Blue Flag 2020

Bad Luck

When asked to pinpoint exactly where the bad luck had begun Gerald always used his birth as a prime example. His parents were boring people with an affinity for boring names.

Perhaps they were resentful that they themselves had been given names of the dull variety, and thus wanted to pass their pain down the line. Gerald’s bad luck continued through his school days, including an unfortunate incident in second grade when Gerald had been rushed to the hospital after lodging a pencil several inches up his nose after a freak accident involving some blocks and a few toy soldiers. Because of this obvious and overwhelming evidence Gerald had long ago decided that there was nothing he could do about his unlucky streak, and had grown quite resigned to unfortunate accidents continuing to affect him. So when the girl fell from the sky, Gerald was quite surprised that she had not landed directly on top of him.

When he heard the thud and the subsequent screams of the pedestrians, Gerald was confused. He had been sitting outside cowering behind a newspaper that he wasn’t actually reading. The newspaper was just a facade, in place to show the world that Gerald was a normal person having his morning, and that no, he was not eating alone on a Saturday morning just as he had for the past several Saturdays preceding this one.

Gerald was a self aware person, and the image he projected to the world was of paramount importance. Which is ironic because the world did not care about Gerald. This started, Gerald believed, in fifth grade when he was abandoned at the zoo by his school group, and was eventually found several hours later cowering in a corner of the tiger enclosure. How Gerald survived this situation is a mystery, and while some may point out that this is a sure sign of good luck, Gerald always responded by pointing out that only very unfortunate and unlucky people 144