go pūkeko

As soon as our heads popped over the dunes we were greeted by the brisk onshore. We did our usual scan of the beach – let’s go left today. Yesterday we went towards the hills and found very little treasure, only a couple of unusually coloured shells.

We headed along the harder wet sand towards the pier. It was about mid-tide and the rippled sand flats were being nibbled away with each surge.

The shore was largely deserted; other than a person in the distance with a dog, there were pink and lime stripes cutting through the choppy swells that belonged to a kite surfer.

As we combed the waterline, an object came into view which rolled about in the surf. It wasn’t the usual log washed down the rivers in flood. This blob was a creature of some sort. And we could not tell if it was alive or dead which was often the case. It appeared bigger than a penguin, a seal, or a dolphin. We took a few steps closer to the dark lump now in the muddy shallows. Once we got close enough, we knew it was different, something we had never seen washed up before.

It was huger than we first thought, about twice the size of dad before he started to shrink. Once we got around a boat length away, we decided that was a safe distance to keep between us and the beast.

It appeared menacing, like a super fat greyish snake. Its head turned towards us revealing a pair of large dark eyes. Next a big set of jaws opened to expose rows of razorlike teeth. We jumped back. One question was answered, but why was it here? Maybe it was sick and dying? Possibly it had been injured or perhaps beaten up by a killer whale.

When the water sucked back, we could see spots on its grey underneath parts. In fact, it had lots of spots. These were its identifying mark, like the red patch on the back of dad’s old leather jacket. The beast was a leopard seal and it had come to Southshore. We glanced at each other with the same thought – it needs help. And quick. 

Home was at least ten blocks away so we headed up the nearest sand dunes and found a track. We ran as fast as our bare feet would allow on the freshly cut marram blades without coming a cropper.

A battered weatherboard bach came into view nestled amongst some bushy ngaios; surely it would have a house phone as most do now. We skipped across the concrete pavers and banged on the faded blue door.

Soon an eyeball stared at us through the peep hole. The door opened a crack and a tall larger lady peered down at us through thick rimmed glasses. Her long brown locks dangled upon a loud flowery dress. She sized us up then welcomed us in. We followed her into the hallway which had more bare patches than carpet. The lounge was cosy with a tatty striped sofa, and an unusual chair was wedged in the corner. The lady directed us to the sofa and we proceeded to tell her about the stranded beast and how it was in trouble.

Straight away she hobbled across the room and picked up the phone book. As she leisurely flicked back her hair, we could see a neck brace. Actually, we noticed all her movements seemed to be in slow motion. She even found it difficult to put her finger in the slots as she dialled the circle around. The lady didn’t speak any quicker either, we would look at each other waiting for her next word as she spoke to someone on the phone. Oddly, she didn’t seem that old. She looked about the same age as mum who is 37, which made it seven years since Dad went away.  

Eventually after the long conversation ended, she told us wildlife rangers would be out this afternoon.

We did a round of high fives and thanked her for the help then turned to leave.

But the lady said to stay for a bit and have a drink after all our good work.  She had recently made champagne, well a type of lemonade really, from the elderflower trees in her garden. We all sat with our plastic cups fizzing. The lady reclined in the chair opposite us, which looked like it was from a hospital.  

She started to tell us about her health. Her eyes were bad which meant she had to get stronger glasses every year. Her neck was so stuffed the brace was also required for sleep, and she had this RSI thing in all her fingers and both wrists. She suffered from constant achy backs and even when we knocked, she was lying flat on the floor. But on the bright side, she said her she could now sleep again at nights, and that her anxiety and depression were improving. Plus, she had lost fifteen kilos.

We told her we knew relatives recovering too, ones that had been addicts. There were even some mum knew that had wanted to end their lives.

She replied; yes indeed, it was a crisis for humanity, far worse than the Covid pandemics in the early 2020s. They had all been a generation of guinea pigs, lured into a world of digital devices and social media that increasingly encroached on and invaded their lives. The big corporates knew of the harm yet kept it secret, and even worse they spread misinformation. They employed psychologists to work out how to make the devices and apps more addictive so they couldn’t be put down – a limb that couldn’t be severed.

The devices were loaded up to be everything one needed – phone, text, email, camera, video call, calendar, clock, alarm, weather forecast, torch, shopping, banking, audio and video recorder, calculator, music player, radio, GPS, translator, timer, pedometer, tape measure, stopwatch, notepad, games, book reading, personal assistant, TV and movies, bookings and appointments, fitness coach, diagnosing medical conditions, heart monitor and more. Absolutely everything you can think of was crammed into the devices. They started controlling the humans.

We said wow, we hadn’t heard all the specific details like this, it sounded outrageously scary. It was lucky mum couldn’t afford all that digital stuff, so she was always on the outside of this technology world.  

The lady grinned and suggested we walk to the beach and check on the leopard seal. We thought that was a great idea and followed her out of the house. But told her we wanted to hear more later. In single file we all started to stroll the trail back through the lumpy dunes. We were eager to get over the high point so we could spot if the creature was still there. But she was in front and her steps were more like a shuffle with her two walking sticks. Eventually our toes skimmed down through the fine white sands and there it was, wallowing in the foam.

We all paddled in to above our ankles staying well back to avoid being lunch. And any deeper the lady might get toppled over and we’d have to rescue her. The leopard seal wasn’t moving as much but its eyes did seem to stare our way. The tide was a bit higher now and the leopard seal just let the waves crash into its face. It must be in a bad way as it didn’t even have the energy to lift its head. Trapped, is what came to mind, it wanted to break free yet it was imprisoned by its poor condition. A sizeable breaker rolled in and knocked it around almost on to its back, but with effort it managed to upright itself. We wanted to push it out, however, that would be too dangerous, and it would likely just return to the shore for its final moments.

“Tell me about your dad, only if you want to”, the lady asked. We told her that he had been in prison for some bad stuff he had done in the past. But he is way changed these days; at our monthly visits he shows us the wood carvings he makes inside. Dad learnt to do this in the prison and now he teaches other inmates. Religion has also become an important part of his life, and he regularly goes to the church in there. Dad is getting out on parole next week for good behaviour, but he won’t live with us. We will be able to see him more often though. The lady said, “Oh that must have been so hard for you all. How has your mum been through this?” We said mum has been strong and cared not only for us but for lots of other whanau who had been ruined by the digital harm.   

Right then the leopard seal let off a loud groaning yawn as it copped large mouthfuls of wash from a larger set. It was submerged more than ever now, close to drowning we thought. Still no sign of any rangers coming, no doubt they will be too late. The water swirled around our knees so we all edged backs towards the shoreline, still with the leopard seal in sight.

We prompted the lady to continue from the house and tell us what happened next. “Well,” she said, “everyone was carrying smartphones around with them 24/7 and could be interrupted at any moment. When they weren’t on their phone they were on a tablet, or a laptop or computer, or some other device screen. You couldn’t escape from the animated neon displays; they were everywhere, like a mirror on every wall. Humans hadn’t evolved to cope with such a rapid explosion of change as occurred with the digital technology era. Levels of anxiety, depression, isolation, self-esteem, cyber bullying, sleep and physical issues all dramatically increased until people started disintegrating. Millions and millions everywhere on the planet sought help, counselling and medical intervention, but these services got overwhelmed, and many of these professionals were addicts as well.”

That sounds crazy, like the end of the world stuff we said. She replied, “You are not wrong there at all, it was very touch and go. The Internet, which provided all the connectivity for the digital devices became like the wild west too. It was controlled by hackers, scammers, extortionists, and cyber criminals. So, with more and more of the population turning into addicts they became easier targets and it became a deadly mess. Countries lost control of being able to govern their own land and people, as the big tech companies had an iron grip on the whole world. Something had to give.”  She paused and checked on our new friend from the depths.

The leopard seal was getting knocked around by every wave. Smashed and rinsed, smashed and tumbled, smashed and rolled, it was like a wrecked ship about to go down in a storm. We shouted ‘Kia Kaha’ to it through the whistling wind but we knew it was no use. Its time had come.

She continued, “First came the uprisings which spread around the globe, then the final revolution happened not long after. Digital devices of all forms were destroyed en masse and discarded onto the pavements and streets, signalling the eventual entire dismantling of the digital infrastructure on earth and in space.”

Our minds were exploding with the information, we had known bits but this explained what our aunties and uncles had really been through. We asked the lady if she had also gone to one of them camps afterwards. She said yes, the Digital Detox Programme had been the most challenging thing in her life, it took months of hard work to start to find out who she was again. But nowadays all she felt was huge relief and she appreciated every moment being liberated.

We looked into her eyes; the teardrops ran off her reddened cheeks and blew into the salted sea. She reached out and held our hands then smiled, “It is heartwarming to see you both roam wild on the land with your futures ahead. I wish you all the best and especially with your new chapter having Dad finally out.”  

We thought about her words, but one thing still bothered us. It wasn’t our nervousness about the upcoming changes with Dad being released. Instead, we questioned the lady why people want to go about harming each other so much.

“Well, that’s a complex one. Let’s say humans have a strange way of seeing things. Advancements in aspects of our society are considered progression for our race even if it comes with destructive consequences which cause suffering”, she answered.

Suddenly, our heads looked up together. We scoured the whitewash – the leopard seal was gone. But a bit further out we were amazed to see its long torpedo-like body swimming strongly towards the deep.

We were relieved to see it return to its animal world.