Too old ?

We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cozy A-frame cabin. It was getting darker.I was excited. Winter had always been my favorite season. Other people didn't like winter because it was so cold and dark, but I specifically liked it because it was so cold and dark. I was different to most people. Cold weather was something I thrived in . It was summer and the heatwaves that I didn't like.

Year after year, I just waited for the crisp cool days to roll by every December . It was like being hit by an ice bucket after a hot summer all rolled into one.

Every since I was a child, my favourite days were snow days. They were even more important than my birthdays. When it snowed, it looked like the winter king had dropped his blanket. A fat white blanket that covered the ground and created a new epidermis for the earth. A new layer of skin that you could play in.

If you went to school, you could play in the snow during playtime. You could build snowmen and create snow angels and take part in snowball fights.

But even better were the days when school was cancelled. You could do all that and more . You just had to get your friends and dig the sled from wherever you kept it and go to the nearest park. Or even your back garden. All you needed was some land with virgin snow and you could frolic.

The bad news was that I only got between three to five snow days a year. I lived in the South of England near London as a child and snow was a rare treat.

It was true that as little, as one inch of snow, would grind the public transport to a halt and send the country into panic mode. The Tube especially was almost never running on snow days . The motorways had to have salt put on their roads, and yet there were still many accidents, maybe because we just weren't used to snow.

Then there was the fact that we sometimes went years without any snow at all. That was why I found winter depressing, not because of the long dark nights.

That why this year my family were going to Canada for the Christmas holidays. They knew how much I loved snow. It was also probably the last family holiday that we will do together. I was 21, 22 in May whilst my sister had just started at university aged 19. We were getting older and my family wanted it to be a send off treat.

As the car approached the cozy A frame cabin, I noticed something wonderful. The cabin stood quite isolated and was enormous. It must have been as big as a small house, here in Canada I guessed. Houses were bigger in Canada than back home though, so I wasn't too sure. But it was almost as big as my house near London which cost a fortune.

The snow was higher than I had ever seen in my life. It was big enough to surround both sides of the road on either side of the car and it rose even higher than the car at times.

My dad, unused to traveling in the cold, and on the other side of the road, breathed a sigh of relief when he finally stopped the car outside the cabin. The breath itself was very heavy. I had never seen it before.

"Come on out then" he exclaimed as me , my mother and sister started getting out. "And look at the view!".

I got out and understood what he meant. The cabin was out of a postcard, and looked like a Five-star yule log. But it was the surroundings that really stood out. We were at the top of a slope and all around below us were valleys. The alpine trees were like blotches of green dipped in white. It was pristine.

There was no-one for miles except us and the care taker who came over to help us with the keys.

"My name's Bob and I will be just 20 minutes away down aboot there" he pointed further down the winding road that we had come originally came from.

"If there's anything you need just use this satellite phone "he motioned towards a phone the size of a brick and shaped like an 1980's phone, before handing it over to my dad.

"Oh and you can never be too sure" he said, as he gave my dad a rifle. "The bears are hibernating but the wolves still hunt".

With that he got into his car and sped off down with a speed that made us envious of how quickly he could go in such difficult terrain.

Finally we were alone.

_ _ _ _ _ _

The cabin I was told, was very luxurious. It contained three small bedrooms and three smaller bathrooms so it was indeed quite big. So no fighting over who uses the bathroom or sharing rooms.

My sister Korra looked around and then unloaded her bags. She had entered the cabin first.

"It really is the best place for our last holiday" she mused.

My mum and dad followed her into the cabin, carrying their bags. Finally I entered. It looked even bigger on the inside I thought.

The cabin really did have three bathrooms and bedrooms. It also had a huge (albeit modern day) fireplace complete with a log animation. There were sofas and tables and then further down there were the three en suite bedrooms were placed next door to each other.

The only thing it didn't have was Wifi. We had specifically made a note not to include the internet or television. It was meant to be us with nature.

_ _ _ _

It had now gotten much darker outside and soon we found ourselves drinking cocoa near the fireplace and thinking back on previous holidays that we had had.

"Italy was quite good" my dad began. He pointed at me and my sister and carried on "We saw the Colosseum and you two sparred like your favorite gladiators and then we went climbing up Vesuvius expecting it to blow any minute".

"Florida was pretty good too, what with all the rides and things" continued my mum. "Only if it wasn't for the heat, lines and prices!" she added only half jokingly.

"I liked Egypt" my sister joined in. " I still think that the pyramids are built by aliens".

We all laughed.

Finally I had my go " I liked skiing and snowboarding in Saleve".

It was natural I choose the skiing holidays. I was excited about playing in the snow tomorrow, even at my age.

"Well, I think we'd better get to bed" my mum yawned as she looked at her watch.

One after the other we went into our rooms and tucked ourselves in.

"Sleep tight" my dad shouted and one by one we went off to the land of nod.

_ _ _ _ _

The next day I was woken up my my mum.

" I'm afraid I have some bad news" she said looking glum

"What?" I asked half asleep.

"We are snowed in and it will take us a whole day to get us out of here. Then we are told that we have to go back home as the weather conditions aren't so good.Your dad has been in contact with Bob from yesterday and they are working as best as they can to take us out of here. I'm sorry Nexis, I know how much snow means to you" she replied.

I got up and before I knew it tears were rolling down my eyes.

"NOOOOOOOOO" I shouted.

"THIS IS UNFAIR!!!" I screamed.

It was odd, you might think that a grown adult, even if a young one would throw a toddler tantrum. But I had my reasons. This was supposed to the family holiday swan song. And snow was my link to the happiest days of my life.

"I'm sorry" my mum sat down and hugged me.

There was some knocking followed by my dad and sister entering the room. We all hugged for quite some time.

"We could still make a day of it!" I told them aloud.

"Yes we can!" said Korra.

My dad looked as it he had an idea. He disappeared into the main room with the fireplace and gestured us to follow.

He took out some board games. We started with Monopoly and then moved on to clue-do. Then we played charades and dominoes and sang songs.Before I knew it we were having so much fun.

Eventually we were rescued. The rescue team thought we would all be suffering from poor mental health and were shocked to see a happy family of four smiling their teeth off. I actually enjoyed myself so much I didn't even look at the snow as I left , only at the cabin.

_ _ _ _ _

In the end,I didn't get to play in the snow in the Canadian Wilds as any overgrown kid would want to do. But I did enjoy my last family holiday. It was good that I grew even more super closer to my family before me and my sister became more involved in our adult lives.