Here it is. Our very last issue of the semester, and my very first fall fiction issue. I had written for last year’s collection, but this time around I got to be the captain of the fantastical literary machine. I have to start off saying that I’m very proud of my staff and all of those who contributed to this issue.

The theme, as you may have noticed, is the Ten Commandments. Why do we keep choosing biblical paradigms as our inspiration, you ask? Maybe next year we’ll switch to another religious text, but for now we’re indulging in another shot at blasphemy.

All of our pieces have done one of two things to these age-old rules: a few have taken them from their archaic context and have used them as the basis for a modern situation. Some of these can be taken to ridiculous extremes, and you bet your ass that we went as far as we could. Other pieces have been interpreted differently, through unique perspectives: some silly, some shocking.

The pursuit of this theme was to display the virtue of transgression. Last year, we gave you the seven deadly sins; Cautionary tales of preexisting vices. This year, however, we bring you literature inspired by the centuries-old wagging finger from above. Stories of “don’t you even THINK about doing this.” Because human beings live to break their very own rules, and it is from these transgressions that we learn and we evolve, we’ll never truly know our own limits until we shatter them.

Those incidents wherein we shatter those limitations become defining moments in our personal growth. You will live with the satisfaction, regret, or entire personal overhaul that may serve as the ramification. Change, suffering, loss, and achievement have spawned the best art both before and of our time.

Growth is something that cannot be measured by marks on a doorframe or years of report cards. Growth is measured by your scars, skin deep and deeper. The things that wound you for life and the way in which you choose to heal. Growth is measured both by the freshness of your skin and by the scratches down your back. There are many ways to grow.

You can grow as a human being, as a group of people, as a country, as a school, as a publication. You can grow emotionally, physically, and financially. You can also regress. You can forget what it is you’ve learned. All of those morals, ethics, a lifetime of religious tutelage. You can renounce your personality, your family, or your country. You can run away. There are many ways to fall.

It is here we display those ways. By transgressing in the ten most appalling, revered, and rebellious ways we could think of, not only to entertain you, but to learn of ourselves and our own transgressions. There were so many places we could have gone with each commandment, that more than one has been included for each.

Breaking the rules doesn’t always land you in the shit house. Sometimes, transgression can surprise you. Sometimes the outcomes end up to be far more harmless, ineffective, or even positive than you could ever imagine. The ideas of right and wrong are one of many constructs of man. They are agreed upon by most. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t still subjective.

You could walk away from this issue of fall fiction with a variety of impressions. You could be wildly entertained. You could not give a shit. You could send me some wonderful hate mail (can’t wait to read it!). Whatever it is you come away with, know that I am delighted you’ve made it this far, and I hope that I’ve persuaded you to continue. I hope that you enjoy the telling power of fiction as we have used it to tell of sex, lies, and very bad, bad people. I hope that maybe, possibly you relate on some crazy level. I hope that you may even be repulsed – I hope that we made you feel something, and I hope that it was strong.