“Daddy, I’m scared.”

Little Lottie jumped into her parents’ big bed. Her younger sister, Carlotta, was already snuggled up to their mother. It was the standard procedure for nighttime thunderstorms.

The room lit up with lightning flashes followed by a huge thunderclap. Lottie and Carlotta both shrieked and hid under the covers. Their father, Josef, laughed. The girls peeked their heads out from under the covers. Their mother smiled. The girls tried to smile. Josef laughed again.

“You know,” he started with a big grin. “Those are just the ancient elements arguing.” He knew they had heard the story many times, but his two daughters sat up in the bed keeping the covers up around their faces with only their eyes peeking out. The next flash of lightning and clap of thunder brought shrieks, but did not send the girls under the covers. Instead, it brought their three brothers into the room and onto the bed.

Josef gave a knowing look to his wife who smiled comprehension. They both knew that their children were all there for the story. They also knew that the kids loved it when Josef changed his voice to reflect how he thought of the ancient elements. He used his own voice to narrate and altered it in pitch and volume to match the characters. Josef paused to look at each of his children in turn. Then, he began in his quiet deep bass voice.

***

"You know that big thunderstorms like these are just the ancient elements arguing over who is the strongest. The rain pounds down on the earth.” Josef did his best impression of a strong woman’s voice, “I can move tons and tons of you, great Earth. You’re not too strong for me.”

He changed his voice slightly to indicate another strong female. “’Or me,’ said Air. 'I can move Earth _and_ Water. I am stronger than both of you.’”

Josef changed to a deep deep voice. “‘No,’ Earth rumbled. 'You might change my shape, but you cannot get rid of me. You can merely change my face. You can wound me and scar me, but you cannot overcome me.’”

"Earth continued, ‘In fact, even in times of catastrophic floods and fierce windstorms, you just change my look. Air and Water, you merely give me a makeover with your seemingly awesome power.’”

“‘Ah, but my tides and waves carry you out to sea and deposit you beneath my oceans. I bury you where nobody can see,’ countered Water.”

“‘And I take your soil and move it far away with just a breath,’ added Air.”

"And so they argued back and forth. None of the three ancient elements giving ground. All claiming to be the mightiest of the three.”

***

“But Daddy,” Carlotta interrupted, as if on cue. “There’re four ancient elements.”

The children all knew that there were four ancient elements, but they let the youngest ask the questions that each had asked when he or she was the youngest.

Josef grinned. “Yes, dear heart. You are absolutely right. But Fire never gets into these arguments.”

“‘Cuz Fire’s weaker than the other three?”

“What do you think?” Josef winked at the rest of his children. He saw his wife smile.

“Fire’s not weak.”

“You are right. Fire is not weak.” Josef put his hand to his ear and whispered, “Wait. Do you hear that?”

Everybody was silent. The storm had calmed. The wind and rain were dying down. But Josef knew that everybody could hear the sound of the small fire crackling in the fireplace across the room. He repeated, “Do you hear that?”

Carlotta whispered, “It’s Fire.”

Josef continued to whisper too, “Yes. It’s Fire. Fire need not roar. Fire need to raise his voice. He does not need to brag about his power.”

Carlotta whispered, “But can’t Water beat Fire? Can’t they all beat Fire?”

Josef smiled. He looked each of his children in the eye. He knew they knew the answer, and yet they still held their breath.

Josef answered, “Yes, little one. They can all beat Fire. At least for a time. They can beat a little fire here or there. But they cannot defeat the big fire. They cannot ultimately defeat Fire, himself.”

“They can’t beat the sun.”

Josef nodded and smiled at his youngest child. “They can’t beat Fire. They can’t beat the sun. For Fire causes the Air’s currents to move. Fire causes Water’s currents to flow. Fire keeps its heat behind the clouds and cracks Earth with Water’s solid form. Fire evaporates Water and lets Air move her around. Fire can even crumble Earth. In fact, Fire even lives beneath the earth as well.”

Carlotta whispered, “But even Fire has a master.”

“But even Fire has a master. Fire must submit to his Master. Just as we all must. We must respect the elements and the Master. The Maker of the elements. The Maker of us all.”

Carlotta prompted, “Which is why…”

“Which is why three ancient elements cannot argue forever. They all realize that they are weaker than Fire. And they realize that even Fire is weaker than the Creator. And so, we do not need to worry about the storm. The ancient elements may argue all night and all day if they wish, but they know…”

All the children finished the sentence together, “…they know they must eventually stop because they each know that none of them is the greatest.”

The thunder could only be heard as a far away sound that followed long after dim flashes of lightning barely lit the room. Even the rain and wind were beginning to lessen. It was as if the ancient elements knew that Josef had finished their story.

The boys all yawned as if on cue. They dutifully lined up and kissed their mother, one after the other. Then, they ran back to their bedroom. Without too much pushing and shoving. Carlotta and Little Lottie clung to their mother and gave her many kisses. They pleaded for her to let them stay. “Just this one night. Please.”

But Josef gently pulled them away from their mother. After all, they were not trying too hard. They just had to go through their routine. And part of that routine was getting pulled away from their mother, before being tucked in by their father.

Josef returned to his bedroom with a smile on his face. He had told the story of the ancient elements so many times. And yet, he, his wife, and their children loved it. The others clung to Josef’s every word.

Josef put a log on fire before returning to bed. He pulled up the covers to his chin and closed his eyes. He heard the wind blow. He heard the waves lap at the seashore. He even thought he heard a piece of the nearby cliff fall into the ocean. He heard the embers coax the new dry log into flame. Then, just before he fell to sleep, Josef heard Fire let out a contented sigh.