Moeraki Boulders

‘They’re dinosaur eggs,’ Jamie said as he leapt from one boulder to the next. He turned around and gazed at the unusual spherical boulders of concrete-like rock that appeared at low tide, some in rows, clusters, or as isolated domes. Way cool, monster eggs from another world sat uncovered in his world.

Jamie had read up on the curious Moeraki Boulders on New Zealand’s Otago coast. They lay in the sand, estimated to weigh several tonnes, and stood about two metres high. Cracks traversed their surfaces, and calcite crystals lined their edges. Some were split, and some had missing chunks, whether from past souvenir hunters or from aeons of tidal weathering.

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, no, they’re not.’ His older sister, Claire, eighteen going on twenty-five, yelled as she dodged a wave of water that had washed across the sand. She glanced down at her shoes. Wrong choice this morning. She should have realised her younger brother would want to get up close and personal with this unique sight. She groaned in frustration—why couldn’t Dad take him to the boulders instead of telling me to have a nice day out with him? ‘I googled them this morning—they’re formed from Palaeocene mud and cemented into concretions sixty-five million years ago.’ She smiled. She was at university now—well, almost, the term starts next month—and wanted to project an image of quick intelligence.

‘I’ll prove it to you one day, when I’m a celebrated geologist slash palaeontologist. Then I’ll be the smart one in the family.’ Jamie yelled back mid-hop.

She heard a loud splash but chose to ignore his wet crisis.

###

The day had started perfectly: blue sky, warm, no wind. Jackets and sweaters sat in the car, parked above the beach near the cafe. However, by the time they walked down to the shore, the weather had changed. A light wind had begun to swirl the sand around them.

Claire instructed—‘Run off, but don’t do anything silly.’ She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering whether he ever listened to her.

‘Don’t worry, I’ve got this.’

Jamie, enthusiastic and hyperactive, or maybe just a typical twelve-year-old boy, ran off to rock-hop. He planned to investigate these phenomena thoroughly to determine their true origin. He snapped every minute detail with his mobile—photographic evidence of my upcoming discovery. Jamie nodded to himself with certainty.

His shoes were already soggy, and his clothes were splashed wet—a small price to pay for my being a great detective.

Claire glanced along the beach towards the cafe atop the cliff and saw that several full sightseeing buses that had pulled into the car park had finally disgorged their tourists onto the sand. All around her, she could hear cameras clicking and instructions to “stand there” and “take a photo, please”. Happy, snappy foreigners confronted Claire with eager hands outstretched, phones extended towards her. She graciously gave in to their demands.

A cold chill made Claire scan the horizon. She noticed a dark front of clouds had appeared out of nowhere on the right and was rapidly approaching them. The wind had begun to froth the waves, and her long, dark, salty hair, tangled and annoying, flapped in her face. ‘Okay, time’s up; we’re done here,’ she yelled, pushing her unruly strands aside and turning to Jamie.

She squinted into the sun with a hand over her eyes. No Jamie.

The first raindrops fell. Blimey, that’s quick. A squall enveloped them. Tourists ran up the staircase to the cafe, chased by the wind. The wind began to howl, hurling sand into Claire’s face. She struggled to stand. Her eyes stung from the pelting rain and salt spray. It really is time to leave, she gritted her teeth.

‘Jamie, where are you?’ She called. Now is not the time to play silly beggars.

She surveyed the beach. The last of the tourists had left, and she stood alone. A fear came over her. Claire hesitated, unsure what to do. Dad should be here. It’s his job to look after Jamie. She sighed. Perhaps Jamie had gone to the cafe when the squall hit, and she’d not noticed him in the melee of bodies rushing away.

Claire squared her shoulders. I’ve got this. Jamie’s probably already seated and eating. She turned and headed for the shelter of the cafe. She needed a coffee, and a cheese toastie would go down nicely. Claire wouldn’t mention to her stepmother and father that she had nearly lost … no, temporarily misplaced their only son.

###

Jamie awoke, unsure where he lay. One minute he had bent down to examine the gaping hole in a boulder he had fallen off—the next, he was nowhere. Jamie couldn’t describe the nothing—pitch darkness enveloped him, and the air was close, humid and warm. ‘Hello, anyone there?’ His voice sounded muffled. The hair on his arms tingled, and dread squeezed his guts. He lay on his back, his legs pulled up because his feet touched a wall. He tentatively extended his hands and felt soft, sticky mud. He slowly worked his fingers around and realised he lay inside a spherical, cocoon-like shell.

Something else quivered beside him—a thing with a heartbeat, slippery and gelatinous, wet and slimy like a raw egg. He poked it, and the sac wobbled. He screamed.

‘Claire, help me!’ He yelled, pounding on the walls. ‘I want to go home,’ he sobbed.

Later, he lay scrunched up tight as a ball, exhausted, his throat dry and sore. He wiped the tears from his eyes and took a deep breath. Think, man, what do you need to do? Then he yelled, ‘I’m getting outta here!’ The sound of determination in his voice helped.

He dug his fingernails into the wall and scraped at it. He stopped to feel for any indentation, any hint that he’d made progress. Yes, a slight depression. Fuelled by this small success, he attacked the wall with renewed vigour and soon detected crumbling as little clods of damp earth fell onto his hands and arms. He paused. What lay on the other side? It had to be better than lying here as food for the jello creature in the egg sack.

He found out within minutes. A trickle of liquid seeped through the hole he’d made in the wall. He tasted it, and it smelled salty—seawater. Soon, the trickle erupted into a spurt along with more earth as the cocoon wall tore apart under the water pressure. Jamie realised with horror, freak! I’m underwater, on the sea floor.

Whoomph. His confinement collapsed. Mud, silt and water gushed into his face. He spluttered in panic, pounding and shoving his way out of the cocoon. He assumed the dirt had buried the horrible jell-o creature beside him. At least, he hoped so. He kicked towards the shimmering blue light above and broke the sea’s surface. He gasped lungfuls of air, thankful to have escaped.

He spun around and spied the beach, only a few metres away. In a few swift strokes, he reached the shore, hauled himself out, and lay on the sand, shivering. The water was unbelievably cold. The air felt warm, though, and the sun shone brightly. He lay still, trying to gather strength and courage, and to reconcile his experience with what he knew. Had he slipped on the boulders, hit his head, gone underwater, dreamed this frightful nightmare, and woken in time before he drowned? Oh, boy, Claire’s gonna be super mad with me.

Jamie sat up at a noise. He glanced all around and saw no one. They must all be sheltering in the cafe. Claire would be there, wondering where he had been. Jamie didn’t want to disappoint her. He had beamed at her when, this morning, she had offered to take him to see the boulders, and he had grabbed her hand to lead her to the car. She had rolled her eyes at him, and he had taken it as her joking around.

Jamie ran towards the cafe, but the staircase had gone. He stopped and gaped at the embankment. That didn’t make any sense. He scrambled up the overgrown bank, thick with thorny bushes. It was no picnic—worse, he saw no cafe, car park, or roads. He blinked and chewed his lip. Have I got turned around and run in the wrong direction? Come on, this isn’t happening to me, he screamed silently.

He stared at an impenetrable wall of massive trees, bushes and vines. The forest exuded an ancient, even primal, vibe, alive with shrill calls, screams and cries. Animals were dying in there. Jamie paled, bent down and threw up. He wiped his mouth on his t-shirt with shaky hands. His legs felt weak, and he wanted to sit down, ring Claire and ask her to fetch him. He was lost—he wanted to go home, but his mobile had vanished, probably at the bottom of the sea. Where am I? He didn’t want to ask the other question.

Tussock grew along the bank and into the forest. He decided to stay where he was—it seemed safer. He looked skyward and glimpsed great whirling birds, or were they something else? Jamie grimaced. He instinctively knew he needed to stay out of sight. A bleached, dead tree lay in a tangle of branches within a metre, and Jamie quickly strode over to it and found a hidey-hole beneath. He’d checked for bugs and spiders. Who knew how big and deadly they might be?

Jamie steadied his breathing. He must face his worst nightmare. This place is not my world. I’ve gone through some gateway into the past. How did he know this? The several pterodactyls flying overhead pretty much gave it away. One landed nearby and let out a rippling cackle. Jamie swallowed his fear and glanced around for a weapon. A sharp stick would have to do. The giant eggshell that trapped him on the seabed confirmed the surreal nature of this prehistoric reality. He shivered and readied himself.

Jamie doubted Claire would believe him if he ever returned home to tell the bizarre story. He thought of his half-sister and choked back a sob. He was so proud of her when she received the acceptance letter for the Fine Arts programme at Uni. Dad and Mum had whistled and clapped, and they’d all gone out to dinner last week to celebrate.

###

The temperature plummeted, and the light shifted. Jamie poked his head out to glimpse a storm approaching from the sea, as before on the beach in his time zone.

The Pterodactyls had taken to the skies in a hurry, and so, too, he must leave to retrace his steps to the edge of the water, his way home. However, that would not be easy, because another giant creature rustled the treetops and, within minutes, would emerge onto the sandbank metres from where he hid. Jamie dreaded what it would be.

He gulped and stared at a colossal monster with alligator jaws and tree-trunk legs, its body armour-plated. He had no idea what this killing machine was called and had no intention of hanging around to find out.

The beast turned away from the sea as the sky lit up with lightning and thunder boomed as it rolled over the coast. It hesitated.

It must smell me, but now was not a good time to eat.

It roared so loudly that Jamie cringed and covered his ears. It lumbered slowly back into the forest.

Jamie broke cover and ran for the beach. He fought through the prickly scrub, tumbling down the bank to lie, winded, on the sand. His heart raced, and his throat constricted as fear screamed in his brain—get up and run! Lightning lit his path through the pelting rain, and he sensed the buzz and crackle of electricity as spears flashed and trees split behind him. He heard crashing and roars between the claps of thunder and turned to see what was coming.

Jamie nearly stopped in fright. In a lightning flash, a heavily jawed head with beady eyes that had clocked him stood out against the dark grey of the stormy sky. Shorter than a T-Rex, it came at speed.

It must have been on the beach and seen me take the tumble off the embankment. Jamie felt his throat go dry. He pumped his legs in a race for the sea. He could hear his ragged breathing edged with a choked-back sob. Jamie ran into the freezing water, unsure of what would happen. He believed this was what he must do.

The end would be over in a matter of minutes. He steadied himself for the moment of oblivion.

Everything went black.

###

He awoke on the sand as the tide washed over him. The sky had cleared enough for blue to peep through the shreds of cloud that remained from the squall.

Jamie glanced about and knew he was home—in his world. He saw tourists descend the stairs towards him. He leapt up and punched the air. ‘Yes! He had survived, but would he tell the story?’

He ran to the cafe and found Claire.

She was staring at her phone, frowning, unable to reach Jamie’s mobile. She looked up in relief, glad the situation hadn’t escalated. ‘Why didn’t you answer my call?’ she asked crossly. She took in his dirty, scratched face and noted his bedraggled appearance. ‘I ordered you chips, a burger, and a large Coke. They’re bringing them over shortly. I figured you were in the bathroom when I didn’t see you here.’ She peered at him. ‘You fell in, didn’t you?’

‘Yeah, sorry about that. Been in the bathroom trying to dry out.’ He smiled sheepishly at her. He desperately wanted to hug her, sob on her shoulder, and tell his tale of woe, glad to be home, but he checked himself. I’m a big boy now, and he was sopping wet.

‘Well, was it worth it?’ she asked.

Jamie blinked and stared at her. He didn’t need to study palaeontology—he’d lived it up close and personal. After a long pause, he said, ‘Yeah, I’m one hundred per cent convinced they’re dino eggs.’

The End

C 2025