English Language paper 1 Q5

First paragraph

The world paused.

Stillness draped over everything, thick and heavy, as if time itself had taken a breath and held it. Not a leaf stirred. Not a whisper lingered. Even the stones beneath my feet seemed to tremble with quiet expectation.

Second paragraph?

Silence.

My eyes searched the scene, landing on a single, jagged crack splitting the ground. Small, almost imperceptible, yet it drew me in like a thread of hidden truth. Dust curled from its edges as sunlight struck, catching the rough surface and painting it with fleeting, fractured light. Every line seemed to carry a story—footsteps that had long vanished, lives etched into the memory of stone.

Third paragraph

I crouched closer, fingertips hovering above the scar. The cold surface pressed against the warmth of my palms, alive with secrets I could almost hear. A faint rustle of leaves trembled in the wind. A distant bird cried sharp against the quiet. The air smelled of damp stone, old smoke, and rain long gone.

Forth paragraph

Movement broke the stillness. The crunch of grit under my boots echoed, a hollow sound swallowed by the emptiness around me. Shadows shifted, stretching and collapsing across the cracked surface, and for a heartbeat I thought I saw shapes—figures half-formed, blurred by haze, as though the past itself had risen from the earth.

Fifth paragraph?

Light flickered over the scene, sliding across every detail: the curve of a fallen branch, the twisted remnants of metal, the quiet gleam of stone scarred by time. Each shimmer carried a memory, every shadow whispered a story.

Sixth paragraph?

The moment passed. Silence returned, heavier now, but no longer empty. The world held its breath, but I exhaled, feeling the tension leave my shoulders.

Last little sentence

The ground hadn’t changed. The crack remained, jagged and small—but I had.