The gap beside the trainers

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

Before our three-day school trip, I packed until the suitcase lid rose like a hill. I had included everything on the list, but I had also added another jumper, two notebooks and a hardback book. Closing the zip required both hands and one knee.

My cousin Nia packed beside me. Her clothes occupied only part of her case, leaving a strip of empty space next to her trainers. I told her she had forgotten something. Without arguing, she handed me the school checklist. Every item was ticked. “The case has to come home too,” she said.

On the final morning, we had less than twenty minutes to pack. Nia placed her muddy trainers inside a carrier bag and fitted them into the space she had left. She also had room for the folder of work we had completed. I had to remove my unread book and carry it separately on the coach.

Of course, an empty suitcase is not automatically a well-packed one. Spare space would have been useless if Nia had left behind her coat or toothbrush. What impressed me was that she had checked what she needed before deciding what she did not need. The gap was not evidence of careless packing. It showed that she had planned for the journey to change what she would have to carry.

Evaluate the writer’s success in presenting spare space in a suitcase as evidence of careful planning. Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.

You may wish to consider how the two suitcases are contrasted and what happens on the final morning.