?Thirteen” is the first month of a new yearly cycle, wherein the old skins have been shed and the newborns are still learning to walk. ?One” and ?Three” make ?Four,” which is the number of completion, of coming home, and of realizing the form that has been in process for some time. Nothing is true; everything is possible. And the more things change, the more they stay the same. The thirteenth tarot card is Death, and he is the symbol of transformation and rebirth. This is the genesis and root of XIII, an anthology of original stories that are myths reforged in the furnace of the new millennium. These are tales to be told around the campfire, under the broad canopy of the stars; these are homilies to be read from the pulpit of the church. The ghosts of the past have been eaten by the children of the future: this endless cycle of birth, death, and renewal is XIII.
