IGCSE First Language English 0500, October-November 2023 Variant 3 – Paper 2, Question 5.

Prompt: Write a story with the title, ‘Out of reach’.

Essay:
The air hung heavy with anticipation, as if the very atmosphere of the old library was holding its breath. Sarah, her heart a galloping steed in her chest, reached for the ancient manuscript that perched just beyond her fingertips on the topmost shelf. It was a relic rumored to hold the key to untold powers, secrets that had eluded the most renowned scholars for centuries. The ladder beneath her swayed precariously, a wooden serpent coiling with menace, yet her focus remained unshaken, riveted on her elusive prize.

With a daring stretch, her fingers brushed against the tome’s spine, a whisper of contact that sent a shiver down her spine. The manuscript teetered, a heartbeat away from tumbling into her waiting arms, when a shadow loomed over her, snatching the victory from her grasp. The book, along with her dreams, was pulled out of reach by a figure shrouded in the mysteries of the past.