When the last mermaid’s heart jolted to a stop, the monitors sang a siren song, calling harried doctors whose long white coats rippled like sea sails over breezy waters.
This story came out right around the time my mom passed away, so it reads different now than when I wrote it. I like to imagine that my mom’s the mermaid, still singing her song, and you can hear it when you close your eyes.
You can read the full story, Song of the Last Mermaid, at Merganser Magazine.
My flash fiction, “The Art of Truly Fixing Things,” is out now in Factor Four Magazine!
Samson had a way with metal, just like his father before him…. With nothing but a stern stare, he could uncrumple a bashed-in car frame. He could carefully coax rumbles from a worn-out engine. Samson didn’t talk much with customers, but he would pat a car’s door or hood and whisper, “That’s it. You’ve got it.”
I’m so happy to be able to share this story with the world. When the story idea first started to whisper to me, I was cleaning up stained glass that my grandfather had made, and I was thinking of his workshop. But I was also thinking hard about masculine roles, and what it means to be male, which is something I think a lot about in regards to my son and helping him find his place in this world. I wanted a stereotypical masculine man to embrace something outside of that stereotype, and have it be totally okay. I wanted this to be a story that pushes back against toxic masculinity, but do it in a sweet way.
I really hope you enjoy reading it! You can find the story at https://factorfourmag.com/the-art-of-truly-fixing-things-by-carol-scheina/.
The Pete Wood Challenge in Stupefying Stories has been so much fun to participate in over the years. For the final challenge, the prompt was “happy trails.” From there, I wrote The Unicorn Farm, and I’m so honored to have taken third place.
Mellie was seven when she discovered the unicorn farm. The unicorns’ brilliant coats glistened like sunbeams through raindrops. Manes floated like misty clouds.
Visit https://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-unicorn-farm-by-carol-scheina.html for the full story.
But what’s even better is that you can read ALL of the Pete Wood Challenge stories here: https://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2025/07/its-time-to-nominate-your-favorite.html
There are some amazing pieces of flash in this collection! They’ll only take a moment or two to read, but they’ll linger in your mind for much longer…..
This summer has been incredibly busy, and my website has been put a bit on the backburner. Still, I’ve had several stories come out recently! So while this announcement is delayed, believe me, I’ve been so excited to share these tales with the world!
First, there’s The Scent of a Thousand Homeless Footsteps, published in Small Wonders. This story was created following a prompt to write focusing on a specific sense. I decided to focus on smell, and how it can conjure up feelings of home.
We couldn’t take our land with us when we escaped the demon infestation, so I bottled up our familiar aromas. The tickling, about-to-sneeze bite in our nostrils when we ran through the nearby pepper fields. The musky odors of the riverbanks, strong with old fish and silty mud that made visitors curl their noses.
You can find my tale here: https://smallwondersmag.com/piece/the-scent-of-a-thousand-homeless-footsteps/
Next, there’s Ash Mothers, published in Factor Four Magazine. This one came to life as I drove past a neighbor burning leaves, and in my imagination, I saw hopes being burned up. But what if those hopes never fully disappear?
When a dream dies, it burns into ashes that then scatter through the atmosphere. Particles might settle alongside river shores, brush across waving treetops, alight on a deer’s fur. Maybe some will land in a human’s eye, drawing a tear that becomes a salty elegy for a future that will never be.
You can find the full story at https://factorfourmag.com/ash-mothers-by-carol-scheina/
The last story is The Fridged Wives Book Club, published in Flash Point Science Fiction. I’m one of those weird people who only heard the term “fridged wife” recently, but now that I’ve learned about it, I feel like I can’t help but see it everywhere. I wanted to give those fridged wives a voice, to let them be more than plot devices. And thus, this story was born.
I’ve already died when the book starts, but I’m featured in Chapter Two in an extended flashback. My husband and I were going to see the world together, and the author lingers on descriptions of our travel map with its blue pins waiting to be pushed into cities.
The full story is available at https://flashpointsf.com/2025/07/25/the-fridged-wives-book-club/
I do hope you’ll take a moment to read these stories, and also read all the other wonderful tales that Small Wonders, Factor Four Magazine, and Flash Point Science Fiction publishes!
A while back, I had a talk with my husband about those toys from our childhood that were lost. For me, it was a stuffed pink kitten holding a yellow ball, and I always went to sleep with her. My family moved when I was five, and during the move, my beloved pink kitty was lost. It’s funny how that loss still hits me all these years later. For my husband, his lost item was a book on myths, also lost somehow in childhood.
From that discussion, I sat down and wrote, “What Was Lost Can Be Returned,” out now in Hexagon Magazine.
Reviews call it the most magical shop in the marketplace, but there are no products displayed. Itʼs just an oily wooden stand with a rusty sign squeaking above. In faded gray paint are the lopsided words: “Return to You.”
Return what? you wonder. Reviews are suspiciously vague.
You can read more at https://hexagonmagazine.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/hexagon-issue-20.pdf
On the outside, there was no indication that the warehouse down the street from my apartment stocked its shelves with books from parallel universes.
A little tale of magical bookstores and finding the best you out there. I’m so honored to have my story, All These Inscriptions Are for Me, be featured in the latest edition of Translunar Travelers Longue.
You can read the full story at: https://translunartravelerslounge.com/2025/02/15/all-these-inscriptions-are-for-me-by-carol-scheina/
Tile repair was his specialty; still, he didn’t want to make it seem too easy a fix, or have anyone asking questions he couldn’t answer, so he took a few moments to talk to the sunshine-yellow bathroom tiles in apartment 6B.
From “What the Tiles Know,” out now in Interstellar Flight Press.
You can read the full story at https://magazine.interstellarflightpress.com/what-the-tiles-know-53fce8a2ebc7
There’s a lot of personal background in this story. My husband has a stutter, and I’m deaf, and we’ve often talked about how that makes communication difficult. But also, there’s the assumption that the reason we’re having difficulty communicating is because we’re not smart enough to follow the conversation. I wanted to challenge that assertion in this story, but also make it a love story. After all, my husband and I have never had any difficulty communicating to each other.
Mal keeps his scaly dragon lips tight when customers walk in, ensuring his generous spread of teeth remains hidden. Don’t smile.
You can read more in my story, “Give a Smile at Ye Old Photographie Shoppe,” out now in Flash Fiction Online.
For years, I’d been fascinated by those photography shops where you dress up in old clothes and get an artificially yellowed photo souvenir, and this story was my take on what happens when you put a dragon in those shops. I hope you enjoy this read!
The Terrific Tomorrows anthology is out now, with 26 fantastic science fiction stories! One of those stories is my own, “Love Notes in the Clockwork Zoo,” which I wrote when my hometown was in the midst of a cicada boom. This was the first time my children got to experience a massive cicada explosion, and they went from fear to love for the loud insects.
This story features cicadas, but it also features:
You can purchase the anthology on Amazon!
Terrific Tomorrows, an anthology of hopeful futuristic stories will be coming out soon. My story, “Love Notes in the Clockwork Zoo,” will be appearing in here! The cover design has just been released and it looks amazing!
Carol Scheina