The 4 Elements

• Ben Rubbo, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2011

The four elements. Wind, Earth, Fire and Water. They have their beauties and their terrors. Wind. The breeze that it blows on a hot day cools us down. Feel the breeze in your hair. See the grass sway to and fro. Hear the whisper that it makes. Then it starts to blow, harder and harder. Harder by the second! In less than a blink of an eye, a tornado forms in the distance. Its funnel growing towards the ground with winds blowing up too 300km/hr. The bits of metal, bark and wood being sucked up. Then, next to the tornado, a cyclone arrives, like a whirlpool in the sky, flinging bricks, trees and cars miles away. The wind has gotten angry.
Water. The refreshment it brings once drunk on a hot, summers day. Listen to it singing a tune. See the ripples that it makes. Taste the flavour of something natural. Then the ripples start to grow. Growing larger and larger. Eventually large enough to be a Tsunami. The CRASH… the giant wave is flooding the huge city. Taking memorabilia and valuables kilometers away. People are being washed away and are in terrible danger. The water has gotten angry.
Earth. The safety that it creates when we stand on it. Feel the coarseness on your bear foot. Listen to it sleeping silently. See the loose dirt rolling along the earth. All of a sudden, the dirt starts to shake violently. It starts bouncing like a ball. The buildings are shaking as well. A crack has formed in the ground. Growing longer and wider. An earthquake has occurred. Then the rocks on the top of the cliff start to roll down the edge, followed by a trail of mud and dirt. A mudslide has joined the party. The earth has gotten angry.
Fire. The relief it brings on a cold Winters night. Hear it laugh as we tell stories to one another. Feel the warmth warm up your body. See the different colours that it makes. Then its laugh gets louder. Loud enough to be a roar. It springs from the firewood and onto the trees. It’s spreading, spreading very fast. Trees are collapsing and the millions of leaves being turned into ashes. A bushfire has started. Then BOOM… the volcano erupts. Hot, molten rock jumping over the rocky edges, sliding slowly towards the city. The fire has gotten angry.
Then a tornado appears once again. So has the cyclone. The earthquake and mudslide have joined them and so have the bushfire and the molten rock. The tsunami and the flood are impatient and are eager to destroy the city. The city is in despair. They can’t afford this much destruction that awaits them, but the elements show no mercy. Then they attack. Wind then Water, Earth then Fire are getting their revenge, one by one. The residents can do nothing but run and watch the destruction. Together, the 4 elements make an invincible team.