IGCSE Paper 2 Writing Practices

Where The Fireflies Dance (Descriptive)

It was about 200 feet above ground but she kept climbing ーsweltering in sweat as she struggled to move another arduous step towards the steep, rocky hills. A round semi-circle of the sun, with the vast wilderness lying silently beneath, becoming dark silhouettes in the skies painted with an apricot-purple hue. The orange prominence of the sun lightened her face that wrinkled and creased like a folded map. Her short, smokey-grey hair, illuminated in a serene white, glowed softly like fairy's wings while her staff slipped off the crumbling rocks. Her hands trembled; it was strenuous. And yet there she was, hunchbacked and climbing slowly uphill.

She's always alone. Normally, she'd let her cat laze upon her laps as her old, rocking chair slowly sways them into sleep. The sunlight will seep through the transparent windows and rest its hands upon them like a caring mother. The cool evening breeze will kiss their cheeks, as she glances upon a picture, framed with old serrated wood, of a young couple smiling radiantly like sunlight. 

However, the gentle sunlight was now shrouded by a grey blanket; and the blissful breeze into a forceful army that stormed its way against her. Never had she heard the wind howledーwarning the coming night in cold gushes. The mountain is slowly rippling with the wind, where her hair, her clothes, and the grassy field she stood on bowed and billowed. She had arrived. And the world has suddenly fallen into a deep sleep, where the winds finally rested and all she could hear was her tiring breaths. She looked up, pushing her way carefully through the tall serrated grasses pointing proudly towards the skies. Stars like dazzling little diamonds winked playfully at her. Upon a minuscule fragment of light was a firefly, its orange fire radiated passionately as it dances swiftly towards a wiry tree, which stood conspicuously in the fields.

There was a spark. And another. Then another. Until the tree and the fields were surrounded by fireflies dancing on their star-studded stage. Like ballerinas, they choreographed their joyous dance in an unfelt current; and for an instance, they were stars. The starry skies above seemed to gasp in disbelief when they saw these fantastical stars that only dwell on earth; yet only exists in the now.

She began to smile. Never did she think she'd be back here again. Where they met each other when they were still reckless teenagers. As if it's a dream, that familiar figure reflected in her eyes; only in her eyes. Still ever the same where he'd smile under that wiry tree; where he'd say that sentence.

"Ready to dance?"

(438 words)