English – Original Writing Coursework
GCSE English Original Writing Coursework
First chapter to a story
Audience:
Teenagers/young adults
Author: Shahid Islam
She was perched silently on the fortress wall, her long, dark coat billowing behind her like the wings of a dark angel. The browns and cold greys of the industrial sector sprawled out before her, the glow and safety of the city only barely visible on thehorizon. The embankment was steep behind her, but before her the old fortificationscreated a steep drop. Below, a stagnant river struggled to reflect the factories andbleak concrete buildings that bordered it. The dizzying heights didn’t seem to bother her as she sat there, her eyes fixed on the huge metallic citadel that dominated theskyline, her expression almost contemplative, and watched.A dark transit van, perhaps once black but now tainted grey with dust and grime,quietly pulled up at the bottom of the of the embankment. It was barely dusk, and thefog lights merely glowed in the fading light. There was a time when the caretaker would lock the park gates when it got dark, but there was no caretaker any more. Thetrees and grass had ended a while back, leaving just a dust track lined withcobblestones.The girl perched atop the fortress wall heard the gravelly sound of a vehicle pullingup somewhere behind her, and the slamming of a door, but it didn’t bother her. Sheappeared to be young – perhaps in her early or mid twenties – with unblemished skinand slight feminine curves. Her skin was smooth and pale, her hair dark and elegant- not quite black, and hanging to just below her shoulder. Most of it was tuckedbehind one ear, exposing her soft, youthful features to the twilight.The owner of the van was no longer in his vehicle. Not taking his eyes off thecreature perched on the fortress, he closed the van door behind him, and started topace up the embankment.The girl continued to survey the industrial sector. The place was dead, devoid of life,an abandoned maze of rust-clad factories, chimneys and water tanks. Electricitypylons towered over most of the buildings, and a network of overhead cables createda black web over the entire area. She sensed the man approaching, yet made nomovement to suggest that this was the case. She continued to perch on the highwall, with her coat no longer billowing, but rippling in the gentle breeze; her eyeswatching yet not really seeing, her mind being elsewhere.The man had almost reached the girl now. His hand delved into his jacket, and thenre-emerged, tightened around a heavy, matte-black metal object. He knew that shecouldn’t see him, but he was close enough to make out the details of her face: theslight flush on her smooth, pale cheeks, the way a few strands of flyaway playedabout her nose, the fullness of her lips. He switched on the Magnalite he hadretrieved from his pocket, but kept the beam of light pointed towards the ground.The girl’s attention turned to the man that she sensed approaching her. She couldhear the faint padding of his footsteps on the dusty floor, the displacement of air inevery breath he took. She could feel the warmth of his body and smell his sense of veiled trepidation. And she could hear the quickening beats of his heart, pumpinginside him.
