Down Is Easier, by Gilbert Rowse

An original short story extract set in the twentieth century.

The van said LOMAX AND DUNNE on one side and DUNNE AND LOMAX on the other, because in 1946 they had tossed a penny for it and the penny had rolled into a drain. Fifteen years later they were still arguing about which side should face the street.

‘Mine today,’ said Patrick Dunne, reversing up Arlington Road with one arm out of the window.

‘Yours every day,’ said Stan Lomax. ‘Since you took over the driving.’

The job was a piano, an upright, black and enormous, belonging to a Mrs Feld on the third floor who had decided at eighty-one to live on the ground. ‘Down,’ Patrick said cheerfully, looking at the stairs. ‘Downhill all the way. Gravity is on our side, Stanley.’

Stan said nothing. He took the bottom end, as he always did, because he was the broader of the two, and they began. On the first landing Patrick talked about the Arsenal. On the second he talked about his daughter’s wedding. Stan answered in grunts, and on the turn below the second landing, where the stair narrowed, he stopped answering at all.

‘Stan?’

‘Hold it.’

‘I am holding it.’

‘Hold it more.’

Patrick braced his shoulder against the wall and took the weight. For a long moment neither of them moved. The piano hummed faintly, some string inside it disturbed, and Mrs Feld’s voice floated down from above asking whether everything was all right, boys.

‘Grand,’ called Patrick. He lowered his voice. ‘Your back.’

‘It’s nothing.’

‘It’s been nothing since Easter. I’ve watched you get out of the cab.’ He shifted his grip. ‘Harrow’s rang me again. Thursday. They want a foreman for the Kentish Town depot.’

Stan looked at him over the top of the piano. Then he looked at the stair.

‘You’d be good at it,’ he said at last.

‘I would,’ Patrick agreed. ‘I told them no.’ He nodded downward. ‘On three, I’ll come round your side and we’ll walk it down together. Slow. Like a pair of old women at a funeral.’

They walked it down together. It took twenty minutes. At the bottom Mrs Feld gave them tea in her new front room and a slice of honey cake each, and played them a waltz, badly, on the piano that had not, after all, been damaged.

Outside, Stan stood by the van for a while, looking at the side that faced the street. DUNNE AND LOMAX, it said.

‘Leave it like that,’ he said.

What impressions does the writer create of the relationship between Stan and Patrick? How does the writer create these impressions?

You must refer to the language and structure used in the text to support your answer, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.

Down Is Easier, by Gilbert Rowse

An original short story extract set in the twentieth century.

The van said LOMAX AND DUNNE on one side and DUNNE AND LOMAX on the other, because in 1946 they had tossed a penny for it and the penny had rolled into a drain. Fifteen years later they were still arguing about which side should face the street.

‘Mine today,’ said Patrick Dunne, reversing up Arlington Road with one arm out of the window.

‘Yours every day,’ said Stan Lomax. ‘Since you took over the driving.’

The job was a piano, an upright, black and enormous, belonging to a Mrs Feld on the third floor who had decided at eighty-one to live on the ground. ‘Down,’ Patrick said cheerfully, looking at the stairs. ‘Downhill all the way. Gravity is on our side, Stanley.’

Stan said nothing. He took the bottom end, as he always did, because he was the broader of the two, and they began. On the first landing Patrick talked about the Arsenal. On the second he talked about his daughter’s wedding. Stan answered in grunts, and on the turn below the second landing, where the stair narrowed, he stopped answering at all.

‘Stan?’

‘Hold it.’

‘I am holding it.’

‘Hold it more.’

Patrick braced his shoulder against the wall and took the weight. For a long moment neither of them moved. The piano hummed faintly, some string inside it disturbed, and Mrs Feld’s voice floated down from above asking whether everything was all right, boys.

‘Grand,’ called Patrick. He lowered his voice. ‘Your back.’

‘It’s nothing.’

‘It’s been nothing since Easter. I’ve watched you get out of the cab.’ He shifted his grip. ‘Harrow’s rang me again. Thursday. They want a foreman for the Kentish Town depot.’

Stan looked at him over the top of the piano. Then he looked at the stair.

‘You’d be good at it,’ he said at last.

‘I would,’ Patrick agreed. ‘I told them no.’ He nodded downward. ‘On three, I’ll come round your side and we’ll walk it down together. Slow. Like a pair of old women at a funeral.’

They walked it down together. It took twenty minutes. At the bottom Mrs Feld gave them tea in her new front room and a slice of honey cake each, and played them a waltz, badly, on the piano that had not, after all, been damaged.

Outside, Stan stood by the van for a while, looking at the side that faced the street. DUNNE AND LOMAX, it said.

‘Leave it like that,’ he said.

What impressions does the writer create of the relationship between Stan and Patrick? How does the writer create these impressions?

You must refer to the language and structure used in the text to support your answer, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing

Question 46

Markscheme

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing

Question 46

Markscheme

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing

Question 46

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing Questions

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing

Question 46

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing Questions