The Bathtub Mermaid
The Bathtub Mermaid
Recent Episodes
Description:
Welcome to the Dog Days of Advent. I made a list of prompts, and wrote a bite-sized story for each one. They don’t live in the same universe, but they’re all a little off-kilter from what you might expect from holiday fare. And if you pay attention, you’ll notice that the last line of each story becomes the first line of the next. Today’s prompt is Wander
Excerpt:
One by one, they step into the starlit desert. Their glow grows brighter as they move away, pale lights bobbing like will-o’-wisps across the dunes. She watches until they’re only a constellation of tiny sparks at the edge of sight.
Episode Cast:
Links and References
- Transcript: Wander
- Dog Days of Advent
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 and Music are from Freesound and UppBeat
Contact:
- BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
- Facebook: MissMelysse
- Instagram: @Melysse
- Mastodon: @Melysse
- Email: [email protected]
- Or, leave a comment on this page.
Description:
Welcome to the Dog Days of Advent. I made a list of prompts, and wrote a bite-sized story for each one. They don’t live in the same universe, but they’re all a little off-kilter from what you might expect from holiday fare. And if you pay attention, you’ll notice that the last line of each story becomes the first line of the next. Today’s prompt is Ember/Spark
Excerpt:
The circle widens, ripples spreading, and the two species drift into a shared rhythm — some with hands, some with arms, all with joy. In their mingled glow, something ancient rises, older than language or gravity: the understanding that warmth is not bound to flame, and family not bound to form.
Episode Cast:
Links and References
- Transcript: Ember/Spark
- Dog Days of Advent
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 and Music are from Freesound and UppBeat
Contact:
- BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
- Facebook: MissMelysse
- Instagram: @Melysse
- Mastodon: @Melysse
- Email: [email protected]
- Or, leave a comment on this page.
Description:
Welcome to the Dog Days of Advent. I made a list of prompts, and wrote a bite-sized story for each one. They don’t live in the same universe, but they’re all a little off-kilter from what you might expect from holiday fare. And if you pay attention, you’ll notice that the last line of each story becomes the first line of the next. Today’s prompt is Frost.
Excerpt:
“It’s the longest night,” he says. “Not for sorrow — for balance. The dark gives the light a place to return to. Winter holds the world still, just long enough for hope to gather its breath.”
Episode Cast:
Links and References
- Transcript: Frost
- Dog Days of Advent
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 and Music are from Freesound and UppBeat
Contact:
- BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
- Facebook: MissMelysse
- Instagram: @Melysse
- Mastodon: @Melysse
- Email: [email protected]
- Or, leave a comment on this page.
Description:
Welcome to the Dog Days of Advent. I made a list of prompts, and wrote a bite-sized story for each one. They don’t live in the same universe, but they’re all a little off-kilter from what you might expect from holiday fare. And if you pay attention, you’ll notice that the last line of each story becomes the first line of the next. Today’s prompt is Snowglobe.
Excerpt:
The lights above them pulse, soft as breathing. She remembers that first storm — the fear of the power failing, the scramble to secure the greenhouse domes, the way they’d worked side by side in the cold until dawn. That was when it began, really: not the flirtation or the laughter, but the quiet respect that came from surviving something together.
Episode Cast:
Links and References
- Transcript: Snowglobe
- Dog Days of Advent
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 and Music are from Freesound and UppBeat
Contact:
- BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
- Facebook: MissMelysse
- Instagram: @Melysse
- Mastodon: @Melysse
- Email: [email protected]
- Or, leave a comment on this page.
Description:
Welcome to the Dog Days of Advent. I made a list of prompts, and wrote a bite-sized story for each one. They don’t live in the same universe, but they’re all a little off-kilter from what you might expect from holiday fare. And if you pay attention, you’ll notice that the last line of each story becomes the first line of the next. Today’s prompt is orbit.
Excerpt:
Below her, ribbons of green and violet curl across the poles, shimmering like breath against the night. It’s not the first aurora she’s seen from orbit, but this one feels different — brighter, alive. She thinks of the Christmas lights her father used to hang along the eaves of their house, blinking patterns that never quite synced. He’d laugh every year and say, “Perfection’s overrated, sweetheart. Just make it shine.”
Episode Cast:
Links and References
- Transcript: Orbit
- Dog Days of Advent
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 and Music are from Freesound and UppBeat
Contact:
- BlueSky: @melysse.bsky.social
- Facebook: MissMelysse
- Instagram: @Melysse
- Mastodon: @Melysse
- Email: [email protected]
- Or, leave a comment on this page.