Allie MacBain
Bio
Stories (5/0)
Perhaps
People don’t understand why my father and I don’t speak. It’s not easy to explain. I’m not a child of divorce, who grew up without him in the home. He never beat or bullied me. There was no cataclysmic event that tore us apart. My childhood is blessedly free of trauma. We’ve never fallen out. But, from the earliest days of my childhood, this has been the way of things. We don’t communicate directly. Essential information is relayed via my mom or my brother. Exchanging even the most basic of pleasantries just doesn’t happen. We avoid being alone with each other, preferring the comforting buffer of another person.
By Allie MacBainabout 23 hours ago in Families
Halcyon Daze
The humble ham sandwich has never tasted as good as it did in the summer of ’86. Who knows what sorcery my Aunt Elaine employed, but somehow, in her hands, two ordinary slices of bread, a smear of margarine and the cheapest deli ham became something magical.
By Allie MacBain12 days ago in Families
The Last Shifter
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. The Minister for Tourism had them shipped in after the last lockdown, when visitor numbers plummeted to an all-time low. He’d thought the opportunity to see an endangered species would bring people back to Glynavon National Park, and he was right. Thousands flocked to the area to enjoy its natural splendor and view the magnificent beasts they’d acquired. New cafes were opened, tourist shops thrived, and a new hotel complex was built to accommodate those clamoring for a selfie with some of the rarest dragons in the world.
By Allie MacBain24 days ago in Fiction
The One
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. For more than a thousand years, they kept their distance, held at bay by the humans and their ever-more sophisticated weaponry. From the moment the first dragon fell to the sword, they realized it was better to retreat from this warmongering race, to bide their time until it was safe to return.
By Allie MacBain25 days ago in Fiction
The Weather House
The wind almost lifted him off his feet. The swirling gust that rose before him seemed so bent on slowing his progress, he might almost believe it had been called up deliberately to thwart him. Was its sole purpose to prevent him from reaching his destination? Professor John Fuller quickly shook that absurd idea from his mind. He was too logical to entertain such fanciful notions. It was inconceivable that a person could hold sway over the elements. But then, so many things lived beyond the limits of his imagination. Fuller was a small man, in every way, as narrow of mind as he was slight in stature.
By Allie MacBainabout a month ago in Fiction
