Long ago, when the hills were still young and the spirits and gods of the land walked amongst the People, Mountain was sitting in contemplation of the Land and the Sea. He had been sitting for quite some time, pondering the mysteries of the world, when Boy appeared at his foot.

"Mountain!" cried Boy gaily, "Big Brother, I am bored! Come and play with me!"

Mountain, who was deep in contemplation at the moment, barely glanced down at the small figure by his foot before returning to his thoughts. Boy tapped his foot, waiting, then huffed and climbed up to the Mountain's knee. "Brother! Come and play with me! You have been sitting there quite forever!" And at this, Boy stomped his foot sharply.

Mountain glanced down at this, frowning with a face spotty with lichen and etched with fault lines of impatience. "Not now, Little Brother. I am busy."

"Busy!" cried Boy, impertinently. "Why, you are only sitting there!"

"That can be what busy is like," harrumphed Mountain. His snort echoed across the surrounding valleys, and he rolled his shoulders with the lowing rumble of moving stone before settling once again. "And I do not move quickly, regardless, for I am quite large, and might cause trouble by it. Go on and play now. I am deep in my thoughts, and cannot join you right now."

At this, Boy rolled his eyes in the way of all youth, and changing his shape he flew up to flutter about the face of Mountain, like a small fly who cannot be dislodged despite all efforts to do so. Mountain, his eyes closed, gave no indication of noticing for some minutes, perhaps even hours, but eventually Boy noticed the barest shifting of his brother's mighty shoulders, the twitch of a hand as if to swat at him, so he grinned and persisted. Eventually, some time later, Mountain growled ponderously, "Little Brother. Why do you insist on going on like this?"

"Play with me!" echoed Boy once again. "Only play with me, and I will let you be."

Mountain sighed heavily, and paused for such a long moment that Boy suspected that he would once again refuse. But after a while, Mountain knuckled his great brow and groaned. "Very well, Little Brother. What shall we play, then?"

"A race!" cried Boy in triumph. "For I am the fastest alive, and none that crawls or runs or flies of swims might beat me!"

Mountain stared down at Boy, who had alighted on the outcropping of his hand. "Truly, you believe this is so?"

"Yes!" said Boy with gusto. "Certainly you could not beat me, Big Brother. You are slow, and so heavy! I will win easily, and it will be such fun!"

"I do not race," intoned Mountain. "It would be unseemly, for one of my size to move to quickly."

Boy stuck out his tongue then, and made faces such that Mountain's blood near boiled. "Then you are a coward, Big Brother! You merely know that I am the faster! I shall take pity on you then, and choose a different game."

Mountain's face crinkled and split in a way that, had Boy more years on him, would perhaps have given him some pause. "You goad me, Little Brother, and you have called me coward, which I will not stand for. Very well. I will declare the terms, as is the way of things." Lifting his head, he gazed out over the land before them, nearly falling back into his reverie as the great canvas of the world rolled on to meet the swirling curtains of the skies, heavy and thick with starlight and whipped into a frenzy with Sun's blazing fires. He beheld all that lay above and below, from the highest breeze to the darkest crevasse, and even the deep burrows of the earth where things crawled and slept which had never seen the face of his sisters, nor felt the burning light of Sun. "A race then, to the furthest peak to the south," Mountain decided. "What is your wager, Little Brother?"

Boy nodded, for that was the way of things indeed, but his grin licked his face like flames. "My time, Big Brother! I will wager my time; if you are to win, I will sit with you for as long as you say, and contemplate the Land and Sky with you. But instead, tell me what you will wager, so that I may look forward to winning it!"

Mountain ground on this for a while, giving it due consideration. "Very well. I will wager my time as well; if you win, I will hereafter play with you when you wish it."

"Done!" Boy agreed enthusiastically, and so the pact was sealed between the two of them. "We race to to furthest Southern peak! I will even give you a head start, so sure am I that I am the fastest."

At this, Mountain laughed a great, booming laugh which startled Boy tremendously, for never had he heard such a sound from his brother in all of his time upon the earth. With a great groaning of rock, Mountain stirred himself, stretching up and up into the sky until his head became quite lost in the sky. At this, Boy felt the first stirrings of nervousness, for Mountain was so tall, with legs like the very pillars of the heavens. "Uh, okay Big Brother! We start.... now!" And Boy fidgeted, his feet stamping up and down, for he had promised. Mountain went to take a step, and his long, long leg came down, down, down, so slow but with all of the certain might of a rockslide. His first step rattled the bones of the land, and Boy quavered, seeing the length of Mountain's stride. Unable to stop himself, he launched into motion, a burst of speed that sent him into Mountain's great shadow. "Alright you went first! Here I come, Big Brother!"

Boy was fast, fast as lightning, fast as thought; his motions blurred with feet and hooves and wings as he ran and flew and dashed forward, so fast that the grasses and trees bent in his passing. And yet, Mountain's strides were sure, and they were long, each footfall setting the land itself to ringing like a great drum. Boy leapt ahead, coming out of his brother's shadow, but still Mountain tumbled along on his back, with a sound like the roar of every avalanche that has ever been, and his passing cracked the stones of the earth and sent boulders soaring into the air like pebbles. Boy pushed even harder, blazing now in his effort, his panting lungs so loud that the very Winds sat up and took notice, abandoning their duties to watch the race. Boy and Mountain charged southwards, the first just barely keeping ahead, the land groaning and buckling at the might and the swiftness of their passage.

As they neared the Southern peak, Boy felt himself flagging, and Mountain's shadow once more eclipsed him. "See, Little Brother!" boomed Mountain, his footfall setting the whole earth to shaking. "You should not underestimate me, I think!"

With a surge of determination, Boy raced ahead once again. "Nor should you discount me yet, Big Brother!" And Boy put on such a burst of speed that the land ignited behind him, fire blazing up in his wake to lick at Mountain's heel. The air cracked and shattered before him, the Winds scattering as Boy ran faster than he had ever run before. And still Mountain kept pace, the thunder of his pursuit just behind. Closer and closer came the peak, until with his very last burst of energy, Boy shot forward, whooping in victory. But at that same moment Mountain tripped, crashing to earth with such force that the stone of the earth split and wept red blood, steaming in the Sun's light. Mountain's hand, flung outward in his fall, reached the peak just as Boy passed it, even as the buckling and rolling earth threw him to his own knees. With a shout he tumbled, end over end, then lay still as the land around him shook and tremored. Eventually, all was still, and nothing could be heard but the muttering and grumbling of the Winds who had stopped to watch.

Boy picked himself up and went to where Mountain's head lay pressed against the peak, having fallen there. "Big Brother! Did you see that? Did you see?! A tie! A tie!" And despite himself he laughed, the sound peeling in the bright light of the day. "That was amazing! Why, they shall write songs of it!"

Mountain simply stared, shaking his head as if to clear it. With a great groaning shake, he pulled himself to lay upright against the peak, staring back at the way they had come. Behind them the land lay cracked and scoured, blasted by wind and flame until the grasses and trees, the creatures and the People who had lived there wept or lay like broken dolls. "How can you laugh, Little Brother?" Mountain shook at the destruction in their wake. "See what has come from our games! I warned you, but still you did not listen! And now this destruction is on both our heads, and our faces are full of shame before our brothers and sisters."

Boy, leaping up to Mountain's shoulder, beheld the destruction and nodded. "Aaah, Big Brother, it is in fact terrible, and many will perish and go to see our father. And yet you do not see all." And with that, Boy clapped his hands, and, reaching down, plucked up a handful of churned up soil. Within his cupped palm trembled the tiniest sprout, green and growing, from where their race had awakened it. Boy held it up to his brother, his grin from ear to ear. "You see? Without us, this seedling would never sprout. The plants would tangle and grow heavy and sick. The land itself must move, must change! For this is the way for all things." Boy chided, with the surety and knowledge of youth. "Even for you, Big Brother. This is what Father told me!" Boy added this with the innocence of a child, his eyes sparkling. "He said, 'Go and bother your elder brother, for he has sat too long in thought, and in so doing has failed to understand this lesson.'"

Mountain stared, surprised, then laughed his booming laugh once more. "Father said this to you, Little Brother?"

"Yes! But I think he just did not want to play with me," sulked Boy, until Mountain, reaching down, plucked up his brother and held him in his hand.

"Perhaps it has been a lesson for us both, Little Brother. I, who must learn to be more active, more present. And you, who could learn the subtle art of patience. Since we have both won, then let us rest a spell, and you can think on a new game we can play after."

Boy nodded at the wisdom of this. "Alright, Big Brother! But next time, I will win, you will see!"

And such was the way of it.