She hugged each of them. “I’m so glad to see you all.” Hugs and greetings were passed around then they followed Storm inside the building and to a table off to the side. Maryna barely listened to their chatter. She loved spending time with her sisters but lately she felt restless, bored. Nothing exciting ever happened.

Ember’s finger tapping on the table drew her attention; it annoyed her to no end when Ember did that. “How long does it take to get a waitress in this place anyway?” Ember demanded. Maryna opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Storm. “Ease up Em, we’ve not been here that long,” Storm argued.

“It’s not like they have a full house. Four customers not including us,” Em shot back. After waiting a whole two more minutes, her impatience grew. Finally, she snapped her fingers and passed the menus to her sisters.

Ember was always getting fired up over little things. Maryna stifled the chuckle. Fired up, Ember, witch of the fire element. And Storm, witch of the air element, who could be whipped into a frenzy at times herself. Maryna swallowed the laugh to keep from getting into trouble with her older sisters. Still Storm’s look of displeasure cast on Ember made her grin. She didn’t like it when the sisters fought but when Ember clashed with anyone you could expect fireworks.

Their baby sister Tara looked at her older siblings. “You two aren’t going to fight again, are you?” She tossed her golden brown hair across her shoulder and pouted. “Every time we get together all you do is argue.”

Tara, gentle mother earth witch, was always the quiet voice of calm and reason. But, Maryna had seen a different side to her at one time. Poor Tara. A man had learned her secret and cast her out of his life. Broke her heart and, in the pain, she caused a massive earthquake that all but destroyed San Francisco, California. It was a time Tara tried hard to forget and the one thing Maryna had been able to keep secret from the sisters with whom they shared everything.

Maryna tried shifting the subject. “Let’s look at the menu, I’m starved.” What to order, everything sounded so mundane, ordinary. Boring. The waitress arrived and while the others ordered she studied the menu closer. She had to make a decision when the waitress turned to her. Finally she ordered, “Tuna on wheat, Coke and French fries.” The waitress collected the menus and turned away.

“He’s got a kind face,” Storm muttered.

Maryna glanced in the direction Storm was looking. She spied the little man; white hair ringed the back of his head and puffed over his ears. His eyes were a bright blue that sparkled with the half smile he shared with them. “He’s wrinkled and old, and…he’s one of them.”

“We don’t have problems being around them, it’s not like they’re going to infect us with anything. Let’s just relax and enjoy lunch, okay?” Tara calmly stated.

While the others chatted amiably, Maryna scanned the room, then gazed out the window to watch the cars pass. The waitress arrived and set the beverages down in front of each girl. Maryna barely listened as Tara, Ember and Storm caught up.

There was talk about an upcoming joining ceremony: their cousin Jadaal was marrying. Thanks to the drooping formation of her lids, Jadaal’s large brown eyes seemed to slip down her face. Her nose was slightly bulbous and her mouth was forever frozen in a grim set. The girl had never smiled in all the ages Maryna had known her. Maybe there really was someone for everyone, she thought uncharitably.

Boring. Everything was so mind-numbing. They needed a shake up. Something to alleviate the tedium. An idea suddenly filled Maryna’s brain and she grinned. She glanced around the table and her gaze collided with Storm’s. “All right Maryna, spill it,” Storm ordered, but was interrupted by the arrival of their meal. “We eat, then we talk.” She turned to the waitress. “Thank you.”

“Sure,” she replied and then turned away.

Maryna picked at the bland meal on the platter before her. Fries too-filled with grease would probably slide down her throat. The tuna was tinged with a slight yellow cast. From the corner of her eye she saw Ember picking at the food in front of her as well.

“You know when I suggested we come, neither of you said no,” Storm sounded irritated.

Maryna traded a look with Ember. “It’s a change from the usual routine,” Maryna answered. She could tolerate the mortal world for a while, but everything was so slow and bland here. She shoved the plate away trying to hide her disgust. This world was becoming more tiresome by the second. Of course she could liven things up and had been known to come here just to create a little havoc and sit back watching the mortals reactions to it. On one visit…even thinking about it now made her chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Storm asked.

“Nothing. I was just remembering one of my last visits here.”

“What about it? What did you do?” Storm demanded.

“You know how the country was set off kilter a bit by a wrestler becoming a governor?”

Ember’s laugh rocked the table. “That was you? How funny!”

“You mean you meddled in mortal politics?” Storm was appalled.

“It wasn’t just me! Remember Uncle Horace? He’s responsible for the country ending up with an actor for president!” They all laughed and then the conversation died punctuated only with little tidbits. Maryna was too busy plotting her latest scheme to pay any close attention.

While she waited for the others to finish eating, her drumming fingers mimicked Em’s early show of impatience. When they finally pushed their plates away, she pounced. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking, we’re all in need of a little excitement. We should liven up our lives a bit.”

“Why don’t you just head back to Aradia?” Leave it to Tara to be sensible and suggest she return to their home world.

“Things aren’t much better there.” Maryna bit her tongue trying to keep from sounding whiney. “We need to shake things up a bit.”

“And how, pray tell sister dear, do we do that?” Storm asked.

“I propose a challenge. We each find a man, a mortal man, get him to fall in love with us, without using any magic, and he must propose. Put the ring on your finger and all that jazz.”

“I’m not ready to get married to anyone, much less a mortal!” Storm’s voice raised, and then hushed.

“I didn’t say you had to marry him! Just get him to propose, slip the ring on and then you’ve reached your goal. Simply walk away without looking back.”

Em beamed a smile. “I love the idea.”

“Wouldn’t that hurt him?” Tara asked.

“Come on, this is a mortal we’re talking about. They have such short memories, they get over things easily. Really it’s no big deal and besides, does it really matter?” Maryna studied her other sisters. She knew she could count on Ember to be in on this, but Tara was so soft hearted she wasn’t sure it would happen. Storm, she blew first one way and then the other.

“I don’t know, it seems awful cruel.” Storm didn’t seem too thrilled with the idea.

“You aren’t up to the challenge?” Em spurred.

“Of course I am, I just…” She seemed to be giving more consideration to the idea. “What are the rules?”

“The challenge is: the first one to get him well and truly hooked is the winner. The man you must find should be one who…someone who specializes in your element. He’s got to place a ring on your finger before you can be declared the winner.” “So I have to find a mortal who deals with the earth element?” Tara asked quietly.

“Right, Em has to find a mortal, any man whose field of work involves fire in some way. Storm has to find one who deals with air or weather, and I have to find someone who plays with water.” The more she thought about it the more fun the idea sounded.

“And what would we win?” Storm asked.

Prize? She hadn’t thought about that. “The undying respect of your sisters,” Maryna replied. Seeing they weren’t amused, she had to think for a bit. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Then what’s the use? Why compete?” Em asked.

“Oh come on, don’t be such sticks-in-the-mud. It could be fun and it will definitely liven up our lives!” She looked at them in turn. “Besides, it’s our pride on the line, you know.”

“I’m in.” Em grinned and put out her hand.

“I guess I am too,” Tara reluctantly answered.

“It goes against my better judgment, but okay,” Storm finally agreed. She added her hand to the other three and they broke.

“Remember, no magic,” Maryna reminded.“Now, how to keep track?"

“Good question. We need someone impartial to keep a record. Some one who won’t show favoritism to anyone of us,” Em added.

They sat in thoughtful silence wondering whom they knew that would be up for the task. “Aunt Meggie!” they said in unison then collapsed in a giggling fit.

“I’ll get her.” Storm stood and walked outside.

While she was gone, Maryna couldn’t stop grinning. “You know this is going to be fun. Admit it.”

Tara seemed to have something on her mind. There was a soft light in her coppery amber eyes. “It could be at that,” she answered in a hushed voice.

Maryna hadn’t put a lot of thought into this, still it wouldn’t hurt anything. She slid a sidelong glance at Ember. “You won’t be too cruel will you?” she asked quietly.

“No more cruel than mortals have been to me.”

The reply sent shivers down her spine. Ember was a warm loving woman, but she could have a wicked hot temper when stirred up. She reached over and patted her sister’s hand softly.

She heard the door jingle and looked up to see Storm and Meggie walking in arm in arm. “We’ve decided to have a contest of sorts, Auntie. What we’ve decided is, we’re going to have a contest to see who can snag a mortal man first,” Storm explained.

“Right, he has to specialize in our element, and we can’t use our powers to make him fall in love with us. It has to be his free will choice. Whoever gets the first proposal wins. We want you to be the scorekeeper. Oh! And we have to live in the mortal realm for the duration of the contest,” Maryna finished.

Meggie threw back her head and laughed. “I’ll do it! You four…” she didn’t continue, merely laughed and shook her head. A curl of graying red hair slipped over her eyes. “I do have a few conditions. As soon as you’re settled, you contact me and I’ll assign you a chaperone. Don’t cause any catastrophes and please keep a rein on your tempers. Living here will be different from being at home, I know that goes without saying, but I said it anyway, didn’t I?” She chuckled.

“We’ll be good, Auntie,” Storm assured, and the rest nodded in agreement.

“I’m sure you will, dear.” She took the pot of warm tea Storm had ordered and poured herself a cup. “I do wish I had some Antiban honey.”

Tara wriggled her fingers, a small glass vial of dark purple liquid materialized in her hand. “Here you are, Auntie,” she said, passing the tube to the older lady.

“Thank you, dear.” Meggie poured the rich thick liquid into the steaming mug. She swirled the contents then took a sip. “Mmm, paradise.”

They sat quietly while Meggie finished her tea then slipped from the booth.

“You all have your assignments. Let the fun begin,” Ember grinned.

“Who’s going to cover lunch?” Storm asked.

The other three stood as knots on a log. Finally, Tara stepped out. “Guess it’s my turn.” She walked to the counter with the bill, paid the waitress, then linked arms with her three sisters. They stepped back out into the warm sunshine and walked toward the back of the building. “Happy hunting, my little imps. Keep an eye out for each other and have fun.” Aunt Meggie gave and received a kiss on the cheek from each girl.

“I’ll be in touch soon, Auntie. See you three in the winner’s circle!” Maryna vanished in the breeze, her taunting chuckle hung in the air for a moment before it too dissipated.