An astonishing number of magazines invite short stories that are fantasies or science fiction, genres at which I’ve never been very good.

But the idea came to me one day of a shy older woman who moved into a retirement community such as the one in which I live, hesitant about getting to know the place, but is given a boost by an ancient aunt who unexpectedly arrives. In describing her, I made her sound a bit like Mary Poppins.

In the ensuing weeks, I got no nibbles, so I tweaked it a bit, making the aunt explicitly a Mary Poppins figure. That did it: “Aunt Carrie” is out now in Commuter Lit, a Canadian e-zine that specializes in short stories that can be read on the way to or from work, and welcomes “sci fi, fantasy, horror, mystery, romance . . ..”

You can read it => online