From the re-cycler ; ‘Lovely Girls’ is a story about the life of a young woman in an institution for people with learning disabilities. Amy watches the door; that grimy, finger-stained, gobbed-on portal to fleeting respite from the chronic stink that makes her eyes water. First published by The Other Room Journal, it moved to Scribd when TORJ ceased operating. 1999 words. Continue reading ‘Lovely Girls’
Mrs Wilberforce, fending off the attentions of her visitor and bending forwards in an attempt to field the low grasps of his hands, while also pulling at the leg of her outfit, was reversing into the street, presenting a set of cheeks such as might be seen in an exotic zoo. 7269 words in the fine spirit of farce. ‘Emily Buckingham and the Major’s Madam‘, a paid download from Ether Books, September 2014. Continue reading ‘Emily Buckingham and the Major’s Madam’
“The ambient light is the colour of swamp fog; I am suspended from the ceiling in a net like a balloon at a solstice party; and there is a worm in my mouth. This has to be the mother of all hangovers.” On Readwave Continue reading ‘Sequenced Heir, Nipped Rind’
Eight Days of Ether: every day a new theme and only 24 hours to submit. Day 7 – Family Daniel’s Level. ‘The army? Him?’ Jacqui is stunned. Sophie though, is intrigued. Steve doesn’t look army, he looks – gamey. A little bit sci fi but with some fancy reality underpinning it – the US army really has been recruiting via online video games (MMOGs[1]). Virtual reality is being used in all sorts of ways – including treating soldiers for PTSD, and training doctors and paramedics in both basic and emergency medicine[2]. Sadly, Ether Books is no longer with us so here’s … Continue reading ‘Daniel’s Level’ – Eight Days of Ether
An antidote to the recent leg-crosser, Fat Fairies is another sideways look at how the universe works – maybe. In Zouch Magazine today: Back in the day, Fat Fairy’s life was an unmitigated misery; at least during the episodes not involving jam sponge or double cheese pizza. She was surrounded by gaggles of thin, twinkly fairies who flitted and flounced through the air on gossamer wings, while her wings were more like the carapace of a large bug. Read More: http://zouchmagazine.com/fiction-how-the-fat-fairies-saved-the-world-dr-suzanne-conboy-hill-short-story-month/#ixzz32oYiOyJT Continue reading ‘How the Fat Fairies Saved the World’
Finalist in the 2013 Lascaux Short Story competition. ‘Puddles like Pillows’, is a little piece of speculative fiction in which gravity suddenly reverses its influence. Published byZouch Magazine, August 28th, 2013, it is still on the Editors Choice list today. After a while, with the streets and parks getting less cluttered, it started to look as if some cosmic recycler had dropped by to tidy us up. So then people stopped using the bins and just hung about with their cameras waiting for their banana skin or whatever to take off. Just a little bit pleased. Full Text Puddles … Continue reading Puddles Like Pillows – Lascaux Finalist
Dog Day Within the hour, all four were done up like dogs’ dinners, installed in a stretch limo with cheesy piped music, and deposited in front of a gilded reverend of questionable denomination. ‘Dog Day’ is the story of an easy marriage that rumbles along until the social wheels fall off. For Alice and Frank, this could be a breaking point. On Ether Books today. Continue reading It’s a Dog Day on Ether
Lovely Girls is a story about the dismal and abusive life of a woman admitted as a young girl to a large institution in the early 20th century. It was first published in 2011 by The Other Room Journal which has now ceased operations and finally removed its archives. Here it is re homed to This Personal Space. Continue reading ‘Lovely Girls’
Time like the present Arthur inspected himself: shirt, pullover, trousers (with belt), and sock. Just the one sock. The other was stranded on the end of his foot like a piece of flotsam at high tide, a pixie hat of ruched wool with a holly pattern woven into it. Bugger! Arthur took a deep breath, coughed rousingly, and geared up for another assault. Rocking himself forwards in his seat, he rode the impetus towards his target, now illuminated by a sliver of sunlight angling in between the still closed bedroom curtains. Aha – a bomber’s moon! In my sights now, … Continue reading ‘Time Like the Present’
Dr Suzanne Conboy-Hill 