I start down the hill.
I feel the nippy air on my face. On my way down I spot what seems to be a lost trail. I ski in it deliberately.
The trees around me make a fence-like form as if protecting something in the forest. I ride over jumps that look like turtle shells emerging from the bright ocean.
This is such a blast. Suddenly I see something ahead, something big. It’s a jump!
It looks more like a tiny mountain to me. I start to go really slow. I go up the jump, my tips about to lead me down when I slowly start to slide back down. This causes a jam. My friends and I all look like a clump of squirming snails.
At last I go around the tiny mountain where I find another jump. I gain speed, my face freezing more with every second that ticks by. I shoot up into the air flying (more like flailing). I land gracefully into the powdery snow below me.
I ski down to the bottom and look up at the hill. “Success” that’s what comes to my mind. We all worked together and had fun. That’s what I call success.
— written by mimi, age 12, rock star.
JULIE ANN STEVENS 
