Rocky Adventure

By

Patricia Shannon

Micko sat still on a rock, once formed by ancient volcanic activity, high above Lyttelton Harbour on the Banks Peninsula, New Zealand. He enjoyed the temporary peace and quiet of the hills surrounding him. Because of the difficult terrain, not many people disturbed this historic paradise, that is to say, until recently.

Groups of people in bright yellow and orange jackets and helmets on their heads had been on and off the rocks lately. It seemed to Micko that they were looking for someone or something. He didn't think much of it at first until he noticed a couple of his friends had disappeared without letting him know where they went. That was quite unusual and he wondered what was going on.

When the next lot of people came, he made sure he got close to them to see what they were doing. He got quite a shock when he realized his mates were captured by the humans and taken away! How awful! Why on earth would they do such a thing? It was unreasonable!

Today, no-one came, which was rather odd. On the other hand, he was glad, he could finally re-joice in the tranquility of his surroundings although he felt rather lonely without his friends. The day passed without any disturbances and during the night Micko was busy gathering his food.

The next morning, he was literally scared a few feet in the air by a terrible, awful loud noise which sounded like an explosion. Had the volcano sprung back to life? He panicked. If that was the case, he had to get the hell out of there! Another loud bang followed and he heard rocks tumbling down. Quickly he began to hurry away from the awful eruption. Yet he didn't get far. All of a sudden he was grabbed by a human hand and put into some sort of a sack. It was dark and scary. Micko's heart pounded and he felt sick. What would happen now?

“Hey, Mike! I just caught another one!” he heard a male voice shout. “Just in time before the next blast hits! We better take him to the others at Riccarton Bush!”

Micko felt movement and he knew he was carried away from his favourite rocks. It was an unnerving experience. After a while, they stopped moving, his temporary prison opened and he was allowed to scatter away freely.

Micko took off as quickly as he could and found a hiding place under an old tree trunk. When it got dark and there was no apparent danger, he began to investigate his new area. To his surprise and delight, he found his old gecko mates alive and well. He concluded that the humans had saved them all from a terrifying event and that his new home had beautiful gardens, parkland and native bush. His rocky adventure brought him a pleasant change of scenery.