“Girl! Get me some water and bread!” I startled awake. I scampered to get her some sustenance. I laid a tray with it and helped her climb out of the tripod. She was stiff and moaned. I hoped I hadn’t missed the oracle. I helped her eat, her body weak. I laid her down and looked into her eyes, pupils dilated and whites bloodshot.

“Did he hear you?”
“Yes, he said, Fishermen will fish whales and buildings made from marble last forever like the river Hades’ waters run.” She closed her eyes.

Well that was two or three requests granted. I let her sleep and gratefully left the inner house. My head cleared outside of its influence. I took the words and made them poetic. If they came from a god they had to be wonderful didn’t they? It took me a couple of days to match the words to four of the requests, scanning my notes for any matches to fishing or civilized arts. Each answer had to be formed separately and put to meter.

Finally, I was ready to go to the people. I pulled on the golden robes.