Tell Me Your Story
Extended narrative — long-form storytelling at B1. The night the power went out at Café Colibri: candles in a drawer, strangers who finally talked face to face, and one rule Leo never forgot.
📖 Reading: The Night the Power Went Out
It was Leo's second winter running the café, and Toronto had just experienced the coldest February on record.
The café had been full all afternoon — people sheltering from the cold, warming their hands on their cups.
At 4:37 PM, every light in the building went out.
For a moment, nobody moved. Then someone laughed. Then someone else. Within a minute, Leo had found candles he had been keeping in a drawer since the café opened, and had started placing them on every table.
"I hadn't even known I'd been preparing for this," he said later. "I just liked candles. Turns out, liking candles was the right call."
The power didn't come back for three hours.
In those three hours, something unusual happened. People started talking to strangers. A professor and a plumber discovered they had grown up on the same street in two different cities. Two women who had been sitting with their backs to each other for an hour found out they had been emailing each other about a freelance project for weeks.
"It was the best evening we've ever had," said Ana afterwards.
"Why?" asked Priya.
"Because," said Ana, "the phones were dead. And so people had to use their faces."
Leo kept one of those candles on the counter permanently after that night.
"Just in case," he said, when anyone asked.
"In case of what?"
"In case we forget that we're better with each other."
🔑 Vocabulary Box
Eight key words from this lesson.
| Word | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| shelter | To take cover from something unpleasant | v. — People were sheltering from the cold. |
| plumber | A person who installs and repairs water systems | n. — A professor and a plumber started talking. |
| permanently | For all future time; not temporarily | adv. — He kept the candle permanently on the counter. |
| turn out | To be discovered to be true (often unexpectedly) | phrase — Turns out, liking candles was the right call. |
| tension | A feeling of excitement or anxiety in a story | n. — Building tension is key in narrative. |
| resolution | The point in a story when the problem is solved | n. — The resolution comes when the power returns. |
| freelance | Working independently for different clients | adj./n. — They had been emailing about a freelance project. |
| compelling | Evoking interest or attention irresistibly | adj. — What makes a story compelling? |
📚 Key Verbs & Structures in This Lesson | |
setting the scene (Past Continuous) | The café had been full. It was getting dark. |
building tension (Past Simple) | Every light went out. Nobody moved. |
adding backstory (Past Perfect) | He had been keeping candles since the opening. |
reflecting (Present Simple) | He keeps a candle permanently after that night. |
📚 Grammar Focus
📚 Narrative Structure at B1 | |
1. Setting the scene | Use Past Continuous and time expressions: It was..., The café had been... |
2. Introducing the event | Use Past Simple for the main action: The lights went out. |
3. Building detail | Use Past Perfect for backstory: He hadn't known he'd been preparing. |
4. Resolution | Use Past Simple + result: The power came back. Something had changed. |
5. Reflection | Use Present Simple or Perfect: He keeps a candle. It changed everything. |
Making a Story Vivid
📚 Making a Story Vivid | |
Sensory detail | Every light went out. For a moment, nobody moved. |
Specific numbers/times | At 4:37 PM. Three hours. The second winter. |
Dialogue | He said: "I hadn't even known I'd been preparing for this." |
Emotional language | Something unusual happened. Something had changed. |
🎭 Dialogue: The Story
Priya asks Leo to tell the power-cut story. He delivers it in five compressed beats — atmosphere, event, candle backstory, customer connection, reflection.
Leo, tell me about the night the power went out.
It was February. The coldest in years. The café was packed.
And then?
At 4:37, everything went dark. Nobody moved for a full five seconds.
What did you do?
I found candles I'd been keeping since we opened. I hadn't even known why.
And the customers?
They started talking. Real talking. No phones. For three hours.
Practice Exercises
3 questionsNew exercises to reinforce what you learned. Different from the lesson material.
What happened at 4:37 PM?
What had Leo kept in a drawer, and why?
What unusual things happened during the power cut?
Practice Exercises
3 questionsNew exercises to reinforce what you learned. Different from the lesson material.
Narrative function of: 'It was the coldest February on record.'
Narrative function of: 'At 4:37 PM, every light went out.'
Narrative function of: 'He had been keeping candles since the café opened.'
🎭 Now It's Your Turn — Role Play
Practice with a partner. Tell each other a real story from your life.
- A clear setting (time, place, atmosphere)
- An unexpected event or turning point
- A resolution
- A reflection — what it meant to you
- Your partner must ask at least 3 follow-up questions to draw out more detail.
- Use: Past Simple / Past Continuous / Past Perfect / and at least one conditional.
- Then swap.