“Houdini” – short story
Nearly all of my fiction is not autobiographical. I just make stuff up. The story “Houdini” is an exception. The story is about a University of Alabama college student who comes home to Huntsville for a weekend visit only to discover his father’s car in the driveway with the trunk lid open. He learns that his father is packing his belongings to move in with his girlfriend. That event actually happened to me in the late ‘70s. After driving from Tuscaloosa to my parents’ home in Huntsville, I pulled into the driveway to find my dad loading up his car. At that moment my innocence burned off like a cheap cigar. What actually happens in the story from the moment the guy pulls into the driveway is complete fiction, but the emotions of what that guy feels certainly ring true.
