The muted thunder boomed underwater like a great door opening far away. Suddenly the sea was filled with… — Witi Ihimaera

Sometimes life has a habit of flooding over you and rushing you along in its overwhelming tide. (p63)

He raised his arms as if to claw down the sky upon him. (p133)

In the old days, in the years that have gone before us, the land and sea felt a great emptiness, a yearning. The mountains were like a stairway to heaven, and the lush green rainforest was a rippling cloak of many colors. The sky was iridescent, swirling with the patterns of wind and clouds; sometimes it reflected the prisms of rainbow or southern aurora. The sea was ever-changing, shimmering and seamless to the sky. This was the well at the bottom of the world, and when you looked into it you felt could see to the end of forever. (beginning)