Our story - part X (whole group work)

In the message Pablo said that he'd had a great time with Alejandra the night before and asked if he could call her later that day.
But he had some bad news.
"I need to go back to Chile," he said. "I'm so sorry, but the government phoned me with some emergency. I would like to see you again before I leave Ireland."
Alejandra wanted to see him as soon as possible, so she ran out of her apartment. And she was surprised to see that he was sitting on the steps of her apartment block.
He stood up, looked deep into her eyes and asked if she would like to go with him to Chile.
"When?!" she asked surprised.
"Now. I can't stay here any longer. The government has booked the ticket for me for tomorrow. And... I've booked one for you."
He put his hand in his pocket and took out two tickets. On one of them she saw her name.
Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't say anything. She only took his hand and they walked together down the street.

Our story - part IX (by Deima)

When Alejandra came back home, it was already quite late, and although she needed to get up early the next morning, she couldn't fall asleep. When she went to bed, her mind was still whirling with thoughts of the time she had spent with Pablo. They exchanged phone numbers, of course, but they didn't say anything specific, like if they will ever call each other again. 

Alejandra really liked Pablo. She saw him as a mysterious, powerful but also a very lovely and warm-hearted man. She wanted their friendship to continue. She was even grateful to fate for the horrible situation that she had experienced on her arrival to Dublin. The fact that she got to the hospital at that terrible night seemed like a happy coincidence, because there Alejandra met the man of whom she now couldn't stop dreaming. And here her thoughts were broken by the sound of a received text message. Then she realised that she had fallen asleep and it was now the next day's morning. And when she read the text, a big and happy smile appeared on her beautiful face. She said to herself, 'This day started wonderfully!'

Our story - part VIII (by Zsolt)

However, Alejandra could still feel physical and mental pain, and the face of the remorseless monster was in front of her eyes, but at that moment she was able to forget all about it. She hoped that what started between her and Pablo didn't happen because of the alcohol. They really enjoyed each other's company, so the time passed by quickly and, sadly, they soon had to say goodbye. Alejandra's classes were early in the morning, and Pablo had to continue with his internship in the hospital - it was his last week there. And even though it was Alejandra who invited Pablo for dinner, he insisted on paying the bill. Afterwards, he took her hand and walked her to the taxi. Alejandra thanked him for the great night and they kissed once again. Then she went home.

Our story - part VII (by Johanna)

Alejandra was happy when her problems with the cruel man ended. Pablo took good care of her when she was in hospital. And the Gardai informed her that the man who had tried to kidnap her had serious mental problems and a previous criminal record.

Pablo was from Chile, and he was currently ending his hospital internship. He helped her to find a bedroom and contacted the English school which she had booked a course with. Alejandra was grateful to Pablo for everything that he did for her.

Alejandra started to go to her English classes, and she wanted to celebrate her first quiet week in Dublin. She invited Pablo to go to dinner. They were in an Irish restaurant and they talked all night. After a few glasses of red wine, he kissed her.

Our story - part VI (by Bart)

One of the Garda officers asked Alejandra, "What happened?" but she couldn't explain the situation because of her lack of ability to speak the language. The officer also noticed that she was injured, so he took her to hospital. When finally the doctor, Pablo, came to see Alejandra’s leg, they were able to understand each other as they spoke the same language. The doctor put a bandage on her leg and gave her some pain killers. The officer asked the doctor to translate the whole of Alejandra’s story. Afterwards, Alejandra was taken to the police station again to write a report on the crime and then she was taken to a hotel. The next day she was informed that Gardai found the man responsible for her misery.

Our story - part V (by Beata)

In this particular moment she came to realisation that she had nobody to turn to for help. Suddenly, another thought crossed her mind that she had left all her personal belongings in the man’s car.

But the lost wallet and passport weren’t her biggest worry at her present situation as her life was at stake. To her horror, the pain in her injured leg became unbearable to the point that she had to stop. Fortunately, the lights behind her back were gone. Now, she could take a better look at her leg. Thank God the injury which initially had seemed serious turned out to be only superficial. She managed to break into a run again. She passed a few crossroads and a long row of houses with forbiddingly black windows. The whole surroundings looked as though the place had been deserted.

She continued her feverish run until the moment she spotted some lights in one of the buildings. She couldn’t believe her eyes as what she saw was a Garda station. She stormed into the reception room screaming, ‘Help me!’

Our story - part IV (by Tomas)

The naive girl didn't notice that the man looked very ghastly. There was an ugly scar on his face and one of his eyes was blood red. His teeth were very dark and looked like they'd never seen a toothpaste. She also started paying more attention to his dirty, covered in sores and tattoos hands. He looked very scary. At that moment Alejandra understood that she was in big trouble, so when the car started slowing down, she opened the door and jumped out. And then she started to run like she'd never run before, flying through the fields in the dark, dark night. But after a few moments, she was lighted from behind by the car that was driven by the remorseless monster. Alejandra felt a stabbing pain in her leg, injured when she'd jumped out of the car, and she was terrified, but she didn't think about the injury because the surviving instinct told her, "Run, Alejandra! Run faster!!!"

Our story - part III (by Noelia)

The car was very old, dirty and very dark. It had tinted windows and only two uncomfortable and squeaky seats. It felt strange and cold inside. And the odour was disgusting. Alejandra tried to open the window, but the man took her hand back, looked at her with cold eyes, and said, "This is impossible, lady. The windows are always closed. I don't like when the sun comes in."

Alejandra then realised she had made a wrong decision, that she shouldn't be there. She thought that perhaps a bus would be safer, so she decided to ask the man to stop at the nearest bus stop. But he refused to do it and instead started to drive faster and take sharper turns. He didn't stop, but said, "Don't worry! You are with me, you are very safe. I'm going to the city centre and I can let you off there." Then it started to rain and she felt alone and scared. She didn't trust the man.

Our story - part II (by Alberto)

But I wish she had learnt some English, a tiny bit at least, before taking that plane. Maybe now we wouldn´t be in this situation. Maybe when she arrived at Dublin Airport she would have known where to go without having to ask strangers. Because when she arrived at the airport, that was the last time people saw Alejandra before she disappeared without a trace.

The last images that we have of her are the ones which were recorded by the airport´s security cameras. She picked up her suitcase, and when she went to the exit, she stopped in order to speak with some man. One eyewitness could hear how she tried to ask where the taxis were. The man took her hand, told her, "Sure, come with me," took her outside the airport terminal, and that was when she vanished.

Our story - part I

Please find below the first part of the story which we're going to write together over the next couple of weeks. Each student in the lower intermediate group will write one short part (the word limit is 120-200 words). Let me begin...

It was her first intercontinental flight, but Alejandra didn’t have the slightest bit of worry. Maybe apart from the fact that all she could say in English was one single word: water. Difficult to believe, yes, but that’s what she told me. Why hadn’t she taken a short course before coming over? I don’t know, I never asked. She might have thought she was moving to Dublin in order to learn English, so why would she study at home before coming here to study?