Rick Allen

Fountain Hills

I paint beautiful women! I write about love and stuff! My first book is on Amazon. It is a road map to creating your own book.

Articles

The Echo in 4B

3 days ago | portraitist102.medium.com | Rick Allen

Sometimes the clearest sign that you’re healing is how gently you hold someone else’s fear. She first heard it on a Tuesday. A soft, rhythmic sound through the vent. Not loud. Not frantic. Just… contained sorrow. The kind of crying that tries not to be heard. It came from 4B. Gary’s apartment. She sat up in bed, holding her breath to make sure she wasn’t imagining it. The sound returned — uneven breathing, the occasional hitch. It stopped after a few minutes. She thought about knocking. But didn’t.
The Breakfast Disaster

4 days ago | medium.com | Rick Allen |Arpad Nagy

Each week, I will give you a new sentence — the first sentence for you to write a piece of short fiction. From drabbles to several-minute reads — let your imagination take you where it will!When kids get creative in the kitchen, chaos (and laughs) ensueHe walked into the room and instantly regretted everything. The smell hit him first — burnt toast and something… fishy? Jerry froze as he surveyed the chaos. His 5-year-old twins stood in the middle of the kitchen.
The Chair Was Gone

4 days ago | medium.com | Rick Allen |Arpad Nagy

Each week, I will give you a new sentence — the first sentence for you to write a piece of short fiction. From drabbles to several-minute reads — let your imagination take you where it will!Follow publicationShe thought she was healing. The walls thought otherwise. MorningWhen the alarm rang, her first conscious thought was one of dread. Not the kind that evaporates with coffee, but the kind that sits on your chest like a name you almost remember.
The Watering Job

4 days ago | medium.com | Rick Allen

Learning how to take care of something important. Bella Bunny’s mom said, “We have a garden that needs watering every day. Do you want the job?”Bella’s ears perked up. “Yes! I like helping.”Bella would go to the garden each morning with her little watering can. “Be gentle,” she reminded herself as she watered the flowers. One day, Bella saw tiny green sprouts. “I have new friends now!” she said happily. The flowers grew taller because Bella was responsible.
The Missing Marble

4 days ago | medium.com | Rick Allen

Using the Drabble format, our publication presents stories for children that are exactly 100 words in length. Each story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Each story is a life lesson teaching principles and values while encouraging big thoughts and imagination. Learning why honesty is the best choice. Sammy Squirrel found a shiny marble on the ground. “I want to keep it. It’s so pretty.” he thought, slipping it into his pocket. Later, Mia Mouse said, “Where is my lost marble?
Quiet Without Her

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Rick Allen |Arpad Nagy

In the hush of morning, he finally heard what mattered most. The silence was unsettling. For the first time in twenty years, his morning didn’t start with her humming in the kitchen. No clatter of spoons, no off-key melody drifting from a half-made cup of tea. Just stillness. He sat with it, unsure. Then opened the cupboard, pulled down her chipped mug, and set the kettle to boil. Out of habit, he began to hum her tune. Soft at first. Wobbly. When the kettle whistled, the silence didn’t seem so loud.
Where You Lost It

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Rick Allen

Happiness isn’t something you find — it’s something you remember when you let go of what disturbed your peace. Rick Allen·FollowPublished inHope, Healing, and Humour·3 min read·--The author uses Generative AI for imagesInner peace is not a luxury. It’s the doorway to everything you truly want. We talk about happiness as though it’s a thing to be chased down. A lifestyle to be built. But more often, it’s a state we remember — and one we somehow misplaced.
Bloodlight (Part Two)

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Rick Allen |Arpad Nagy

Member-only storyThe voice in the mirror was just the beginning. Cassie’s true nature — and the truth behind her family — waits beneath the earth. Rick Allen·FollowPublished inFirst Line Fiction·4 min read·--The author uses Generative AI for imagesOn the night of the full moon, everything she believed was turned upside down. Her mirror spoke to her. She received strange text messages and began to transform physically, and that was only moments ago when she walked into the moonlight.
The Faces We See, the Stories We Tell

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Rick Allen |Mehmet Yildiz

Member-only storyHow the artist’s gaze reveals more than features — it uncovers the quiet stories waiting to be told. Rick Allen·FollowPublished inILLUMINATION·3 min read·--Sometimes I catch myself staring — just long enough to sketch the shape of a story behind a stranger’s face. A man at a café, his brows knit like he’s holding back something old. A woman at the grocery store, tired but kind. In moments like these, my mind starts filling in the blanks. Where has she been? Who does he miss?
When Light Speaks: Listening with the Eyes

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Rick Allen

Member-only storyWhen we slow down and listen with our eyes, light becomes a presence, a voice, a guide. Rick Allen·FollowPublished inHope, Healing, and Humour·3 min read·--There was a moment — just a second — when the light came in sideways and landed on a man’s face across the café. I wasn’t sketching, just drinking coffee, lost in thought. But the way the light caught him, as if naming something old and tender in his expression, stopped me. It wasn’t bright. It wasn’t dramatic.