I woke up and looked out my window. The ground was covered with fluffy white snow. Great. I was supposed to go up to Estes Park today with my best friend, Jenna, and her family. We were going to stay up in a cabin for a week. The snow was going to slow us down. Oh well, at least it would be pretty. I hopped down form my bed and went downstairs. My mom greeted me and handed me a plate of sausage and pancakes.

“Are you all packed?” she asked. I nodded, my mouth full of food. “Ok well bring your bag down once you’re done eating. Jenna and her family will be here any minute.”

Once I finished my food, I trekked up the stairs and changed into jeans, boots, and a t-shirt. My big blue duffle bag sat in a chair in the corner of my room. After pulling up my brown hair into a ponytail, I went into the bathroom. There was a note on my counter. It said, “Have fun on the trip, Kelsey! I love you, Dad”. I smiled and put the note in my pocket. Then I grabbed my bag and walked back downstairs. Just then, Jenna and her family pulled up outside. I hugged my mom good-bye and then ran out into the snow to Jenna’s car. I said hi to Jenna, her sister, Jocie, and her parents, Neil and Lisa. Then we set off for the mountains.
We got to our cabin at about 2:00 pm. that day. It was a small wood cottage that backed up to about an acre of woods at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The inside was even prettier. The main hall had soft brown carpet and matching brown walls. It has a long corridor that branched off to three bedrooms and ended with the kitchen at the end of the hall. To the right was a winding staircase that lead up to that loft which had a flat screen TV and beanbag chairs. Neil and Lisa took one room, Jocie took one, and Jenna and I took the other.

After Jenna and I got settled in, we went outside to explore. We went deeper and deeper into the forest, looking at all the wildlife, scenery, plant life, and creeks. We followed one of these creeks for a while when suddenly; we broke into a large clearing with a small lake in the middle of it. It was beautiful. The mountains back up behind the lake and poured a rushing waterfall into it.

We stayed there for a while, admiring the view and climbing the boulders. But then, it stared to get colder and colder and the sky grew darker as the minutes ticked by. Jenna and I decided that it was time to go back to the cottage. But which way was it? We began to panic. My heart raced in my chest as the reality sank in that we were lost. After a while, we decide that Jenna’s family would soon come looking for us so we huddled under a boulder and waited for them to come. Desperation soon began to overtake us as it grew colder and colder. I drew my coat tight around me and leaned against the side of a boulder. I began to drift off. Next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by Jenna.

“Look!” she exclaimed pointing to the woods where a flashlight was coming closer and closer. We jumped up and yelled as loud as we could. Then we saw Neil’s face appear through the trees. He hugged us and then hurried us back to the cottage. Lisa made us some hot cocoa and then piled the blankets on top of us as we collapsed into the bean bag chairs up in the loft. The next thing I knew, I was drifting to sleep, warm and cozy inside that cottage.