The bakery’s last morning

Text: an original contemporary personal-account-style practice extract.

At closing time, the brass bell was already in a drawer. Its little clapper lay beside it, still as a dropped comma. I had spent the morning beneath that bell, moving trays from the back room to the counter while the bakery’s last delivery failed to arrive.

The first customers came in expecting their usual loaves. The baker checked the empty shelves, then the clock, then the road beyond the steamed-up window. Nobody complained. A woman in a green coat offered to telephone the driver; a boy held the door while the baker carried out the remaining rolls. The queue began to behave less like a queue and more like a team with no appointed captain. Someone found a crate. Someone else brought out paper bags. The bell kept announcing each arrival, bright and brisk above our improvised arrangements.

Just before noon, the van turned into the street. There was no dramatic rush: only a collective exhale, followed by the scrape of crates across the floor. When the last customer left, the baker took the bell down and wiped a clean circle from the dust on its shelf. I had thought the day would be remembered for what was missing. Instead, I remember how many hands appeared before anyone had asked for them.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to interest and engage the reader.

In your answer, consider:

• language features and techniques
• structural techniques
• the effect on the reader.

Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.