The Torn Page

Text 1: The Narrow Sea, by Miriam Vale

An original short story extract.

By six o’clock, Leena had twenty-three minutes before the curator returned. On the table lay the atlas page, the paste brush and three strips of backing paper, arranged in a line as straight as soldiers. Her hands moved in the order she had practised: test the paste, lift the corner, smooth from the centre. Beneath its white covering, the page seemed less like an object than a patient waiting for an operation.

She had nearly finished when one loose thread caught beneath the brush. It held fast. Leena eased the handle backwards, no harder than she would pull a hair from a sleeve, and the page gave a sound smaller than a breath.

It tore.

Not much. Enough. A white fork now divided the blue of the printed sea. Leena stared at it until the edges blurred. She could lay the final strip over the damage. Once the page was inside the dim exhibition case, who would notice? Who would even think to look? Her fingers had already reached for the paper when she heard her teacher’s voice, calm and irritatingly clear: Record what happens. Repair what can be repaired. Never make one pretend to be the other.

Leena drew her hand back. She opened the logbook and wrote down the time, the place and the length of the tear. Nineteen minutes remained, but she no longer watched the clock. She trimmed a narrower strip, slid it beneath the split and lowered the brush once, twice, then a third time, following the broken line until the two sides rested together. The tear had not disappeared. A pale seam crossed the printed sea, visible only when the page caught the light. Leena left the logbook open beside it.

How does Miriam Vale use language and structure to present Leena’s changing response to the damage she causes and to shape the reader’s judgement of what she does next?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.