Example narrative essay

Sunny San Carlos Here We Come

By Ernesto (edited by Aynsley)
University of Durham, July 2001.

It was Thursday, October the 28th, in the year 2000. We were bored out of our skulls. We were biding our time, swinging in hammocks tied to big old trees, chatting and thinking about what we could do to relieve the boredom. We considered many possibilities. In the end however, we decided to visit San Carlos. For those of you who don't know my country, San Carlos is a beautiful beach approximately one hundred and twenty kilometres away from Hermosillo and Hermosillo is my neck of the woods, that is, it's where I'm from.

That afternoon, after deciding what to do and after a long siesta, we went to buy some supplies for the trip. Victor's father had agreed to lend us his car for a few days, so we met at my house and drove into town to stock up with some essentials. We bought some munchies to snack on during the drive and some things to keep us going once we arrived.

That evening we all stayed at my house. My mother cooked a delicious spicy chilli, which we ate with tacos and yoghurt and washed down with a few bottles of Sol. It was an entertaining evening. Everyone hit the sack feeling happy.

The following day we left at the crack of dawn, keen to avoid as much of the day's heat as possible. We had a great time in the car, laughing and joking, listening to music. The scenery was beautiful too.

We arrived in San Carlos a couple of hours later. We checked into the first hotel we found. It was called Flamingos. It only cost twelve pounds a night for a room, which seemed reasonable, but our room was disgusting! It was even more disgusting than Elena's room here in Durham. We found a dead rat in the toilet, which was just a hole in the ground anyway. There were no windows. It was full of cockroaches and ants. It smelt like rotting fish. The beds were made of concrete and the shower water was brown. However, it was not the worst aspect of our trip.

Despite the dodgy hotel, we had a ball! The weather was perfect. The beach was clean. The sea was warm and crystal clear. We met some school friends. People in the pubs and restaurants seemed friendly and the girls, oh boy, the girls!

A few days later, on October the 31st, Halloween, we left San Carlos at dusk to head home. After about an hour driving the sun had set and the world was black outside. Everything seemed fine until some lights began flashing on the dashboard. Victor said that it always happened. He told us to chill out and stop worrying. A few minutes later, though, the engine began coughing and spluttering. Victor didn't say anything but he seemed scared. Minutes later, the engine cut out totally and the car came to a slow halt.

We were all silent. All we could hear were insects singing. The only lights we could see were the stars and the moon. There wasn't anyone around for miles and miles. We were in the middle of nowhere. It was scary. Victor tried turning the ignition key but nothing happened. He had a look under the bonnet with a torch but couldn't fix the problem. We were stuck!

After hours worrying about bandits and thieves, a car came along. We flagged it down. Fortunately, the driver was a kind old farmer who agreed to give us a lift back to Hermosillo, so we pushed the broken car to the side of the road and set off.

We arrived home safely. When we explained the story to our parents, Victor's father was initially gutted about his car but then, after calming down, he was happy that nothing bad had happened to us.

We are planning to return to San Carlos this summer. I really hope that nothing happens to us but you never know.