I see,' she said.

For three days, they spoke only about the weather. The tape measure lay on Mr Doran's kitchen table beside the salt. From his window he could see the bean plants leaning towards the shared fence, their white flowers bright against the wood. He had never noticed how much of their shade fell across his own path. On Thursday, he found one of the long shoots curling around the boundary stone.

He called Mrs Shah over to discuss moving it. She brought a spade and the surveyor's letter. The letter was not hers; he had given it to her the day before because he wanted the facts to be clear. Together they measured from the drain cover as instructed. The new line ran through the corner of the bean bed. Mrs Shah said she would move the frame after the harvest. Mr Doran said the letter did not mention waiting.

She put down the spade. For a moment he thought she would argue. Instead, she asked whether he needed the strip for something. He had prepared several sentences about ownership, but none about use. Beyond the fence, her grandson was trying to tie a loose runner to its support. Mr Doran watched the boy make the same unsuccessful knot twice. Then he said the frame could stay until autumn. He picked up the string and showed the boy another knot.

They moved the stone in October. The beans were finished, and the bare frame came apart easily. Mrs Shah brought a bag of saved seeds and left it on the wall. Mr Doran thanked her, then checked that the new position matched the letter. It did. The following spring, beans grew on both sides of the fence. Their roots belonged to separate gardens; above the wood, their leaves were difficult to tell apart.”

Consider the whole source.

“Mr Doran becomes generous without giving up his concern for the correct boundary.”

To what extent do you agree? Evaluate how the writer presents these ideas, using evidence from the source. Consider your impressions and how the writer's choices influence them.