Aphelion Webzine, Issue 140, Volume 14...

Volume 14.

That has a nice ring to it. Welcome to our annual Birthday Issue, featuring new stories and the Best of 2009's stories and poetry. The Staff have sifted through long lists of links to last year's offerings to find the works they felt were of outstanding quality. I hope everyone had a nice Holiday break, with all the blessings of home and hearth and family the season entails. I'm also hoping that 2010 will be a good year for us all.

So how can I tie in some sort of lecture on writing with the beginning of  new year? Easy! A new year is like a blank page shining back at you from the screen of your word processor. The months are chapter headings in an outline. The seasons are a rough draft of how the story of the year can link together. Each day on the calender is a paragraph heading. The story of the upcoming year is there, waiting to be written. Oh sure, some things are already known. Carryovers from the story of the year before. You know that your bills and shopping have to fit into the outline. You know that your work schedule will have to be wedged in there too. Holidays, anniversaries, vacations, romantic outings with your loved ones all have to be worked into the new year's story. And birthdays- Mustn't forget the Birthdays!

Like now, as we come together to celebrate another new year beginning for Aphelion we can also celebrate how far we have come from that simple beginning oh so long ago. Everything is changing and growing so fast. Time rushes forward, taking us all with it whether we want to go or not. Aphelion is leaving childhood behind and growing on towards adulthood. We're in that middle period that for humans is such a trying time. Some things will change, and some things will remain the same. Excitement and wonder lay ahead of us. As do some more hard times- Let's face it, there is no growth without challenge. We've all come so far, faced so much, become more than we ever dreamed was possible. Now we're on the threshold of another stage in the great adventure. Another milestone in the path has been reached and is now going slowly into the past. We will never stand in this same place again. Whatever comes, we will face it together.

We have a new story to write. The outline is there before us. It stretches out through the new year. We have our heroes and our villains, our triumphs and our disappointments, our friends and our fellows and our family together. Let's make it a grand tale- Forward! Into the future, one step at a time, we will go together.

So now I guess I should stop blathering and let you get to reading. Behold! The Best of 2009, and the beginning of 2010 is ready for you.

Dan

2-10-2010