The stern men, frozen at the end of the pier, stood strong with their fishing rods in their gloved hands. The rotten wood floor covering the delapidated pier was covered in slippy ice. The daunting mountains and hills on the horizon loom over the unsuspecting people. The settled water sighed and stared toward the overcast sky. The water was crystal clear and spanned the entire mountain range. The pier was attached to a jagged island sitting on the middle of the lake. There was a hut, rusty and destroyed but still lovable. It was uninhabited although. But what to do but be frozen in time.

Peaceful I’m standing at end of the dock. The freezing air fills my nose with every breath. I love the view of the snow covered mountains in the distance. Except from the rippling water, it’s completely silent. It feels like I’m standing at the end of the world and I’m so happy to be here. Having left normal life for a moment to enjoy this quiet scenery. Life is a great adventure and it’s about moments that you’re fully present, in the here and now. Being at an enormous landscape like this one does that for you. Being completely here.

Freezing cold Cold as ever I’m shivering, shiver me timbers I thought you loved me But you left me here All alone, on a cold icy pier

It was a rather frosty morning near the arctic sea, when the two fishermen, Jayco and Robbin, decided to take a walk down the trail from their cosy little cottage to catch their breakfast.

Each of them grabbed their fishing rods and reels and made it to the door. It was so narrow that it looked more like a wicket door for those two large men to come through. After sucking some air and holding their breath, they squeezed themselves out through the little passage into the frozen front yard.

Half way down the path to the pier, Jayco shouted:

“- Oh mate, did you remember to get the baits?

• Bloody hell, I didn’t, nah!
• What sort of fisherman are you?
• I told ya, my head ain’t in the right place today. I’m gonna go grab it, I’ll catch ya.”

While Robbin returned to the cottage to pick up the baits he had forgotten, Jayco continued walking down the trail until he arrived at the arctic pier. As he spotted two other men at the far end of the jetty, he went to approach them and see what luck had been bringing them on that day.

[Suspenseful music]

Bummmmmm! The first Orca landed on the man in the red jacket, tearing the wood apart and falling into the arctic sea. Obviously that was the mother hunting to feed its calves. Now the baby Orcas were happy and nurtured.

The other man tried to run away, while Jayco was shocked and motionless, stricken by the power of nature and disgrace of the other men, who could have been otherwise him and his comrade Robbin. Ten feet away from his original position, another Orca, this one the largest creature in the ocean, or at least that’s what Jayco thought, flew over the pier, grabbing the man on the run by his head and swallowing him.

Jayco turned his back and raced back to his accommodation, leaving Robbin without a slight hint of what had just happened; Jayco just couldn’t speak.

I had lived my life on this pier. My dad proposed on this pier. My mom told my dad that she was pregnant with me on this pier. In the winter it would freeze over and we would go ice skating. In the summer we would watch the orcas that called the bay home, just like us. I had my first kiss at 15 on this pier. 10 years later I said yes, I’ll marry you to the same man on this pier. I said I do and kissed while surrounded by loved ones on this pier. Just like my mother, I told my husband we were pregnant on this pier. Almost two years later, I stood with my baby girl and watched the baby orcas play in the water on this pier. I watched her grow up on this pier. Now I hold her young girl in my arms and watch her brother skate on this frozen pier. Next to me stands my beautiful daughter who has her own family. But she still comes back to this pier. Now, even as my body ages, my spirit does not. I stand hand in hand with my loving and caring husband, watching the orcas swimming below us, some bearing scars to show the years they’ve seen, just like us. As I watch the eternal bay, I thank God for everything that has happened on this pier.

We walk hand in hand down the pier, with no one in sight. I shiver as an icy wind blows, so Zach offers his jacket.

"Thanks," I say, and grab it in swift motions.

He kisses my head as I put on the dark blue coat with yellow lines on the sleeves. I reach up and kiss his lips once I'm done. He puts his hands on my arms.

"Your so beautiful, you know that right?"

I hang my head and shrug.

"Your so beautiful," he says, pulling me into a hug.

His hug is warm and comforting, which is really what I need right now. Silent cries fall on his chest, and he just pulls me in tighter. He brushes my hair, and the tears aren't as much. He kisses my hair, so I reach up and kiss his lips. His smile is brighter than ever, and he pulls from the embrace.

He twirls my around, and we come to a stop to look out at the cold blue ocean at the edge of the pier. He turns me to face him, and kisses me like there was no tomorrow. I hit against the railing as he kisses me deeper.

"Woah," I say when we release, "That was hot."

He grins down at me as I try and catch my breath. I look back out at the water and a sharp breeze blows my hair. He's still looking at me with a face I've never seen on him before.

"What?" I question with a smile on my face.

He just leans down and kisses my lips lightly. I look at him with concern in my eyes and turn back to the water. He puts his arm around my shoulder and squeezes it.

"What Zach?"

"You don't understand? Oh Melody," he says with that same look.

I stand there confused and unknowing, which of course, makes me cry. I conver my face, embarrassed for him to see me cry for the second time today. He hugs me from behind, his head on top of mine. He sways back and forth, and I lean into his chest, grabbing his hand that are wrapped around my upper chest.

"It's going to be okay Melody."

"But what's wrong?" I burst out with a new flood.

He looks down at me with a twinkle in his eyes and a grin.

"Nothing," he says and looks back out on the water.

"Nothing at all."

Skin quivering I’m standing in my parka shivering

It’s so so cold Colder than I was told

I try to get warm On the horizon looms a storm

I watch icy waves crash Vicious whipping winds lash

Wooden boards creak beneath my feet From the sky rains an unforgiving sleet

I wish I was anywhere warmer Perhaps the cozy temperature I was former

It feels as though I have ice within me Glaciers for miles are all I can see

Orson heaved his crate of fish down the pier.

It reached almost up to his eyes, and his arms were straining. But Tobias had told him to carry it all the way to the merchant’s ship, and he was determined to make him proud. This was the first time any of the older fishermen had given him his own job, after all, even if it was a small one. He had to prove that he could be something more than a poor, eleven year old orphan boy. That one day, he could be the best fisherman in all of Lunebridge.

Orson stopped, shifting his grip on the crate. He huffed, wishing he had a free hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead. Just a bit longer, he told himself. Just keep going. But with each step he took, he wobbled a little more.

Before we moved I went to the library and looked at pictures of the Arctic circle. There was mostly just pictures of glaciers and very cold looking water. There was one though that I couldn’t quite shake from my mind. It was a wooden pier stretching out into a dark sea with big chains chunks of ice bobbing in it. Snow and chunks of ice on the wooden pier too. I wondered who would walk out there and why. There may have been boats sometimes. But the ocean looked super rough. I imagined being freezing cold and feeling seasick while sitting in a boat full on slippery stinky fish. I wondered if maybe you could wear a wetsuit and swim, but even that didn’t seem like a whole lot of fun. I was wondering what there was to do outdoors. When I asked Mom she said that we would be indoors. You mean the whole time? I asked. She said yes the whole time and that was when I found myself freaking out just a little bit because I am a person who really likes to be outside. I couldn’t quite imagine it. That’s when Mom told me that I shouldn’t worry because there would be lots to do.

The white peaks are unforgiving.

Many died trying to prove that wrong. Others still have attempted to claim our lands. Animals traverse it, searching for new ground to nest on.

We have been ruthless to those who threaten us.

I look over the pier, bundled in layers of layers of fabric. Tightly woven enough to move, but thick enough to rebuff the cold.

And it is very cold.

Both our spirits and our traditions. Our demeanour seemingly intertwined into our bodies by the chilling environment we are perpetually exposed to.

But there is one spot of resonance that thaws my soul.

“Papa, are you okay?”

I look down at my daughter. Tall as she is, my towering stature looms over her.

“Yes.”

She smiles, and joins my silent solitude as our gazes roam the sparse lands before us.

She may never know this, as I lack the courage to be truthful enough to tell her,

but in an empty barren world of cold, my daughter is the one thing that keeps my mind and my heart warm.