The bench beside the gate

Text C: an original fiction extract.

Leena had arranged for a bench to be delivered to her aunt's garden. Her aunt, Mara, had recently moved from a large house into a small bungalow with a narrow strip of grass and an old wooden gate. Leena wanted to make the new place feel less like a reduction. From the far end of the garden, a gap in the hedge offered a view across the roofs towards the hill. She selected that spot before the delivery van arrived.

The driver placed the bench where she indicated. Leena brushed a little dust from the seat and took a photograph. The hill rose neatly between two chimneys. Her aunt would be able to sit facing something larger than the small garden. Leena sent the picture to her mother, who replied that it looked lovely. She did not notice that the path from the back door ended several steps short of the bench.

Mara came outside carrying two mugs. She stopped on the path and looked towards the far corner. Leena hurried to explain the view. Her aunt asked whether they could try the bench beside the gate instead. There, it would face the pavement and the bins opposite. Leena thought she must not have seen the gap in the hedge. She pointed again, tracing the outline of the hill with her hand.

“I can see it,” Mara said. “I also know where it is.”

They sat in the far corner to drink the tea. The grass was uneven beneath their shoes. Mara held her mug while Leena watched for a sign that the scene was working. From the pavement came a greeting which neither could answer before the speaker had passed. It was the woman who had helped Mara find the right bin collection day. Leena had seen her wave but could not remember her name.

Her aunt explained that the gate was where people stopped for a few words. The postman had told her about a local walking group. A boy from two doors away sometimes showed her drawings through the slats. At the old house, the kitchen window had faced the road. She had lost the ordinary knowledge of who was passing, not simply a bigger garden. The bench would be more useful where a conversation could begin without somebody coming to the back door.

Leena wanted to say that a good view was also useful. It was, and her aunt had not denied it. That made the disagreement less comfortable: nobody needed to prove the hill unimportant for the gate to matter more. They set down the mugs and checked where the bench could stand without obstructing the path or the gate's movement. With help from Leena's mother, they moved it into the agreed place.

The new photograph contained a drain cover and part of the bins. It also contained Mara leaning towards the gate while the neighbour explained the name Leena had forgotten. Later, Leena sat beside her aunt and watched a dog investigate the same patch of pavement for several minutes. The hill remained behind them, perfectly available if they turned around. Mara asked whether Leena would like to stay for lunch. For the first time that morning, Leena answered without suggesting another improvement.

You are Leena. Write your journal entry that evening about the bench and your visit to Mara.

In your response:

• describe what you hoped to achieve and why you chose the first position
• explain what you learnt about Mara’s priorities and your own assumptions
• reflect on the move and what you would do differently when offering help

Base your response on Text C, developing its ideas in your own words. Write about 250 to 300 words. Up to 10 marks are available for reading and up to 10 marks for writing.