The late supper
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
Clara set her father’s supper beside the fire, although the church clock had already struck eight. She assured her younger brother that the market road was perfectly safe. As she spoke, she folded a cloth into neat quarters. When her brother looked away, she opened it and began folding it again.
The wind pushed smoke down the chimney. At every scrape of a branch against the window, Clara raised her head. The clock announced another quarter-hour, each chime seeming louder than the last.
A knock brought Clara to her feet so quickly that her chair fell backwards. Their neighbour stood outside, holding the scarf her father had worn that morning. He said that he had found it beside the bridge. Clara thanked him in a steady voice and closed the door carefully. Then she gripped the scarf in both hands until her knuckles grew pale.
Analyse the development of Clara’s fear from the opening paragraph to the final image. Explore the writer’s language and structural choices, supporting your ideas with evidence from the passage.
In your answer, you should consider: