Swapping elements

Family Visit

“Heat, be reasonable,” Mother Nature said.

“Absolutely not!” Heat barked.

Snow could hear the argument, but it was far away. Louder and more present were the other words—‘Temper temper, Snow’—and it brutally kicked off a flurry of memories. He couldn’t implode again, but he couldn’t explode with the family there. Everything boiled inside of him, and Snow giggled a little. At once everybody was looking at him, and he saw panic flash across Heat’s face.

“Snow?” Mother Nature asked softly. “Are you okay?”

Snow giggled again the words echoing in his mind like a mantra. ‘Temper temper, Snow.’ The island suddenly jerked beneath their feet and there was a loud crack! Magma erupted out of the pool and sprayed the room as Snow began to laugh hysterically. There was a moment of shock before their siblings scattered, fleeing the spontaneous volcanic eruption. Snow’s laughs rang out after them, high and wild and tinged with something sinister.

Mother Nature and Father Time stayed, watching in shock as Snow clutched at his middle, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face. Heat looked panicked as he tried to keep cool and help Snow at the same time.

“Snow! Please!” Heat begged. “Calm down! You’re too hot!”

“Snow! What’s wrong?” Mother Nature exclaimed.

“Why nothing, Mother dear,” Snow choked, sounding as if he was on the brink of sanity. “Why would anything be wrong?”

He let out another peal of laughter that morphed into a panicked shriek as he realized what was happening, and he stood up and tried to run. Pain took him to the floor as soon as he put weight on his feet. He collapsed and began to hyperventilate, trying to hang on to his control.

“Snow! Your feet!” Mother Nature yelped. She spun to Heat. “What is going on? Did you do that to him? Have you no compassion?”

“Oh, sure, blame me!” Heat snapped. His eyes flashed blue and a chill spread out.

Snow rocked back and forth, trying to stem the magma flow while also trying not to chill his core again. “Temper temper,” he hiccuped, shaking his head violently.

Heat bit back a retort, knowing he’d only make things worse. Mother Nature looked helplessly at Father Time, who shrugged. Flurry had watched all this without a word. But when Heat looked at him, unsure of what to do, Flurry took charge without a qualm. Mother Nature was already displeased with him, so what was a little more?

“Enough!” he said crisply. “You two, leave, now. And take the others with you.”

Mother Nature looked startled. “I beg your pardon?”

Flurry turned to Heat. “It was a mistake to accept the invitation. In fact, it was wrong of them to reach out first after what I told them. They need to leave. Immediately.”

Heat pressed his lips together. “You’re right. Mother, Father, I think it best if you leave. And don’t come back until we say so. Have a good day.”

“Heat?” Mother Nature asked. “You can’t be serious.”

But Heat’s eyes had turned to Snow and he was already trying to figure out what to do to calm him down. Mother Nature looked at her husband, who shook his head.

“Let’s go, dear. The servant has a point. This was a mistake,” Father Time said gently.

He guided his wife out the door then called to his children, who stood huddled together in the snowy half as the island shook intermittently.

“What’s going on?” Flood asked.

“We’re leaving. Now.”

“Is Snow okay?” Ebb asked.

“No. Let’s go.” Father Time cut open a portal to Mother Nature’s garden. “Let’s all just take a walk.”

As the Elements walked through, they cast worried glances back at the palace. Mother Nature hesitated before stepping forward, torn between mothering her two hurting children and listening to what they wanted of her. The island seemed to groan beneath their feet, and a wild scream echoed from Heat’s palace. The temperature rose suddenly, and Father Time yanked her into the portal as several violent volcanic eruptions shook the island. They stumbled through as the portal collapsed then they stood still and looked at each other.

“Mother?” Earthquake asked uneasily. “Is Snow really not okay?”

“I don’t think so,” Mother Nature whispered.

“Why not?” Aurora asked.

There was a pause then Mother Nature looked at her children. “Because I did a very foolish thing when I was raising you,” she said then began to explain.