The Little Mermaid Turned Forty, by Alice Kinerk

Prose, chapbook, 36 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Cinderella, after the marriage, becomes a revolutionary. Some kids uncover a giant pacifier buried in the woods. Unicorns are born accidentally out of farts and prance around the cul-de-sac, wreaking havoc. The five itty-bitty stories in this eensy–weensy collection infuse magic into the mundane, silliness into the sober. They ask the question What if, and they answer it with a smirk.

The Little Mermaid Turned Forty is for people who think real life has grown kinda dull. It is for dreamers who look around and see a washed-out, watered-down world. It is for anyone who finds themselves grin-and-bearing-it through these dark days. Anyone who could use a respite from reality. In short, The Little Mermaid Turned Forty is for all of us.

When she isn’t poking away at her keyboard, Alice Kinerk enjoys reading, cooking new-to-her recipes, and jogging along the quiet country roads near her house. Her dog likes to snooze alongside her as she writes, but has developed the remarkable ability to wake himself up as soon as the laptop shuts in order to receive the chin-scratch that inevitably follows. Her work has been nominated for the Best Microfiction anthology, and she has published in Colorado Review, North American Review, Terrain.org, and elsewhere. Read more at alicekinerk.com.