Father: “Time to get up!”

Son: “It’s too early…”

Father: “I will not accept such delay this morning. I want to leave by sunrise.”

Son: “Why do we have to leave so early?”

Father: “We need to get to the Oracle in time. Now get up!”

Son: “I don’t understand. You wrote your question down and sent it a week ago. Why can’t the Oracle just write a response?”

Father: “Because there is more to it than that.”

Son: “Like what?”

Father: “I don’t know. I am not an oracle. They just told me to be there at a certain time. If we are late, we might miss out. Now move!”

Son: “Ugh… It’s cold. Will you get your money back if we miss it?”

Father: “No.”

Son: “Why not? That seems unfair.”

Father: “Again. I don’t know. Here, put this in your satchel.”

Son: “Why is the Oracle so far away then. If people have to be there, they should be closer to town.”

Father: “That is a question I do know the answer to. The Oracle lives way out in the desert because they cannot have any distractions; they cannot live a normal life. It is a part of what they do.”

Son: “Why?”

Father: “Well, from what I understand, the Oracle gets much of their information from dreams and meditation. If they lived a life like mine, and were surrounded by noise, stubborn children, and busy people, they wouldn’t know if the information in their dreams was for me or for them.”

Son: “So they live in a cave way out in the desert because then they would know a dream about a fisherman would be for you.”

Father: “Exactly!”

Son: “What if another fisherman asked a question at the same time?”

Father: “That is probably why we have to be there.”

Son: “What if another cave dweller wanted to know something from the Oracle?”

Father: “Ha! I doubt other cave dwellers need the Oracle. Only people like me who have no time to think.”

Son: “Why don’t you have time to think?”

Father: “I will tell you on the way! Now get moving!!”

Son: “Could I become an Oracle?”

Father: “I don’t know. You would have to want to live that way, and have your head filled with strange thoughts all the time.”

Son: “Would I be allowed to stay in bed?”

Father: “Not with people coming to visit you all the time… looking for answers.”

Son: “Ugh… forget it.”