Allie - The teenage years of Alexander Horten

Some final notes

Thank you for reading this story. I usually do not do this with my stories, but here are some thoughts I had while writing this story

This story was an experiment. I wanted to explore the teenage years of a boy and how people around him and events influence him. I wanted to make this a soap opera. This meant a few things.

- What some readers noticed is the constant problems and good times that overlap each other. This means the mood also changes. Some have said it was very light in places and dark in other places. This is life.

- People come and go in our lives. This can be seen in this story.

- People also are quick to judge. This can be hard for anyone. It must be very hard for a teen.

- Being a teen is not easy. Teens have to "grow up" and find their place in the world. Peer Pressure, the media and parent expectations do not help a lot.

- This is a diary which means we only get Allies views. This means we do get to know what other people are doing or thinking.

Some may consider this to have a happy ending, that happened a bit too quickly. again we do not hear much about Dad's recovery to health because Allie does not know. While this has a happy ending, it does not mean the challenges that Allie has is over. The things he experienced will affect him for life.

While this story seems to be a favourite with many, it is not my favourite. I do not even know if I am proud of it. This being said it was fun to write. I have decided that I will make a spin-off of this story, that will be fun to write and a better quality and structure.

Now here are some of the thoughts I had about the different characters in the story, which could include what I would imagine their future to be.

The Teacher: There have been different teachers in the story. Some did not understand Allie. They were some of the people that judged them. Other teachers promised help but did nothing. The last teacher did care about Allie and did her best to help. One area in which she failed is to protect him from Granny. She could have contacted Social Services. Teachers have an important role in a student's life. They are like an extended family. The education system failed Allie. The teachers did not give support. They even turned a blind eye to the bullying.

The crazy doctor: She used subliminal messages so Allie would think that it's okay to be feminine and even babyish. She used drugs to make him smaller, stop puberty and weaker. While the crazy doctor is very sci-fi-like, there is an element of reality here. Some doctors promote transgender issues so much that you wonder how much their influence has on a child's decision. There is also a question if giving puberty blockers or hormones is best for the child. There is more and more criticism of that later. When is a child too old to decide? The question here is if we have crazy doctors or doctors with their agenda in real life. This is one character I could have expanded upon.

Bellas's Grandmother : She was important at the start of the story. She represents the grandmother or aunt in many stories that have no problem punishing the child or teen by petticoat dressing or age regression. I would imagine some readers would love this while it provoked others to think it was abuse. Bellas's grandmother gave Bella a home when her parents could not accept her, but punished her by regressing her as a baby. Maybe it was a blessing that Bella went to a boarding school. When it came to Allie, the grandmother did support him by allowing him to dress as a girl. So she was a person that had a good side and a dark side.

Father Immer: This is a coward in the story. He understood that Allie was different and feminine at times. He tells Allie that he is always there for him and Allie could talk with him at any stage. Allie does not do this. There was no trust. This trust was crushed when Allie was kicked out of the choir. He was afraid of other parents' reactions and fear because of a different boy and they could not accept this. Fr. Immer could have stood up for Allie and told these parents that he was not a bad influence on their children. It was easiest for him to kick Allie out. Yet, it took him a long time to kick a bully out. He took away the one bit of happiness Allie had and only wanted Allie back when he was more normal. Father Immer represents the church that should protect people but turn a blind eye.