The new drawer in the shop

Text C: an original fiction extract.

Ada found the new drawer beneath the printing-shop counter on Monday. Her father had fitted it during Sunday afternoon, when she had gone to see a friend. Inside lay three pencils, a clean ruler and a label with her name in his careful capitals. He said her drawings would no longer have to share a drawer with invoices. She thanked him and put the envelope from the city art school beneath the ruler.

The school had offered her a place on its illustration course. She had applied in March without telling him. Every evening since the reply arrived, she had intended to explain, then helped count orders or carried paper from the storeroom instead. The acceptance had to be sent by Wednesday. At home, her father spoke about buying another cabinet for the shop. At work, customers told her she was lucky to have a trade waiting for her.

On Tuesday, a regular customer collected invitations decorated with Ada's small drawing of a pear tree. He said he hoped she would design his daughter's wedding cards one day. Her father smiled and told him that she had always noticed the shape of things. Ada looked towards the drawer. It seemed ungrateful to say that noticing shapes was exactly why she wanted to leave. She spent the afternoon drawing a border for a shop notice with so much care that it took twice as long as it should.

Before closing, her father asked for the ruler. Ada fetched it and the art-school envelope slid onto the floor. She picked it up too quickly for the movement to look ordinary. He asked whether it was bad news. She said no. Then she gave him the letter. He read the dates first, then the fees, then the paragraph about a room in the student house. He asked how she would pay for the journey and what happened during the holidays. Ada had prepared an argument about being allowed to go. She had not prepared answers to all the questions which assumed she might.

He sat on the low stool beside the counter. He had imagined her designing more of the work here, he said. Ada said she could send drawings from the city. He looked at the invoices, then at the pear-tree invitation waiting to be wrapped. That would not be the same as having her in the shop. She agreed, although agreement felt dangerously like a promise to stay. The bell rang, and they both stood as though a customer had rescued them from a difficult order.

That night, Ada worked out the train fare and wrote to the student house. Her father left the shop keys beside her breakfast plate the next morning. She would need to lock up while he visited a supplier. Under the keys lay a stamped envelope addressed to the art school. He did not mention it. Ada put her acceptance inside, then folded a separate sheet for him. There were things she could explain better without the shop bell giving either of them a reason to stop.

You are Ada. Write the letter you leave for your father beside the shop keys.

In your response:

• explain why you want to take the illustration place and why telling him was difficult
• explore what his different actions and questions have meant to you
• explain how you hope to manage the change without pretending nothing will change

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.