The Overbooked Hostel
A free B1-level English story for language learners, readable online in 5 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Two travelers are given the same hostel bed and spend the next day exploring the city together.
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Janek arrived at the hostel at ten at night. He was tired from a long train ride and hungry for a shower. The woman at the desk looked at her screen, then at him, and frowned.
"I'm sorry," she said. "We have a problem. You and another guest have the same bed. Our system made a mistake."
Behind him, a woman with a large green backpack was already holding up her phone. "My booking says bed fourteen, top bunk," she said. "I have the confirmation right here."
"So does mine," Janek said, showing his own screen. They looked at each other, and for a moment, neither knew whether to laugh or to complain.
The receptionist lowered her voice. "The hostel is completely full tonight. The only free places are the two sofas in the lounge. They are comfortable, and I can offer you both a free breakfast tomorrow."
"That's fair," the woman said. "I'm Valeria, by the way."
"Janek. I'll take the sofa by the window, if you don't mind."
The lounge was warm, with a tall bookshelf and a rug that had seen better days. They dropped their bags, and Valeria spread a paper map across the coffee table. It was covered in her pencil marks. "I only have two days here," she said. "I have been trying to decide between the old market and the hills."
"I had the same problem," Janek said. "And I have a feeling that neither of us wants to walk alone in a new city."
In the morning, they ate breakfast together: a bowl of porridge and two cups of bad coffee. Then they marked a route on the map with a red pen. The market first, because it closed early. The hills in the afternoon, when the light was better.
They spent the day walking, trading small stories about the places they had been. Valeria knew how to bargain for a scarf, and Janek had a good sense of direction. By evening, they had climbed to the top of the hill. The whole city lay below them in orange light.
Back at the hostel, the receptionist smiled and said that a bed was free tonight. Janek and Valeria looked at each other, shrugged, and carried their bags back to the sofas.
