Read the paragraph.

the kids had been out on the pond all morning. there were not enough hockey sticks to go around, so a game of broom hockey had evolved. discarded ski caps served as goal markers, and the kids skated back and forth on the backyard “rink.” the impromptu game stretched to fill the entire morning of the canceled school day. marco was the last to leave the ice, gathering neglected gear and a forgotten puck. as he glided toward the bank, he heard a creak and a pop. a crack began to snake its way across the surface, and when marco was inches from the edge, one skate went through the ice. luckily, the other skate glided to a stop in the bank’s frozen mud, giving marco just enough leverage to pull his frosty skate out of the melting mess.

the conflict in the paragraph is character versus

a) self
b) character
c) society
d) nature