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The Man Across the Hall

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

The man across the hall When I open my door, he shuts his, and he opens it again when mine shuts. It’s like we have a rope tied to the handles across the corridor. He creeps out when he thinks I’m not looking – but I am; I’m peeking through the spyhole I use to check who’s at the door: politicians peddling policies, Jehovah’s Witnesses peddling salvation. I invite some of them in, the ones I think might be entertaining, and we have long chats. Not the neighbours though, and certainly not the man across the hall. One day there … Continue reading The Man Across the Hall

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Speckles in the Sky

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

‘Coming on nicely,’ said the man jogging by. ‘Nearly there.’ Lynda turned to check out the source of this odd intrusion. Her heels spun and she almost lost her balance; damn council, leaving the pavements in disrepair. She twisted back again and found herself rotating the other way, like a rapper’s disc on a concrete turntable. Maybe it wasn’t the pavement, maybe it was the wine … ‘Last day, today.’ It was him again, and it wasn’t quite a question. Lynda turned and the turn became a twirl. She winged out her arms for stability. Definitely the wine! As a … Continue reading Speckles in the Sky

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Out of Time

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

‘Stop it right now, you dizzy tart!’Marissa Nalletamby was giving herself a telling-off in front of the mirror.‘He’s married, you’re married. You don’t even like him much. Dresses like a nerd. Probably a control freak’Her brain delivered moral rectitude and the logic of actuarial evidence but her body knew better and overrode it with a wistful sigh that steamed up the cold glass on the wall.They had met, the two couples, at a neighbour’s anniversary party four years ago and, while there had been no common ground upon which to build a more than superficial relationship, Marissa had found herself … Continue reading Out of Time

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speculative fictionLeave a comment

Not blue, not fresh, not ever free

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

The sea had embroidery at its edges. It cast a frill of pretty ruffles over the pebbles and sank like fine silk in between them before the giant in the deep ocean turned over in his sleep and drew it back. Sometimes, the sea came in as light and instead of weaving threads in and out amongst the grains of sand and bits of shell, it picked out clefts and promontories, little islands in miniature and brightened them out of the shade. When it did this, Josie looked for the inhabitants of the islands, crouching close and lifting small stones … Continue reading Not blue, not fresh, not ever free

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sci fi, science fact and fiction, speculative fictionLeave a comment

All Creatures

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

All creatures … As the snow began to fall on her upturned face, Addie remembered those winters when it had been possible to think of spring. Not now though. Not since the impact. How many megatonnes had gone up? She couldn’t recall, and anyway, what did it matter? Addie pulled the perspex snow screen down over her eyes and the connecting buff up over her nose, clipped the two together with a solid clack. She tapped at the thermometer gauge on her wrist – minus 40oC; balmy, she thought, trying to raise a frosted eyebrow in an ironic arch. ‘Mush! … Continue reading All Creatures

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