"In the woods, too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life is always a child. In the woods is perpetual youth." Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature.

"Not again," I protested. "Just not today." It was freezing outside and my mom had just ordered me to take my little brothers and cousins out to play in the snow. She turned to me and sent shivers down my spine with that evil, "I don't care what you say" look. I knew that look; there was no pleading with my mom when she gave you that look, so I swallowed my pride, flung a scarf around my neck, and trudged down a flight of stairs. I slipped into the wet, torn lawn chair on the porch, leaned back, and stared off into the winter wonderland.

As incredible as the sight was, I was feeling too down in the dumps to revel in the beauty of this Siberian scene. Problems with my parents, fights with my friends, and a brush-off from my beloved had further antagonized my lowly existence. Stress surrounded me from all sides and the walls closed in on me, leaving me hurt and all alone. I pushed to gain some peace but nothing would rid me of my worries. That is, until that day when all my solutions came to me from the heavens in the form of flurries.

I suddenly fell out of my self-pitying daze when my baby brother, Richie, roared at our cousin, Charlie, and lunged at him for whipping a snowball at his head. As I rushed down the icy steps to put a stop to the crying and the brawling, I groaned, "Why me?" I bent my head back in frustration, and closed my eyes as snowflakes sprinkled my forehead. When I opened them, the world I'd left seconds before now seemed a silvery illusion. The snowflakes on my lashes appeared to be masking the woes of the world, letting only its beauty shine through. At this one moment, I felt relaxed, at ease, and without a care in the world. Then, the flakes melted, forming streams down my cheeks. The vision was gone. And I was still lost and alone.

Although the mirage had disappeared, I knew I could not let it evade me any longer; I had to find a way to get it back. Then I realized that in all my daydreaming, I'd forgotten why I was there in the first place. I looked at the boys and noticed that within seconds, Richie and Charlie had already reconciled. A thought flickered in my mind. Maybe this childhood innocence was exactly what I needed - my own key to happiness. The kids had no worries because they were living life, looking through rose-colored glasses. All I had to do was live it, spying through snow-covered specs. I resolved to never grow old - to always stay young at heart.

For the rest of the day, I wasted away the hours, building snowchildren with these lively, lovely kids by my side. I looked back at all the petty little things I'd fretted about and wondered why I even bothered. I soon forgot about all my troubles, as we all laid in the blanket of snow, flapping our arms and stamping snow angels onto the blank white canvas. As I let the snow fall on my face again, I thought about how wonderful it was to finally be a kid again.

(cheesy, I know, but the assignment was to write about an experience when nature changed your life.)