Time travel always screws us up. And, really, what is the dawning of a new year if not the crossing of a threshold into the future? A little while ago it was 2018; now it’s 2019 (sans flying cars and replicants, sadly.)

Fortunately, the work in our January Issue speaks clearly, if darkly, of the world as it is and, occasionally, of the world as it should be. There are four wonderful pieces of flash fiction, two cutting pieces of free verse, a steamroller of an essay, a stunning sestina, and an excellent abecedarian.

Let these writers’ words be the balm on your aching head, the cool mint kiss that soothes your anxieties, and the fresh pack of Star Wars cards that makes you feel young, as when the world was new and we just yelled at each in real life instead of over a series of interconnected processing nodes. (Personally, we would’ve preferred flying cars.)

Who knows what 2019 will bring any of us, but if it’s anything like the writing in Issue 103…maybe it’ll be okay.

Alka it online or Seltzer the PDF.