...More like claws hoofs, they were ridged with thimble-like pitting, curving down. I had seen paronychia and ingrowing toenails, but nothing like this.

"Clive! You can't walk about like that! You must book into outpatients tomorrow!" I used the brisk voice at which patients fell silent.

"Yeah, I'll go." He averted his late.

"C'mon, Clive, that must be so painful! You can't walk properly."

"I'll ... go. I know where it is. It'll hurt now, won't it," he finished lamely.

I'd bought the cottage almost without looking at it. During my lunch break. Drove by with the agent, twice, in the rain. Stared at the two cypress trees darkening the windows.

"I'll take it."

The agent had struggled between avarice and alarm, his practised speech, "... sundrenched, leafy, character-filled three-bedroomed cottage, walking distance to Echo Point, great opportunities to modernise", hanging in the air between us. I'd been there three weeks and was still getting used to how the cupboard doors liked to be opened and closed.

In the calm shadows of that street, your eyes quickly found those of your neighbours. That's how I met Clive. I'd seen a shuffling figure next door the day I moved in. He spent hours on his side verandah, straight-backed, on a wooden seat. Two dried-up palms flanked the top step.

His eyes followed me as I prowled about my new garden, wondering where to begin. Twisted crab apples looped with creepers blended into the dark power...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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