Silver Rain

By Sandra Ulbrich Almazan

Every spring, Marthe's town is covered with illusions by silver rain, but she's the only one who can't see them. When a handsome poet shares his verses with her, she learns to appreciate beauty. However, everyone else stares at her poet as if they know something she doesn't. What is truth and what is illusion, and will Marthe learn the difference between them before she loses her lover?

A fantasy short story about 3,800 words long

• Language: English
• Publisher: Solar Unicorn Publishing
• Release date: Jul 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781386841319

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan started reading at the age of three and only stops when absolutely required to. Although she hasn’t been writing quite that long, she did compose a very simple play in German during middle school. Her science fiction novella Move Over Ms. L. (an early version of Lyon’s Legacy) earned an Honorable Mention in the 2001 UPC Science Fiction Awards, and her short story “A Reptile at the Reunion” was published in the anthology Firestorm of Dragons. Other published works by Sandra include Twinned Universes, the sequel to Lyon's Legacy; Seasons' Beginnings, Book One of the fantasy Season Avatars series; and several science fiction and fantasy short stories. She is a founding member of Broad Universe, which promotes science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women. Her undergraduate degree is in molecular biology/English, and she has a Master of Technical and Scientific Communication degree. Her day job is QA Representative for enzyme company; she’s also been a technical writer and a part-time copyeditor for a local newspaper. Some of her other accomplishments are losing on Jeopardy! and taking a stuffed orca to three continents. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, Eugene; and son, Alex. In her rare moments of free time, she enjoys crocheting, listening to classic rock (particularly the Beatles), and watching improv comedy.  

Book preview

Silver Rain

I’M THE ONLY ONE IN this town who hates the silver rain.

Every spring, there’s a stretch of a week or ten days where the rain comes down silver with illusion. It doesn’t just wash our town; it transforms it. Cottages become palaces, twigs turn into giant oaks, and crows look like peacocks. Only people are untouched. Travelers come from miles around, even from other countries, to experience it. My bakery makes more that week than it does any other month of the year.

A pity I can’t enjoy the visions of the silver rain. To me, the town seems to be the same whether it rains or not. My father could never tell red from green, but other than needing us to help him match his clothes, his color blindness didn’t affect his life. I have to keep my mouth shut when tourists come in, exclaiming about the illusions and congratulating me on my good fortune to see the silver rain every year.

The silver rain brought me love, then washed it away.

HIS NAME WAS TAM, A poet who’d wandered into our town from far away seeking the inspiration of the rain. His hair was dark like ink, and his eyes green as the new leaves of spring.

I may be too practical for magic, but he taught me a line or two