Author Archives

Melissahttp://www.missmeliss.com
Murder of Crows

TBM 1708.28 DDOP-28: A Murder of Crows

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Murder of Crows

Description:

Flash-fiction. Ravens and Crows aren’t quite the same bird.

Excerpt:

“I’ve grounded and centered and counted to ten – to fifty, even. I’ve done the incantation. I’ve drunk the calming tea, and no matter what I do, I cannot banish the thoughts of Unkindness for longer than a couple of minutes.”

“Unkindness? Unkindness?” The women tilted her head one way then another, peering at him from one bright eye at a time. “But, you’re not a Raven. You’re a Crow.”

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Photo Source: Flash-Prompt Facebook group.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:04 — 4.9MB)

TBM 1708.27 DDOP-27: Sunday Brunch: Thoughts on Community

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Description:

This week’s Sunday Brunch column – thoughts on Community.

Excerpt:

As is the nature of living organisms, Communities ebb and flow. Sometimes you’ll have intense relationships with only a few members of a community and more casual ones with the rest. Sometimes you’ll feel like there are people who don’t ‘get’ you, or you don’t really understand. I’ve come to learn that this is normal. It’s not bad or wrong, it’s just life.

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.

  • Photo Copyright: maglara / 123RF Stock Photo

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:01 — 9.5MB)

Sunbeam

TBM 1708.26 – DDOP-26: Vampire Fashion Tricks

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Sunbeam

Description:

Thomas Jancis reads “Vampire Fashion Tricks”

Excerpt:

“Results were inconclusive.”

“How so?”

“Well. Vlad didn’t combust or anything.”

“That seems conclusive to me.”

 

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Photo source: Facebook Flash-Prompt Group

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:33 — 3.4MB)

allef-vinicius-110498

TBM 1708.25 – DDOP-25: Truth and Power

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allef-vinicius-110498

Description:

“Truth” and “Power”  – two pieces of micro-fiction.

Excerpt:

“Sometimes,” I answered. “But sometimes Truth hides in darkness because it’s too real, or too painful, or because we aren’t yet ready to see it.” 

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

     

 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:48 — 3.4MB)

Age of Plastics Fish

TBM 1708.24 DDOP-24: The New Age of Plastics

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Age of Plastics Fish

Description:

Flash-fic, read by Selena Taylor. Life finds a way.

Excerpt:

She scooped the transparent fish out of the water, expecting it to gasp in desperation, but it seemed completely tranquil, suspended between her hands as content as it had seemed in the tide pool where she’d found it.  

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Photo source: Facebook Flash-Prompt group

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:31 — 3.1MB)

Vegetables

TBM 1708.23 – DDOP-23: Adventures in CSA

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Vegetables

Description:

This episode is SUPER RAMBLY! In a departure from her usual offering of stories, the Bathtub Mermaid discusses her first adventure with CSA.

Excerpt:

CSA – Community Sustained Agriculture. I received my first farmbox today. I was going to do a live unboxing, but it was too noisy – dogs were barking, a squall was forming. So I’m talking about it instead. Well, rambling, really.

 

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Photo by Alexandr Podvalny on Unsplash

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:55 — 14.2MB)

I am scared

TBM 1708.22 DDOP-22: I Am Scared

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I am scared

Description:

A little girl faces her fears… in jet blank ink.

Excerpt:

Mandy stopped using pencils when she was six, except for math. She moved beyond wide-ruled paper when she was seven, and they sent her to Special Education to learn cursive because the Advanced Reading workbook had bits of cursive in it. She likes writing in cursive, but some things have to be printed.

 

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image Source: Facebook Flash-Prompt Group.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:33 — 5.3MB)

Under Glass

TBM 1708.21 DDOP-21: Her Name Was Edith

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Under Glass

Description:

Inspiration comes from odd places… and sometimes things get creepy.

Excerpt:

As I was looking for art to help me write the story, I stumbled across an article from a few months earlier about a homeowner in the Lone Mountain neighborhood of San Francisco  – that’s the neighborhood around University of San Francisco, where I went to school – finding a sealed coffin under the garage floor during a remodel.

 

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image Source: Facebook Flash-Prompt Group.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:39 — 6.9MB)

Flash Prompt - Eagle Cane

TBM 1708.20 DDOP-20: Checking the Locks

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Flash Prompt - Eagle Cane

Description:

Some house noises are different than others.

Excerpt:

These doors don’t have the kind of locks that rattle, but if we’re sitting in the living room, just reading by the fire or maybe watching television (I admit, we watch far too much television) we sometimes feel a faint breeze, as if the seal between the two doors has been tested and found to be slightly lacking.

 

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image Source: Facebook Flash-Prompt Group.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:40 — 5.6MB)

Teddy Bear

TBM 1708.19 DDOP-19: It’s About Power

by

Teddy Bear

Description:

It’s about power…

Excerpt:

They stare up at me, waiting, their luminous eyes large, and tracking my every move. Every flash of my knife makes their heads twitch a little bit. Every time they hear the blade contact the wooden block they flinch slightly, moving one foot just a little bit, then easing it back into its starting position.

 

Links & References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is David Popper’s “Village Song” as performed by Cello Journey. This music came from the podsafe music archive at Mevio’s Music Alley, which site is now defunct.
  • Image Copyright: Personal collection.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:01 — 3.6MB)