The whole floor of the Hub is swarming with snakes. From the safety of the jeep, I swing the torch beam over the walls. Spiders! Big, black, hairy brutes, crawling over each other in a frenzy.
Rom lives two thousand metres under the sea and has never seen the sun. His dad runs Deep Ark 6, an underwater zoo that is home to the most venomous snakes and spiders that ever crawled the Surface. The place gives Rom the living creeps.
Rom likes to dream about the days on the Surface before the Great Meltdown. To him, trees, blue sky and green grass sound like an alien planet. Little does Rom know that Octo Serp, his father’s slithery assistant, also likes to dream about the Surface.
Rom is about to find out that dreams can turn into nightmares!
Stu Duval was born in the South Island of New Zealand.
His career path, (he would call it his ‘careening path!’) has provided him with ample material for his current profession as storyteller. He has been a factory worker, minister, ranger, broadcaster, children’s worker, graphic artist, director, motivational speaker.
In 2000 he embarked on a journey as a full-time storyteller, combining his art with his own words.
He is now considered one of New Zealand’s master storytellers.