Houdini's Last Trick

by David Khalaf

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  A life of adventure doesn’t begin until we take risks.

  That has been a defining mantra of the past year for me. It has guided me into new relationships and led me to new cities. It has given me the courage to pursue my writing while taming the fears over finances and job stability. It has helped me live the past year with an open hand instead of a closed fist.

  Thank you to my parents and sister for supporting my pursuit of adventure. It’s the enduring love of family that gives us the strength to adventure in the first place. Love is home, and it’s easier to strike out into the unknown when we have a home to which we can return.

  Thank you to Tino for being my partner in the adventure. And for also being the adventure itself. Change is not easy, and growth even harder. You push me to grow every day, and I am grateful for it (usually in retrospect, after I moan and groan about it).

  Thanks to the Burbank Writers Group for their feedback on early drafts of this novella. Thanks to my proofreaders (Tino, Dyanne, and Ben) my cover designer (Tamara) and my illustrator (Francesca). And thanks to everyone who read this book in advance and gave feedback.

  There’s more adventure to come. If we’re open to it, there always will be.

  THE

  SIXTEEN

  BURDENS

  The first book in

  The Burdens Trilogy

  CHAPTER ONE