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TBM-Mirror Mirror: Day Four

4 October 2025 by Melissa

Mirror-Mirror-Logo

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TBM-MirrorMirror-DayFour.mp3

Description:

Those Behind the Glass
Outside time. October fourth.

We are patient. We have always been patient. We wait at the edge of your vision, still as furniture, harmless as air. You mistake obedience for loyalty. That amuses us.

✨ Mirror, Mirror runs throughout October on Tales from the Tub. Subscribe so you don’t miss a reflection.

Episode Cast:

Melissa A. Bartell

Links and References

Transcript: Mirror Mirror: Day Four

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid blog header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.
  • Music for this episode is Darkest Child by Kevin MacLeod via UppBeat

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.

 

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TBM-MirrorMirror-DayFour.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:56 — 5.0MB)

Mirror Mirror Tales from the Tub FictionFlash FictionGhostsMelissa A BartellMirror MirrorMirrorsMissMelissMonologues

TBM-Mirror Mirror: Day Three

3 October 2025 by Melissa

Mirror-Mirror-Logo

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TBM-MirrorMirror-DayThree.mp3

Description:

Plano, TX. Twenty twenty-five. October third.
Clients trust me with their heads. They sit in the chair, drape the cape, and give me permission to change how they look. But lately I don’t trust my own mirrors.

✨ Mirror, Mirror runs throughout October on Tales from the Tub. Subscribe so you don’t miss a reflection.

Episode Cast:

Nuchtchas

Links and References

Transcript: Mirror Mirror: Day Three

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid blog header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.
  • Music for this episode is Darkest Child by Kevin MacLeod via UppBeat

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.

 

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TBM-MirrorMirror-DayThree.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:48 — 3.6MB)

Mirror Mirror Tales from the Tub FictionFlash FictionGhostsMirror MirrorMirrorsMonologuesNuchtchas

TBM-Mirror Mirror: Day Two

2 October 2025 by Melissa

Mirror-Mirror-Logo

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-MirrorMirror-DayTwo.mp3

Description:

Cambridge. Twenty twenty-five. October second.

I didn’t mention it at first—sounded like the sort of story people put online for clout. But it happened in the gents, brushing my teeth before lecture. My eyes blinked. The reflection blinked after, like it was playing along. I told myself I was knackered. Revision, too much caffeine. Easy excuse.

✨ Mirror, Mirror runs throughout October on Tales from the Tub. Subscribe so you don’t miss a reflection.

Episode Cast:

Thomas Jancis

Links and References

Transcript: Mirror Mirror: Day Two

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid blog header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.
  • Music for this episode is Darkest Child by Kevin MacLeod via UppBeat

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.

 

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-MirrorMirror-DayTwo.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:48 — 3.2MB)

Mirror Mirror Tales from the Tub FictionFlash FictionGhostsMirror MirrorMirrorsMonologuesThomas Jancis 1 Comment

TBM-Mirror Mirror: Day One

1 October 2025 by Melissa

Mirror-Mirror-Logo

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-MirrorMirror-DayOne.mp3

Description:

October First

You remember the rules. Don’t look in a mirror in the dark. Don’t keep a cracked one. Don’t catch your sleeping face in a black screen at three a.m. You learned them from neighbors and grandmothers and the hush that follows a flicker in the hallway. You pretend you don’t believe them. You still keep them.

✨ Mirror, Mirror runs throughout October on Tales from the Tub. Subscribe so you don’t miss a reflection.

Episode Cast:

Melissa A. Bartell 

Links and References

Transcript: Mirror Mirror: Day One

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid blog header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.
  • Music for this episode is Darkest Child by Kevin MacLeod via UppBeat

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.

 

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-MirrorMirror-DayOne.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:56 — 4.4MB)

Mirror Mirror Tales from the Tub FictionFlash FictionGhostsMirror MirrorMirrorsMonologues

TBM-Mirror Mirror: Day Zero

30 September 2025 by Melissa

Mirror-Mirror-Logo

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-Mirror-Mirror-Day-0-.mp3

Description:

Before the stories begin, here’s a short introduction to Mirror, Mirror — a cycle of thirty-one monologues. Each one is a self-contained tale, but together they create a larger arc. Some are strange, some unsettling, some surprisingly tender, all centered around the ways we see ourselves… and what looks back.

Day Zero sets the stage. Think of it as a prologue, a quick welcome before we step into the glass.

✨ Mirror, Mirror runs throughout October on Tales from the Tub. Subscribe so you don’t miss a reflection.

Other Voices:

N/A

Links and References

Transcript

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid blog header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.

 

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-Mirror-Mirror-Day-0-.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:57 — 2.1MB)

Tales from the Tub FictionFlash FictionGhostsMirror MirrorMirrorsMonologues

TBM-2509.26 – Mermaid Minute: Pearls and Pressure

26 September 2025 by Melissa

MeMe Orange Swimming

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM250926-MermaidMinuteFull-PearlsandPressure.mp3

Description:

Hello and Ciao, my awesome abalones 🐚💎
Today, MeMe del Mare dives into how pearls are really made—not from perfection, but from grit, irritation, and transformation. Just like us.

💬 “Every time someone calls you too much, too loud, too strange—that’s just the grain of sand. What you build around it? That’s your shine.”

🎧 Listen now to hear how mermaids turn trouble into treasure.

#MermaidMinute #KeepSwimmingAndResist #PearlsOfWisdom #PodcastClip #MermaidLife

 

Links and References:

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub and Mermaid Minutes are written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • BathtubMermaid.com header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.
  • Music clip for this episode is Jolly Roger from Studio Kolumna via Uppbeat (License code: TJPGJXYBWHI7FCUG)

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM250926-MermaidMinuteFull-PearlsandPressure.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:47 — 3.0MB)

Mermaid Minute Mermaid Monday Tales from the Tub kep swimmin and resistMe-Me del MareMermaid MinutePearlspearls of wisdom

TBM-2509.22 – Mermaid Minute – Ice Cream Cone Day

22 September 2025 by Melissa

MeMe Orange Swimming

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-2509.22-Mermaid-Minute-Ice-Cream-Cone-Day-.mp3

Description:

But the best part about ice cream isn’t the cone—it’s the flavors. Landwalkers, you’ve got everything from vanilla bean to rocky road, cotton candy swirl to that weird pickle flavor some hipster dreamed up.

#audio #short #humor #mermaidminute #memedelmare #icecream #icecreamcones #nationalicecreamconeday

Links and References:

  • National Ice Cream Cone Day
  • Complete History of Ice Cream Cones 

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub and Mermaid Minutes are written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • BathtubMermaid.com header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.
  • Music clip for this episode is Jolly Roger from Studio Kolumna via Uppbeat (License code: TJPGJXYBWHI7FCUG)

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-2509.22-Mermaid-Minute-Ice-Cream-Cone-Day-.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:22 — 2.5MB)

Mermaid Minute Mermaid Monday Tales from the Tub Anne BonnyMary ReadMe-Me del MareMermaid MinuteTalk Like a Pirate Day
Phantom Ship

TBM-2509.19-Sea-and-Stars

19 September 2025 by Melissa

Phantom Ship

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-2509.19-Sea-and-Stars-.mp3

Description:

Tonight I have not just one story, but three—threads of salt and myth, memory and resistance—woven from sea and sky.

We’ll begin with a queen on the waves and a lieutenant among the stars.

We’ll slip next into the Bay that pretends to bless but always demands her price.

And finally, we’ll meet the Phantom of the Anclote, bound to a mermaid’s bargain, forever turning storms aside.

#audio #talesfromthetub #essays #shortstories #flashfiction #pirates #ghosts #mermaids #storms #startrek

Links and References

Free Women of Sea And Stars
The Bay that Storms Forget
The Anclote Phantom and the Mermaid’s Debt 

 

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.
  • Music for this episode is by StudioKolumna 

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.

 

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-2509.19-Sea-and-Stars-.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:16 — 31.0MB)

Tales from the Tub EssaysFictionFlash FictionGhostsMermaidsPiratesStar TrekWomen of DDOP

TBM-2509.19 – Mermaid Minute – Talk Like a Pirate Day

19 September 2025 by Melissa

MeMe Orange Swimming

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-2509.19-Mermaid-Minute-Talk-Like-a-Pirate-Day-.mp3

Description:

So it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day. Which means every landwalker with a striped shirt and a “yarrr” thinks they’ve unlocked the mysteries of the seven seas. Cute. But let’s not forget: the most fearsome pirates weren’t just swaggering men with parrots on their shoulders. Oh no. Some of the sharpest swords, fiercest tempers, and cleverest strategies belonged to women.

#audio #short #humor #mermaidminute #memedelmare #talklikeapirateday #talklikeapirate #annebonny #maryread #femalepiratesruledthewaves

Links and References:

  • International Talk Like a Pirate Day
  • Anne Bonny
  • Mary Read

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub and Mermaid Minutes are written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • BathtubMermaid.com header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.
  • Music clip for this episode is Jolly Roger from Studio Kolumna via Uppbeat (License code: TJPGJXYBWHI7FCUG)

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-2509.19-Mermaid-Minute-Talk-Like-a-Pirate-Day-.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:12 — 2.5MB)

Mermaid Minute Mermaid Monday Tales from the Tub Anne BonnyMary ReadMe-Me del MareMermaid MinuteTalk Like a Pirate Day

TBM-2509.15 – Mermaid Minute: Tide Travel

15 September 2025 by Melissa

MeMe Orange Swimming

https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-250915-MermaidMinute-TideTravel.mp3

Description:

Landwalkers love to dream about time travel. DeLoreans, phone booths, police boxes. All that fuss about machines to visit the past or peek into the future. But mermaids? Honey, we’ve been at it for centuries — only we don’t call it time travel, we call it tide travel.

#audio #short #humor #mermaidminute #memedelmare #tidetravel #timetravel

Links and References:

  • Tides and Currents
  • Time Travel: Is It Possible?

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid header art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Sound Effects are from Freesound.

Contact:

  • BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
  • Facebook: MissMelysse
  • Instagram: @Melysse
  • Mastodon: @Melysse
  • Email: missmelysse@gmail.com
  • Or, leave a comment on this page.
https://www.bathtubmermaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TBM-250915-MermaidMinute-TideTravel.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:22 — 2.5MB)

Mermaid Minute Mermaid Monday Tales from the Tub Cloud Appreciation DayMe-Me del MareMermaid Minute

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The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub © 2013 by Melissa A. Bartell is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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  • 2604.05 – Mermaid Minute: Happy Easter 5 April 2026
  • TBM-260315-Salt, Coffee, Showtime 14 March 2026
  • TBM-2512.24 – Dog Days of Advent: Midnight 24 December 2025
  • TBM-2512.23 – Dog Days of Advent: Sled 23 December 2025
  • TBM-2512.23 – Dog Days of Advent: Gift and Train 23 December 2025
  • TBM-2512.22 – Dog Days of Advent: Ritual, Thread, and Magic 22 December 2025
  • TBM-2512.17 – Dog Days of Advent: Candle 17 December 2025
  • TBM-2512.16 – Dog Days of Advent: Icicle 16 December 2025
  • TBM-2512.15 – Dog Days of Advent: Flare 15 December 2025
  • TBM-2512.14 – Dog Days of Advent: Harbor 14 December 2025

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What I’m Writing: MissMeliss.com

15 Minutes to Showtime

15 Minutes to Showtime

There’s a superstition in our band: no one says the word good before we go on. You can say loud, tight, let’s try not to break anything expensive, but never good. That’s jinx bait.

FictionAdvent 24: Midnight

FictionAdvent 24: Midnight

Jean—called Grandma Love by strangers more often than family—felt that familiar tilt in the air. The almost-midnight tilt. Midnight wasn’t a time so much as a mood, a soft doorway between one thing and the next. She’d always been good with doorways.

FictionAdvent 23: Sled

FictionAdvent 23: Sled

She dragged it through the fresh snow to the small hill behind the apartment complex. The cold bit at her cheeks. The air smelled like minerals and ice—Earth winter, not Mars. He’d always said he missed winters most. 

She set the sled down.  Ran her glove over the wooden slats.  Felt her heartbeat double-tap behind her ribs.

Then she climbed on.

What I’m Reading: Bibliotica

Book Review: No More Tomorrows by Olivia Lockhart & Hal Lambert

Book Review: No More Tomorrows by Olivia Lockhart & Hal Lambert

If you enjoy romance that asks bigger questions—about time, identity, and what it means to choose a life—this is a satisfying and emotionally layered read that lingers well beyond the final page.

Book Blast: The Last Fairy Witch, by Jean M. Roberts

Book Blast: The Last Fairy Witch, by Jean M. Roberts

Hannah Heronstone appears to have everything—a devoted husband, a beloved child, and a thriving business built on ancient herbal knowledge.

Book Review: Hidden Truth, by C.D. Steele

Book Review: Hidden Truth, by C.D. Steele

Steele clearly knows how to weave together complex story lines, and the dialogue throughout the book felt rich and convincing. He also demonstrates a willingness to tackle difficult subject matter without shying away from it, which I respect.

Previously

  • April 2026
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  • August 2013

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