The chimney sweep

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Tom waited beside the cold hearth while his older brother Will worked his way up the chimney. Above him, the brush scraped over bricks and soot tapped into the grate like dry rain. Each scrape meant that Will was still climbing, and Tom released the breath he had been holding.

Then the scraping stopped.

Tom stared into the chimney. Silence pressed down the dark passage. “Will?” he called. There was no answer. The black opening seemed to widen. His fingers tightened around the rope attached to the brush, and he imagined Will trapped somewhere far beyond his reach.

A cough burst from above, followed by fierce scratching. “Loose brick,” Will’s muffled voice called. “I’m coming down.” The regular scrape moved steadily closer until a boot appeared in the fireplace. Tom laughed and let the rope fall. The cough was rough and ugly, but to Tom it was the finest sound in the house.

Analyse the ways in which language and structure present Tom’s changing fear.

You should consider:

• the descriptions of the sounds
• what happens when the sounds stop and begin again.

Support your answer with references to the passage.