A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 27
This is the fourth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Normally I have all 30 stories lined up before I start. I did this year as well. But surprisingly a couple of stories popped up in the news that compelled me to switch them out.
Such is the case with this one which Franklin Leonard tweeted just last night saying: “This is hands down the most extraordinary story I’ve read in I don’t even know how long.”
Today’s story idea: Ethiopian girl guarded by lions:
A 12-year-old girl who was abducted and beaten by men trying to force her into a marriage was found being guarded by three lions who apparently had chased off her captors, a policeman said Tuesday.
The girl, missing for a week, had been taken by seven men who wanted to force her to marry one of them, said Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo, speaking by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, about 350 miles southwest of Addis Ababa.
She was beaten repeatedly before she was found June 9 by police and relatives on the outskirts of Bita Genet, Wondimu said. She had been guarded by the lions for about half a day, he said.
“They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest,” Wondimu said.
“If the lions had not come to her rescue, then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage,” he said.
Tilahun Kassa, a local government official who corroborated Wondimu’s version of the events, said one of the men had wanted to marry the girl against her wishes.
“Everyone thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people,” Wondimu said.
I mean where to start? I go directly to this: Animals demonstrating more humanity than humans.
So what if a girl is attacked in the fashion described in the article. Staggers out into the wilderness. And a group of animals ‘adopts’ the person. Oh, what the hell, let’s say lions. Protect her while she recuperates.
What if the girl’s sister has been successfully abducted by the men?
Do the girl and the lions work together to free the sister?
Or is this a revenge story: Girl and lions go about exacting retribution on her assailants?
Or do the would be kidnappers come after the girl who joins with the lions to fend off the attack?
When I wrote K-9, I knew from very early on a central theme to the story was this: The dog humanizes the guy. What if here the lions help to create a warrior?
Maybe there’s no movie here. Maybe it’s just a remarkable real life story. A miracle.
But maybe there is a movie here.
What would you do with this story idea?
By the way, Ethiopian lions are notable because of their distinctive black manes:
Each day this month, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Gender bend, genre bend, what if. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are all valuable skills for a writer to develop.
See you in comments. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.
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