Mountain

‘Where did you come from?’ Cara asked Mountain.

‘The same place as you. Where did you come from?’

‘I came from my mummy’s tummy. You didn’t come from there.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Because my mummy only has babies, she doesn’t have mountains.’

‘Is that so? Perhaps I need to think again,’ said Mountain with a smile.

‘Do you not think that I have a mummy?’

‘Well, maybe.’ Cara thought for a moment. ‘Your mummy must have had a very big tummy with you inside.’

‘Hmm, yes, you’re probably right. Do you think that I’ve always been this size?’

‘Were you not? Did you start off as a little stone?’

‘Yes,’ said Mountain. ‘And no.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Are you still the same size as when you were born?’

‘No, I’ve grown bigger. I’m four years old, you know.’

‘Oh, yes, I know. And a wonderful four-year-old you are too. What were you before then?’

‘I was a baby growing.’

‘And before then?’

‘Well, that’s a silly question. I wasn’t anything.’

‘Are you sure? Maybe you were a mountain?’

Cara looked up, pushing her head so far back that she almost toppled over.

‘I was…?’

‘Maybe. Or maybe you were the ocean.’

Looking back at the ground, she lifted one welly boot and brought it splashing down in the puddle that she’d been standing in.

‘A baby ocean!’ Cara laughed.

‘Well exactly,’ chuckled Mountain. ‘And can you see that pebble by your foot?’

Cara picked it up. It was yellowy-brown and about the size of her thumb nail.

‘This one?’

‘Yes, that one. He used to be a mountain.’

‘Really? But why is he so small now?’

‘I guess he wanted a change. We can’t all be stuck forever. Sometimes we need to move.’

‘Do you feel stuck?’ asked Cara.

‘Sometimes.’ Mountain went quiet for a while. ‘But, I can see very far from up here.

And I can feel so very far down into the ground. And I get many visitors. You, for example.’

Cara smiled. ‘Do you like me visiting you?’

‘Of course. I like it very much. I also like it when birds and animals visit me. And wind, and rain and clouds. Plus, Sun and Moon take it in turns to keep me company, so I’m never alone.’

‘I have to go now,’ Cara said.

‘OK, well thank you for visiting me,’ said Mountain. ‘Why don’t you put that little pebble in your pocket and take it with you on your journey?’

‘Then I’ll never be alone either.’

‘No, you won’t,’ said Mountain. ‘You’ll never be alone with a mountain in your pocket.’