Podcasts 175 and 177 - Never Go Back

hotel stairwell

Part 1 - Story starts at 8:54

Part 2 - Story starts at 8:05

Notes for Part 2

There are occasions that you're ready to leave in your car for the weekend, or for a holiday, and then at the last moment, you realise you've forgotten something: the beach towels, toilet bag or your sun hat. When I have gone back, things often happened I didn't want to happen. For instance, you meet a chatty neighbour you haven't time to speak to, you fall over the doorstep an hurt your leg because you're in a hurry, or you get to the door and find out you've left the house key back in the car... This story is about going back, and the terrible things that happened...

Part 2 of my short story for B1 learners of English - Never Go Back. I'll look at the vocabulary I used, related to suspense.

Benjamin looked up, shocked at this unexpected and rude behaviour.

Why all this unfriendly behaviour, when this morning the hotel staff he had met had been so kind.

Her face looked sour and unfriendly.

‘Your card, sir,’ she said. But her look was cold.

He felt anxious and confused.

Benjamin left the room angrily and walked to the lift.

…the whole world had gone mad.

Benjamin became annoyed.

A face with fear written across it. (I forgot to mention this one in the podcast. 'Fear' the noun of 'afraid'. Notice the collocation ‘fear written across her face’ = she felt very afraid.)

The doorman gave a shout and fell two or three steps, his sunglasses sent flying.

He fell badly and screamed in pain…

There are two words I will explain so you can better understand the scene on the stairs. In most European hotels with several floors, there are stairs used usually only in emergencies, for example, fire - the fire escape. They are built in a spiral going from one floor to the other from the top to the bottom floors (se picture above). In the middle of this spiral, there is a big drop or space going all the way down – this is called a stairwell.

Stairs have a construction you can hold on to so you don’t fall off them, this is called a handrail.