Look in one direction and i see mountains.
Huge towering beasts,
Cloaked in dense forest,
Until conditions become bearable for only the snow to inhabit.

I am sheltered by them,
And safe beneath them,
I am protected.

Yet turn around and there is no safe sheltering being,
But a vast expanse of blue.
It looks inviting at first,
Calm and serene and beautiful.
It is ice cold.
It does not end,
Not that i can see.

Beneath the calm of the surface lie Sharks sharpening their teeth in preparation,
Jellyfish with stinging barbs lingering near the coast,
Spines of the kina stretching up from the depths – just try and stand on me, just try!

It is dangerous the sea.
Even if you swim between the flags your safety cannot be promised.
Can rips translocate?
Can swells increase their size?
Do the sharp edges of the rocks beckon your fragile flesh?

The mountains now do not look so safe,
There’s nowhere up there in the land of snow for me to retreat to.
I would freeze,
Be covered in the snow,
Not discovered until an avalanche six years later in early June.

Those mountains are no friends.
And they approach.
Sea or snow.
This island is a death trap.
Inescapable.