Written by John Davis Frain

Flash Friday Mystery – Freefall

FREEFALL

Took me a year of blogging, but I finally figured out something fun we’d both enjoy. I’m calling it the Flash Friday Mystery. Here’s how it works. Every other Friday, I write a piece in about 100 words. The story will be based on the number for that particular date on the calendar. So, for example, today’s story for January 27 is about #27. Your job is to figure out HOW it’s based on 27.

If I wrote a story about Carlton Fisk hitting a home run over the Green Monster in Fenway 27Park, your solution would be that the Hall of Famer wore 27 on the back of his Red Sox jersey. Or, if I wrote a story how William Howard Taft got stuck in the bathtub in the White House, your answer would be that Taft was the 27th president. See how this works?

Now that I’ve given you two easy examples, I’m gonna make the first entry super hard. Only a rare person will figure it out. It plays a role in my current WIP (work in progress) about a down-on-her-luck musician named Roxi.

I write the 100-word story. You solve the mystery of 27. Here goes, let’s make it fun!

FREEFALL

At twenty-four, Roxi was on top of the world. Back-to-back platinum albums, fifty-four sold-out shows and six Grammy noms. Now, two years later, critics panned her and fans ignored her.

Joani Johnson, her stop-at-nothing agent with a vested interest, offered a plan. “I can lift your sales again.”

Roxi shook her head. “I’m finished. I’m not joining the club.”

Joani didn’t rise to the top of her profession by giving up. “History lesson for ya. Artists are never more popular than after they die.”

She broke Roxi’s heart with a bullet. “It’s a win-win. I get rich off your royalties, and you never join the club.”

THE SOLUTION…

is

down

here

…

If you said the 27 Club, you’re a winner. “The club” that both Roxi and Joani refer to in the story is the 27 Club, where an unusually high number of popular musicians die at the age of 27. Roxi, of course, died at 26 thanks to her greedy agent.

Notable examples from the 27 Club include legendary bluesman Robert Johnson (Elmore 27-clubLeonard fans will be familiar with him), Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse among many others.

Cobain and Hendrix biographer Charles R. Cross wrote, “The number of musicians who died at 27 is truly remarkable by any standard. Humans die at all ages, [but] there is a statistical spike for musicians who die at 27.”

The phenomenon has been captured in several songs by various artists. In fairness, a couple scientific research studies investigated (thereby strengthening the argument, perhaps) and concluded that musicians do not statistically have a stronger chance of dying at age 27. These same scientists are still concluding that Donald Trump does not have a statistical chance to become president of the U.S. one day.

Come back in a couple weeks for our next Friday Flash Mystery.

6 thoughts on “Flash Friday Mystery – Freefall”

  1. Nice story. I’d love to see a longer version.

    I didn’t bother guessing because I’m not good at this kind of thing. Next time why not leave some space before you give the solution. So we can rack our brains without seeing the answer two lines down.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I agree with Angie – wait before you give the answer. All in all tho, a very cool story – and the whole musicians dying at 27 thing being debunked really doesn’t make me believe it isn’t a bit odd. But then again, I am a little superstitious. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. If you’re not at least a little superstitious about something, then you’re not really living. Right?

      I had never heard of the 27 Club before I started my WIP. It’s kinda wild. And the whole debunking thing is the view of statisticians who sometimes don’t realize they’re standing in a forest because they’re only seeing individual trees. I mean, I’m sure the 74 Club would have more members, but then, you’d expect that. The realization that there are so many members of the 27 Club makes it kinda eerie.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. That’s very true – like I don’t like to talk about certain things b/c I don’t want to “jinx” myself. When people say, “oooo, what if your book becomes a movie, or what if…” I make the sign of the cross using my forefingers, and shake my head. LOL! Yeah, they probably think I’m weird.

        And yes, I lean more towards it being eerie – not coincidence. Speaking of eerie, I mentioned something over at The Reef just now of where I was yesterday, but didn’t mention this – b/c my comment was already a mile long. I had a short visit yesterday to a hotel built in 1836 in Winston Salem NC. I had to wait there for a shuttle to pick me up to go to another location, and I got into a conversation about the hotel with one of the staff, and I asked if it was haunted. “Oh yes. Yes it is.” She said they hear stuff – particularly in a certain area, and things get moved around, or they lock doors only to come back and find them unlocked…cool eh? It used to be an old cotton mill, and was the first industrial business in the town – when Winston and Salem were separate. I love stuff like that.

        Like

  3. Pingback: Mystery of the Week … Solution – John Davis Frain

Comments are closed.