I'm at a beach area in some foreign city. My friends and I split into two groups to meet later. It is night, and I go with somebody (I think my colleague Mark) to his apartment, which sits about 100 feet high on a bluff overlooking the ocean. To get there, we have to ascend this very scary, very steep staircase with almost no protection, though in the upper parts it has a handrail.

We get to this woodfloored apartment, which seems empty, but the view out of the window is expansive, and my friend goes upstairs to another room. I'm worried because I'm supposed to meet my friends, but my phone is nearly out of battery-juice, and I need it, mostly to map where I'm going because I don't know this city. For some reason going back down the stairs is one solution, but I'm scared to do that. I may have had a beer or two, and the prospect of that high staircase is not attractive, although I think to myself that it's just one step after another, just be careful and I'll be fine.

I don't descend the staircase; my friend returns and we take some other course of action.