The paper kite
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
Ada’s kite had gone over the orchard wall just before dusk. She could see one red corner caught high among the branches. Her brother had already gone back to the house, but Ada climbed over the low gate and stepped between the trees.
The grass was wet against her shoes. Beyond the first row of trees, the kite’s paper clicked softly in the wind. Ada stopped. Something moved behind the shed. She told herself it was only a branch, then heard the sound again: a quick scrape, followed by silence.
She took a few more steps. The orchard seemed larger now that the light was fading. The shed door stood open by the width of a hand. Ada reached for it, then drew back. A small shape shifted inside, and a thin, uneven sound came from the darkness.
‘Is someone there?’ she asked. The sound came again. Ada pushed the door wider. A young bird had tangled one wing in the kite’s string. It beat against the floor, making the loose latch rattle. Ada crouched and held still until it stopped struggling. Then she eased the string away, knot by knot.
The bird hopped to the doorway and disappeared into the hedge. Ada looked up. The kite still hung in the branches, but she no longer hurried towards it. She stood listening to the leaves settle, then walked back across the orchard with the broken string looped in her hand.
Evaluate how successfully the writer creates suspense and changes the mood of the passage. In your response, consider how the setting and sounds affect Ada, how her feelings change when she discovers the bird, and how the ending shapes your response.
456 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.