On the Move

Baby Pierre looked back at the Jellyfish Oracle's rock. There was Ageless, comfortably perched on the edge, nattering away about something. No wonder Lavender was impatient. Baby Pierre was feeling pretty impatient himself. Perhaps it was time to say something.

Ageless and the Jellyfish Oracle were talking about Kobo.

And how is dear Kobo? asked the Jellyfish Oracle.

Oh, much the same, said Ageless. Being a fossilised clam means you don't change that much.

Tell me about it, said the Jellyfish Oracle. Being a mosaic means much the same thing. You don't know how lucky you are.

Yes, but there's always the fear, said Ageless.

True, said the Jellyfish Oracle. You fear a horrible death. But Kobo and I, we fear boredom.

Nonsense, said Ageless. That's what books are for. Kobo never gets bored. She was the one who introduced me to stories. I bet she would love this book about sand. I shall send it to her when you've read it. There's a wonderful part about dunes.

Dunes! said the Jellyfish Oracle. What sort of dunes?

Sand dunes in Africa, said Ageless, the crescent-shaped ones called barchans. They move slowly across the desert, never changing their shape.

How do we know? asked the Jellyfish Oracle.

We know, said Ageless, because of Ralph Bagnold's rubbish. He was a scientist interested in sand dunes. In 1930 he camped in front of a barchan, leaving his rubbish behind to be buried as the barchan advanced. Fifty years later, another scientist found Ralph Bagnold's rubbish 150 metres away, behind the barchan. So he knew exactly how far the barchan had moved.

How delightful, said the Jellyfish Oracle. I like stories about things that move.

That's good, said Baby Pierre, appearing suddenly behind them. Because it's time we were off.