Klaria avoided town. It was too close to the ocean.
She couldn’t control herself near the sea, the urge to take to the waves too strong. She’d already scared herself once by nearly drowning. It turned out she wanted life more than she wanted to go home.
Twenty-five years ago, Klaria’s husband stole her crab shell, forcing her into a life in human form, as his wife. Klaria thought she’d accepted her fate, until her niece arrives at Klaria’s mountain home begging for help.
Humans have spread all along the coast, nowhere is safe for the Crab-folk to come ashore. But there is good news. They’ve found Klaria’s shell.
Can Klaria really return home, after all this time? But even if she does, what help could she possibly be to her family?
Fantasy, Literary, Short Story
About The Author
Heather Ewings is an Australian author of speculative fiction.
She has a MA in History and an interest in myth and folklore from around the world.
She is the author of over 40 short stories, and 4 books: What the Tide Brings (2020), Maggie and the Selkie (2020), Not Entirely Human (a collection of twenty microfiction) (2023), and Klaria’s Battle (2025).
Her time travel novella ‘Fixing Kendra’ (as yet unpublished) received an honorary mention in the Stillhouse Press 2022 novella competition.
Heather lives on the lands of the Pallittorre people of Northern Trowunna/Tasmania, where she homeschools her youngest daughter, makes beeswax candles, and generally makes a shambles of the veggie garden.
