[ WP ] In the style of an old fable , write a story about narcissism .

In a more ancient time, long before the first gasp of man, a chain of mountains straddled the land. These mountains could think, speak, and feel. Of course, aside from growing taller, this was all the mountains could do in the realm of movement. But speak and think they did, and the mountains watched the stars shift above them and the world cool around them for eons. 
 
 Eventually, a body of water formed near the mountains. One mountain, slightly taller than most, began to peer into the reflective pool. It enjoyed its image, a thing of towering snowcaps and rippling rock. And so it drew in the heat and earth around it, stealing from its friends and growing ever higher so as to please itself more and more. 
 
 It grew and grew and its fellow mountains remained the same, while some even grew smaller. But the mountains could not reverse their companion's ascent, for it had consumed and stolen so much. It towered above the clouds and hoarded the earth and the magma to itself, blissful in its magnificence. 
 
 And one day, as it neared the highest clouds and its fellows sunk ever lower, the earth within it began to crumble from the pressures of such a towering thing. Bit by bit the rock began to fall, and bit by bit the proud mountain began to topple. It fell and fell, and as it did it caught its reflection in the vast lake that lurked below. Reduced to tiny specks of its former self, its pieces spread far and wide - some into the water below, most to its surrounding friends. 
 
 And as the topmost part of the mountain sailed downwards, it looked into the lake that had held its attentions for so long. It saw itself surrounded by strong, squat mountains, covered in trees and life; they continued to think and feel, and the once-great mountain felt their peace as it slid into the deep waters.
