Alison McBain
Bio
Alison McBain writes fiction & poetry, edits & reviews books, and pens a webcomic called “Toddler Times.” In her free time, she drinks gallons of coffee & pretends to be a pool shark at her local pub. More: http://www.alisonmcbain.com/
Achievements (30)
Stories (147)
Filter by community
Goodbye to the Golden
First off, don't get me wrong - my youth is very far in my past (decades ago, with an "s" at the end of the word "decade" for emphasis). So, in a literal sense, I've left my childhood behind a long time ago. However, recent circumstances have caused me to revisit not only the "scene of the crime," but walk through the past, in a matter of speaking, and it felt like I was living through - and then leaving - my childhood once more.
By Alison McBain12 months ago in Photography
Winning, Losing & Having Fun
I can't talk about my New Year's goal this year without bringing up what it was last year. And the reason for revisiting the past is because I both succeeded and failed in my resolution for 2024 - failed because I didn't quite meet my goal but succeeded because I came darn close.
By Alison McBainabout a year ago in Motivation
Tales of a Fourth Grade Dragon. Runner-Up in Letters of Gratitude Challenge.
Dear Mr. Vadney, I don’t know if you would recall me after all these decades, and I’m sure you wouldn’t recognize me now, but you’re one of the few teachers that I remember from grade school. There are parts of that school I wish I could forget, such as the time that I asked a boy I liked (Tim? Jim? Jonny?) if I could kiss him on Valentine’s Day and he made a face that could only be described as “frog eats something even nastier than a fly.” And then there was the bully in our class who sat on my calculator and broke it, and I had to bring it home, crying, and tell my parents. My mom yelled at me for being so careless, but I don’t remember if I ratted out the bully or not. Probably not—my mom would assume it was just me being clumsy, as I invariably was.
By Alison McBainabout a year ago in Humans
Into the Eldritch Woods
“The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished into the Eldritch Woods. The sun stopped at its noon zenith and headed back east, where it set over the mountains in the exact place it had dawned. The most powerful witches in the capital city dropped to the ground when the sun went dark, never to draw breath again. And magic has not been the same in our land ever since.”
By Alison McBainabout a year ago in Fiction
Revenge. Top Story - October 2024.
There was only one rule: don’t open the door on Halloween night. Stay inside. Don’t go out. Family lore, handed down. But when George bugged Maria about going to his friend’s party, she gave in with a tiny thrill. Superstitions were for her grandmother’s generation, not for her.
By Alison McBainabout a year ago in Horror
When He Died
When he died, I lay down next to him, knowing my life would change forever but not knowing how drastically. There wasn’t a lot of room to move around in the house—stacks of magazines and newspapers were everywhere, as well as small, thin paths through the junk that led between the cluttered rooms. Dirty dishes weren’t just piled on the sink and counter, but stretched across the table, floors, on top of the stacks—my nose had stopped working effectively years before. To have a sense of smell in a place like this was a problem, not a benefit.
By Alison McBainabout a year ago in Psyche
Beyond
A point in time indicates finish, period to a sentence, finite space stopped by boundaries and contained. But what if a point in time is simply continuation? Beyond the ellipses of the written word, beyond grammar and punctuation, beyond the end, the stop, the taking in of a breath. A point can be a black hole, incessantly consuming. A point could be the tip of something larger, the beginning of a foray into chasms of underwater icebergs. A point could be the opening of an eye, which sees beyond the edge of reasoning. A point could be a doorway into another realm, the place where you insert yourself from one dimension into another, where what you are is not what you will be, but merely an instant, not even a pause, leading to something greater. A point could be infinite expanding, commencing, fulfilling, hope, Heaven, chaos, art. The point could be - should be - would be - will be -
By Alison McBainabout a year ago in Poets
