My mother had been doing this for years. She was an oracle and she consulted the gods with her prophecy so I know she did it before I was ever born. I had no clue what she did with that information though. It wasn't until the day I became an adult that I was told her job was to be an oracle, but that she never got a word back. She spoke to the gods, but no one answered.

I have heard a lot of stories about this. Some say she got involved with the wrong people and found herself in very dangerous situations. Some say she was a distant relative of the people who stole the golden oracle statue from the Greek Olympian Gods. But if this were true, why was she chosen to speak to the god's in the first place? More importantly, why did her family practice this for centuries without this happening?

And why was I the only one crazy enough to watch her through her sessions, day after day when I was five?

I used to like playing with the little dolls in the temple room that she had because they were gods. The figures of Zeus with his lightning bolt, Athena with her helmet and shield, Hades with his scythe and his dog and Persephone with her sack of grain. They were … other worldly. I liked playing with them.

I even thought about being an oracle myself one day. Now I know it would have been impossible. The ancient Gods didn't answer oracles. They just took the prophecy and used their own gifts to effect the future in their own way. There was no way that a mortal could accurately relay the wishes of massive gods. The only way to become an oracle was to be female, descend from an oracle and be born in Sparta.

I was born in Mississauga, Canada, just one rare oracle in Canada. My mother was the only daughter of an oracle. Her mom, grandmother and great grandmother were oracles as well. The only thing that the women would say was their location. They didn't tell stories about why the gods didn't answer, or about the things they had seen. It was strange, but I grew accustomed to it, even thought it was odd that I never got a word back.

The temple itself was located on a little island that sat in the middle of the beach, halfway to the mainland in the city of Mississauga. It was an odd place. There were three oversized buildings made of weathered stone that were barely standing from some Godly battle illuminated in a mural that took up one of the facades of the main temple. The center temple was the largest, with three figures protecting the people who walked by. One for the sun, one for the moon and one for the stars. A quote was chiseled beneath the three gods that read:

"In order to achieve what is good, we must strive to understand ourselves and strive to understand others. In order to achieve this we must search for wisdom, for in wisdom is true knowledge and in knowledge is the understanding of God's plans for us all."

Formed in a circle around the three separate buildings were four trees, each had one limb that extended to the earth and one branch that extended to the sky. The trees were, again, made to look like they were sheltering the people passing by. There were five statues of women at the base of each tree, each one representing one of the Gods, Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite or Hera. They were each holding what looked to be tools or weapons of some sort. They were life-sized statues that were carved deeply into the trees they were unattached.

Looking at this once was a sight that I never really got used to. I knew the meaning behind each statue, but the images made the place seem completely wrong. I imagined that the trees faced the people walking by, maybe the sky of course. Only the people saw the sky, but they didn't even look up. I tried to imagine how the statues would look from outside and from the sky.

To the left of the main temple was a smaller temple, much smaller than the ones around it, with two large pillars standing in the center of it. The edges of the pillars were made to look like broken bodies. To the far right of the main was an amphitheater with benches that were carved into the stone and a rectangular stage in the center.

I often wondered why it was this way, why the people never looked up. All the stories I heard said that the ancients had more respect for the temple, but that is probably because the story I had heard from my mother, and the stories she told me. She would mention how she was like a normal girl for once, sleeping in a big tent and not cooped up in a temple. She always said the trees grabbed her and pulled her through the sky, how she saw the stars and how she had been watching her entire life from there, even though she was trapped. I had no clue where that came from. I never told anyone about that either.

On my sixteenth birthday, the Gods told my mother that the prophecy would come this day, so we had to leave. I wasn't allowed to bring any of my dolls with me, not even my favourite doll, Ares. This was it, I was finally allowed to hear the words of the prophesy. I was six years old. I had to choose a doll. I didn't want to leave any behind.

I had chosen Ares. He was the strongest, most confident of the dolls. He had broad shoulders, a thin waist and broad arms. He had always made me feel safe, like no matter what, no one could hurt me when I held that. We walked to the temple on the island; Ares reminded me of my mother, not the way that she was, but the way how was. I had two pictures of her. I gave Ares one and me the other.

I remembered being in the temple room that day. It was bright and sunny outside, so the room looked almost pitch black. I closed my eyes and opened them again. I still couldn't see a thing. As my eyes adjusted, I heard voices. My mother was behind me. She was talking to someone. "You will be given the opportunity to see what you have always desired to." she always whispered in the same tone, but she spoke up now. "It is your choice."

I looked over at her. "What do you want me to choose?"

"I will see what you are most in need of."

"I don't know, I don't want to leave him behind."

"No matter what, he will always be here."

"I don't know, I'm scared. I don't want to."

"No one can replace her, but she is not yours alone to keep."

"I just don't know, I don't want to hold him as his only survivor."

"I know that, but he would be hurt for almost forever without you. Can't you see that?"

"Yes, but I would be hurt without him."

"Then we must wait. The gods are wise, they did not let Ares out of their sight. Let the two live unhurt with each other. If this is how you feel, then he will wait with all the others. But you must choose. Now. Time is running out."

"I have to choose?"

"Yes. Choose one or the other."

I shut my eyes and I saw Ares. I was smiling. I had chosen him.

I never looked back at my mother. She had been my owner, but now I was the owner, or so the people had said.

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