Onepoto Domain

Billy entered Onepoto Domain , stepping onto the concrete pathways, kicking a rock and jumping into the soft grass. The yellow & gray public toilets and the busy car park were far away from Billy, but he could try walking near the lake.

As he came near the shallow end, he noticed the gloopy mud heaped alongside leaves and twigs. A drake or two paddled effortlessly across the water. People rode their bikes and scooters past him, staring. What were they staring at?

Billy’s seagulls, Squawker and Screecher were quite an odd pair. They had a black and brown eye, had black spots around their necks and they did something that made people flee in terror. What DID they do ? (You can guess.)

They snatched things from other families’ picnics. The three of them would run really fast so they scattered the pigeons and other seagulls. Then Billy would overturn the picnic mat, Squawker would make off with a sandwich and Screecher would topple over the scooters, causing more panic. Last of all, Billy would grab the dessert with his fat, doughy fingers and run.

He neared a large family picnicking between a nice spot with shade. He squished the daisies and clover while he got out his binoculars to see what food they had. He spotted sandwiches, bagels, cookies and….CAKE. Billy needed to get that.

“Looks like we’ve got a feast waiting for us!” hissed Billy to his seagulls.

And did his seagulls respond?

Of course they did! They were no ordinary seagulls. They were seagulls born in an accidental experiment (that mutated their DNA). They were bigger, meaner and could talk.

” Ooh! Cake, “chirped Squawker dangerously. “Shall we attack, Billy? Kraak!”

Billy nodded and Screecher screeched, “We’re all in for CAKE! Kraak!”

Squawker and Screecher were the height of a chair leg (the size of Billy’s lower leg) has squashed eyes, oversized beaks, incredibly small wings (the size of a children’s chapter book) and orange flippers. What’s more, their eyes vibrated with glowing fire and had a terrifying aura of meanness about them. Their eyes and ears were superb (super-vision and -hearing). Putakitaki, pukeko and ducks would fly away into the bushes. They scared pigeons and seagulls – even dogs. Just one look at them would cause them to bark, tweet and squawk in fear. Everybody clearly kept away from them. People looked forward to having them gone from the beautiful park.

So Billy and his bully seagulls leapt forward, scrabbling at the picnic basket. The family screamed in a strange language as their precious cake was snatched away by Billy. Their cat tried to defend the bagels, but the seagulls were bigger than a cat and they tossed the cat aside. Frightened, the mum and dad crammed the mat into the basket and ran. But Squawker and Screecher were still focused on the cookies (because their eyes and ears saw or picked up things far, far away).

“We won’t let em go until we’ve picked the cookies up!” they squawked “kraak!”

Then they flew with their tiny white wings, picking up speed, towards the unsuspecting family. Only the little brother and cat noticed, yelling and scratching air. Within a moment they had held on furiously to the bag of delicious oatmeal cookies, while the little brother and cat pulled it desperately. Then –

“SNAP!” The bag broke and scattered the cookies on the ground. The sister, mum and dad now tried to pick up the cookies on the ground.

But Billy would not let them. He whispered something inaudible to the family’s ears across the field and Screecher told Squawker. Together, they zoomed in to pick up the baking and escaped to Billy.

They sat down on the soft grass to eat their stolen food. Sandwiches, bagels, cookies – and the cake, which the cunning threesome bit into most happily.

The family scrambled towards the park exit, but Billy had one more surprise for them. He spat on them, and they shrank to the size of a piece of ash. Billy’s spit was tinged blue. 

And guess what? Billy wasn’t human after all.