Midnight

“Promise!”

“I—Promise.” Cielo grits out.

Tierra tightens their grip.

“You must promise that you will not do it again.”

“Fine!”

“Are you not good friends?” Mar shouts.

Sol stumbles over, grabbing their wrists. “Yes, Yes! Friends must make up.”

He nods rapidly.

“No,” They answer, “We are strangers now.”

He shakes his head, gesturing at the duos splashing in the surf. “See how joyful they are in each other's presence? That is how you two must be.”

“Come now,” Sol entreats.

Tierra releases Cielo, speaking, “If they will not separate them, then I shall be in accord.”

“Yes, these creatures will be free to roam from here to the higher lands,” Cielo agrees, wringing saltwater from their clothes.

“They shall be like the winds.”

“Of course,” they sigh, “your winds of Santa Ana.”

Tierra pushes them back under the surface, tailing them as if they were just two creatures of water and earth.

“Stop it!” Cielo cries, “You are all—”

Mar catches Cielo, spinning them around—and from then on it is mayhem. They all splash and chase one another, indistinguishable from the forms mixing at the beach. All playing together until Sol pulls the night in.