The Green Door

Text 1: Candidate Twelve, by Safiya Denham

An original short story extract.

Through the green door, someone was playing the final passage of the piece. Each note arrived clean and bright, as straight as a line drawn with a ruler. I looked down at my own music. Its corners were soft from use and one page had been repaired with yellowing tape.

The waiting-room clock clicked above me. It did not tick: it clicked, sharply and separately, cutting the minute into smaller and smaller pieces. I checked the first line of music. I knew it. I checked the difficult passage on the third page. I knew that too. I checked the first line again.

The music beyond the door stopped. A chair shifted. Low voices murmured, followed by a silence that seemed to lean into the waiting room. The previous candidate emerged smiling, violin tucked neatly beneath one arm.

‘Candidate twelve,’ called a voice.

That was me.

I stood. The metal legs of my chair barked against the floor, and every face turned towards me. My bow slipped from my fingers, bounced once and rolled across the room until it touched the examiner’s shoe. Nobody laughed. Somehow, that was worse.

How does Safiya Denham use language and structure to show the narrator’s anxiety while waiting to audition?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.