A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 26
Okay, there’s got to be a story among these choices: The 7 Most Bizarrely Unlucky People Who Ever Lived. The first story gives you an idea of what we’re talking about:
Jason and Jenny Cairns-Lawrence
They’ve been attacked by terrorists more times than John McClane.
It wasn’t just New Yorkers who were traumatized by the September 11th World Trade Center attacks. Tourists from all over the country and the world were in the city at the time, as they would be on any given day. Tourists like the English couple Jason and Jenny Cairns-Lawrence, whose relaxing vacation was interrupted by the worst terrorist attack in history, experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime horror.
Wait, did we say once in a lifetime? Because four years later, on July 7th, 2005, they happened to be in London, during the worst terror attack in their history. A series of bombs exploded across the city’s transit system, killing 52 people.
At this point they may have felt cursed or, worse, that they were unknowingly starring in an action film that kept doing shitty sequels. But, you know, New York and London are both massive cities and really, the odds are that at least one family would happen to be in both places on those fateful days. Right?
But it wasn’t over. Three years later, they took another vacation. This time, to the exotic Indian city of Mumbai.
There they saw the worst terror attack in that country’s history, as shooting and bombing attacks killed and wounded hundreds.
News stories say the couple “refused to cut short their holiday” after the Mumbai attack. It’s kind of hard not to imagine them as Clark Griswold, screaming “NO! Not this time! We took this fucking vacation and we’re going to enjoy it, damn it.”
I know there’s a pretty obvious approach, but how about something a little different. If a person was demonstrably proven to be bad luck, that is they had a scientifically authenticated trail of disasters in their wake, you know who might be interested in them? Insurance companies, security officials, politicians. So imagine our Protagonist, this poor guy whose job involves traveling the world sourcing potential calamities. The best in the business.
Except on a personal level, the dude is bad luck. And that could extend to romance, friendships, even simple social occasions.
What a lonely existence. Hugely important, presumably well paid, but he literally can’t get close to anyone lest bad luck befall them.
Enter the Attractor. And for some strange reason, she doesn’t fall under his bad luck spell. Indeed as he warms up to her, his bad luck barometer seems to diminish.
Well, his employers and all those important people around the globe can’t stand for that. They need this guy, he’s important to the world economy, governments, etc. They will do whatever it takes to break up this couple.
And then…
That’s where you come in. What would you do with that set-up?
And read the other unlucky stories. Any of them catch your attention as a possible movie?
HT to Elisa Sawyer for the link.