Forty-Five Seconds

Text 1: The White Line, by Idris Bell

An original short story extract.

Malik had forty-five seconds to release his vehicle. If the display reached zero while it was still on the worktable, his score would be recorded as no run. Across the hall, the scoreboard showed SURI — 18.2 SECONDS. Beside MALIK there was only a white dash.

He turned his vehicle upside down. A strand of carpet fibre had wound itself around the front axle, tight as fishing line. Above the noise of the hall, the announcer began the countdown.

‘Thirty seconds.’

Advice flew towards him from every side — pull it, cut it, leave it — but Malik heard only the tiny scrape beneath his thumbnail. He pinched the fibre, drew it out a fraction and twisted. It slipped back.

‘Twenty seconds.’

He tried again. Pinched. Drew. Twisted. A red crescent appeared beneath his thumbnail. The fibre lengthened, loop by stubborn loop, until it came free and lay across his palm.

‘Ten seconds.’

Malik dropped the vehicle onto its wheels. The front one still leaned slightly inwards. Five. He pressed the switch. Four. The motor coughed. Three. He placed the vehicle behind the starting line. Two. He released it.

It jumped sideways, shuddered and then shot forward. Malik ran beside the table with both fists closed, leaning towards the machine as though his whole body could pull it onwards. The white finishing line rushed beneath its wheels. On the scoreboard, the dash beside Malik’s name began to flicker.

How does Idris Bell use language and structure to show Malik’s determination to win the competition?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.