Playing with setting:

The road was winding and steep, and despite the nauseous feeling in Grady’s stomach, he couldn’t help looking down the rock-strewn ledge to the rushing water below. There were shiny bits sparkling under the rushing, spring-swollen creek. His father had told him it was pieces of mica in the granite rocks. Grady preferred to think of it as gold flecks.

Coming around the next bend, Grady gazed up at the brownish gray canyon walls, noticing a rock formation that reminded him of a howling wolf picture he had in his room at home. Grady felt his heart clutch, took a deep breath, releasing it with a silent sigh. He knew it wasn’t much further to his brother’s place. He wished he could live here in the pine filled mountains, like his brother Jake. Grady wondered if his brother would like him, and maybe take him fishing and hiking and ask him to visit for weekends.

His Dad turned off the main road and followed a narrow dirt road swallowed by the tall evergreens on either side. The plowed through snow on the sides was dirty; they’d have to dig down for the clean snow to make ice cream. Jake had told Grady on the phone that they would make some snow ice cream if there was enough snow when he came.

   Coming out of the trees, and into a meadow, Grady squinted at the bright blue sky and the sun reflecting on the snow. Jake’s cabin sat off to the side with several Aspen trees around it, bare and brown. Jake had built this place himself, the logs were rough-hewn and mortared with plain gray cement. There were big picture windows on either side of the rock chimney, and Jake stood in the front door, watching them pull up.