The Flooded Station

Text 1: The Last Train Home, by Elian Ward

An original novel extract.

Rafi treated the closed station as if it had been hired for his birthday. He spun beneath the departure board, saluted the blank screen and announced that the delayed passengers were now citizens of his private kingdom. Mina remained beside the ticket barrier. While he invented new laws, she counted the exits.

‘First decree,’ Rafi called, climbing onto a bench. ‘All crisps are free.’ He bowed to the families gathered near the shuttered café, and a few children laughed. Encouraged, he produced a coin from his pocket, rolled it across his knuckles, dropped it, chased it under a suitcase and emerged with dust in his hair and triumph on his face. Even the adults smiled. For a moment, the rain hammering the glass roof became applause.

Mina was not watching him. Beyond the doors, brown water had covered the bottom step and was nosing along the next one, quietly testing the station. The lights flickered. An announcement began, broke into pieces and vanished.

Rafi’s coin stopped spinning.

His smile stayed in place, but it seemed suddenly too large for him. Mina unhooked the emergency torch from the wall and raised it above her head. ‘Everyone away from the doors,’ she said. Her voice was low, yet the laughter ended at once. Rafi climbed down from the bench. Without speaking, he stood beside her and held the torch while she checked the nearest exit.

How does Elian Ward use language and structure to contrast Rafi’s and Mina’s responses to being stranded?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.