; if slist is null, return empty
; otherwise, if it is a pair, recursively solve car and cdr and concat them
; if it is a symbol, return the symbol

(define flatten
  (lambda (slist)
    (cond
      [ (null? slist) '()]
      [ (pair? slist)
        (cons ((flatten (car slist)) (flatten (cdr slist))))]
      [ (symbol? slist) slist])))

procedure application: expected procedure, given: c; arguments were: ()

I did the trace:
> (flatten '(a (b c) d))
pair?-car-cdr
a
((b c) d)
symbol?
a
pair?-car-cdr
(b c)
(d)
pair?-car-cdr
b
(c)
symbol?
b
pair?-car-cdr
c
()
symbol?
c
(stops here)

(define flatten
  (lambda (slist)
    (cond
      [ (null? slist) '()]
      [ (pair? slist)
        (display 'pair?-car-cdr)
        (newline)
        (display (car slist))
        (newline)
        (display (cdr slist))
        (newline)
        (cons ((flatten (car slist)) (flatten (cdr slist))))]
      [ (symbol? slist)
         (display 'symbol?)
         (newline)
         (display slist)
         (newline)
        slist])))

(define flatten
  (lambda (slist)
    (cond
      [ (null? slist) '()]
      [ (pair? slist)
        (cons (flatten (car slist)) (flatten (cdr slist)))]
      [ (symbol? slist) slist])))

(display (equal? (flatten '(a (b a) b a c (a b) c (e f (b a)))) '(a b a b a c a b c e f b a)))
(newline)
(display (equal? (flatten '(a b c)) '(a b c)))
(newline)
(display (equal? (flatten '(a (b c))) '(a b c)))
(newline)
(display (equal? (flatten '((a)(b)(c) d)) '(a b c d)))
(newline)
(display (equal? (flatten '(a (b) ((c)) (((d))) ((((e (f g))))))) '(a b c d e f g )))
(newline)
(display (equal? (flatten '()) '()))
(newline)
(display (equal? (flatten '(a b () ())) '(a b)))
(newline)