We Can't Live Without You

The Sun at His Eastern Gate by William Blake

Earth spoke first because, as the practical one, he had set up the Zoom meeting, “I think we all agree it’s time now for us to come up with a new solution for the Sun and Moon problem,” and Fire spoke next, his freckled skin flushing, “We should make them sell their land and use the money to pay some people to take care of them—it really pisses me off that they spent their whole lives focusing on their ‘yogic path,’ without making plans for getting older or even saving any money,” and then Water replied to Fire, her blue eyes filling with tears, “Have some compassion! How can we ask them to leave the only place they’ve ever called home?” and Fire shouted back at her, “If that’s how you feel “why don’t you move up there to the yurt and take care of them?” and Water shot back, “You know I still have children at home!” but then Air spoke gently—remembering how when their parents were busy all day with ‘yoga stuff,’ she was the one who gave her siblings peanut butter sandwiches, Band-Aids, and hugs—“The important thing is that we four stay on good terms through this whole process because after Sun and Moon die, we’ll be the only family we have,” and Earth, who called himself Jason these days, smiled at that, saying, “I hated having a hippie name, but Sun and Moon really did choose the right name for you, Air,” and he then brought his palms together in Namaste in front of his heart, and seeing him do that, Fire and Water did the same thing, and then all three of them bowed their heads as they had done when they were children and said, in unison, “Thank you, Air, we can’t live without you.”