“A space garden needs minerals, bright spots of cosmic dust, the light of millions of distant stars. A space garden needs hope, for it is an impossibility, this growth from barrenness, this a miracle of green.”
by Beth Goder
Tag Archives: Short Story
Mermaid Care
“Mermaids are solitary creatures that have little need for social contact with one another, much less with human beings. They prefer to avoid human contact. Humans, for their part, bewitched by centuries of myth and fairy tales, do not share that aversion. It is important to emphasize this fact: mermaids are wild animals.”
by Jonathan Crowe
Mermaid’s Hook
““Thank you for the gesture,” she hummed, uncertain of human customs, but imagining it was a gesture of apology and kin. “I am not hungry or injured, you should save it for yourself.”
The man seemed to understand and stopped regurgitating.”
by Liz Argall
What to Do After Receiving a Starlit Pearl
“When the starlit pearl arrives, place it against your skin immediately.
Do not take it off, for any reason.”
by Mari Ness
Past Waves
“On a typically gloomy October Tuesday I was sitting in the park tossing popcorn to the few pigeons around and feeling generally sorry for myself. Not surprisingly the park was, but for myself, deserted. As I sat there wondering just how much popcorn a pigeon had to eat before it fulfilled its minimum daily requirement of eight essential vitamins, I heard a faint and far off squeak. It was the merman.”
by Lawrence M. Schoen
Sunlit Surface, Depths Below
“He’d drown easier, she thinks, smoothing out the bright red bathing suit fabric, tugging it in place around her thighs, trying not to feel the hunger twisting in her gut, the craving for flesh and gristle, for tender meat to rip and tear.”
by Maria Haskins
Ryota the Kappa
“Ryota got off the train at a station in a fishing village. As he walked out of the station, a flyer posted on the wall caught his eye: “Apprentice Fisherman Wanted.” It also said, “All You Can Eat Fish.” Ryota had a weakness for fish. That’s because he was actually a kappa, a water goblin.”
by Yoshiro Takayasu, translated by Toshiya Kamei
Exchange (A Coral Study)
“‘Um, seaweed?’ I said. ‘I take it you’re majoring in marine biology. It’s like an aquarium in here.’
‘No, no, a terrarium,’ he said quickly. The word sounded poetic in his accent—short vowels, rolled and flipped R’s. ‘An aquarium would have water. There is no water in here.’”
by Katherine Quevedo
Cupid Under the Sea
“He smiles and cocks his head like I’m an endearing child. “I suppose I can ask you my question now.”
“Does it involve you, me, and a bucket of edible glitter?” I say, proving I’m no child.”
by Debra Goelz
Love Unlike Us
“When my father returned from work one day, he brought a bag of mermaid tears sewn into his sleeve so no one could steal it.”
by Beata Garrett
mermaids monthly 