The One Thousand and One Arabian Nights is a weaving of hundreds of stories that Shahrazad told to her bloodthirsty husband King Shahryar every night. By keeping him hanging on the edge of his seat with suspense, he postponed his usual practice of eliminating his bride the morning after their wedding night just so he could hear the rest of the tale. Here’s the first line of her first story: “There was once an old fisherman who had a wife and three children, who cast his net into the sea every day four times, and no more.” Finish the story in your fashion, but do it quickly, as though your life depended on it.
