Wednesday 1 May 2013

Flash Fiction: Zero Dark Thirty

This week's flash fiction was written by Stewart Derry to accompany the tense drama Zero Dark Thirty. Here it is!


Hollywood loves the epic. It is a place where everything is supersized and on a grander scale than real life could ever be. And the stage is set fair with an impressive title.

Numbers are always a good choice, especially with a rousing adjective in tow -
 The Magnificent Seven
 The Dirty Dozen
 The Roaring Twenties

More recently the numbers alone have done all the talking -
 Se7en - Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as detectives on the trail of serial killer.
 300 - The legendary last stand of the Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae.

The title of this film, Zero Dark Thirty, raises the bar even higher -
 Zero – a number, the number, simply oozing with tragic foreboding.
 Dark – a brooding and troubled adjective, suggesting an epic encounter between the forces of good and evil.
 Thirty – here the badass showdown doesn’t just happen at midnight; it’s a whole thirty
   minutes afterwards! Gulp!! Or, viewed another way, thirty = zero + dark magnified to the power of thirty. Woah! Seriously badass!

My friends strap yourselves into your seats and enjoy the ride.
This is no ordinary place. It is Hollywood. Will you not be entertained?

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