The Pancake Mountain Race

In Breakfast Valley, the air carries the scent of warm butter, and once each year a giant pancake mountain rises golden and fluffy, its slopes covered in syrup and its rivers running with honey. Benny, a small boy with messy black hair and a gap-toothed smile, has grown up hearing his Grandpa Otis tell stories of the pancake mountain race, and of how the race is less about winning than about helping others. This year Benny is finally old enough to join in, and he sets off on his wooden plate with a painted sun, resolved to ride it with kindness.

When the race starts, Benny glides down the buttery slopes and passes several racers, but then he hears his best friend Pippa calling for help. She is stuck fast in a deep pool of sticky syrup while the other racers speed past without stopping. Remembering his grandfather's words, Benny turns his plate around and climbs back up the slope to pull her free, and the two friends finish the race together, far behind the others. This gentle tale by Yavuz DEMİRKIRAN can be read on Online Masal.