Panic instantly seized Maggie. The sight was unsettling, almost alien in nature. She grabbed her phone with trembling hands and dialed an urgent video call to her sister, Sarah, a senior wildlife vet working three hours away in Townsville.
"Maggie? It's midnight, what’s wrong?" Sarah answered, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Goldie laid something, Sarah. The egg mutated, look at this!" Maggie thrust her camera over the open shoebox. Sarah squinted at her screen, clearly expecting a foolish prank.
Then her face drained of color. She sat up straight, pushing her face right against the glass. "Maggie... pause the video. Hold the light closer." Sarah went dead silent, her mouth hanging slightly open. "No way," Sarah whispered quietly. "Maggie... there is no way."