For some of us, Star Wars was – and is – kind of a big deal. It was an integral part of our childhood, of who we are now. Friends could be discerned by whether they knew the bounty hunters’ names, by a strange gear tattooed onto a bicep, and good friends could be singled out by which movie they believed was the best. (Personally, Return of the Jedi was the first movie I saw in a theater and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Yes, the Ewoks were a little too cute, but, come on, the rancor was fucking awesome.)

At some point, though, George Lucas decided to mess with perfection. He decided he was better than us. He laughed in our faces and changed our movies into something hideous and ugly – Darth Maul being the exception, of course – until we were left crying in dark rooms, convinced there was no longer anything good in this world. On some level, we knew what we had seen as children was still there, but it was hard to make it out through the noise and the pod races and Jar Jar fucking Binks.

But we had – have – faith, and that belief in our childhood, in our memories, though it differed from Mr. Lucas’s increasingly inconsistent canon, from what he wanted us to believe, was enough. We have what we remember, and no amount of CGI can take that away.

Or, for the rest of you, they’re just some pretty good movies.

In a wacky coincidence, we’ve got some stories tackling those very issues this month, though most of them don’t dwell on the Star Wars part quite so heavily. Or, you know, at all.

First up is “Exposure,” by Claire Joanne Huxham, followed by “The Toad and the Butterfly,” by RCJ Graves. Next is “Pentecostal,” by Lauren J. Barnhart. Then, finishing up the issue, is Mike Sweeney’s magnum opus, “CPA of the Sith.”

I’ll give you three guesses which one’s about Star Wars.

You can read the online version here or download the .pdf here.

And, don’t forget, you’ve still got almost a week to donate to Jersey Devil Press’s Danger_Slater’s Love Me Pre-Order-Donation-a-Thon.

Jesus Christ, it gets hot in New Mexico. Although, it is summer, and I do live in the northern hemisphere, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. But I am a pale, pale man and numbers like the one on the cover terrify me.

Anyway, stories. We’ve got them. And they’re perfect for reading in the dark, air-conditioned corners of your domicile of choice. Or outside in the sun, if you’re one of those people.

Speaking of people, our first story, “Golden Hours,” comes all the way from Brazil, by way of California ex-pat Colleen Chen, and tells the tale of a man with a remarkable, if short-lived, gift. Next is the fairy tale retelling “Red,” by Christopher Owen, followed by the Catholic dogma retelling “Jesus’ Nephew,” by Joe Thompson. After that is the sad, creepy “Mammy’d Give Me Minds To Eat,” by Graham Tugwell, who wins the award for having the most porn star-like name we’ve ever published. And last, but certainly not least, is “Jolly Roger,” by Michael Sions, a story that expertly combines corpses, pirates, and insurance salesmen.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to board up the windows before the sun realizes I’m in here.

The online version of this month’s issue is here, and the .pdf can be downloaded by clicking here.

Destiny’s a tricky thing. Alternately unavoidable and completely in your own hands, depending on who you ask. And sometimes it’s both. The only constant seems to be that a whole lot of things are going to happen – good, bad and ugly – and you’re going to have to figure out how to handle them. Whether that’s through belief in a higher power or flipping the bird at a cold, unfeeling universe, whether it’s fighting or falling to your knees, destiny is, ultimately, all in how the individual handles it.

This month’s stories are all about facing that destiny, in one way or another. We start with J. David Bell’s “A Chimaera Story With Four Morals,” a tale about a father and son and a march toward the inevitable. Next are two tales about playing with the strange and unfortunate hands Fate dealt: “Literary Ops,” by K. Marvin Bruce, and “The Swell Foop,” by Mindela Ruby. After that, it’s “The Six,” by Ainslie Hogarth, about a massive turd wrenching one man’s life irrevocably. And, finally, we close with “The Stupidest Thing I Ever Heard,” by Kimberly Steele, a story about how maybe destiny isn’t quite so destined after all.

The online version of Issue Twenty-One is here, and the .pdf can be downloaded here. Read it like you don’t have a choice.