She gritted her teeth, weaving strong shoots of gingham through the wood. She sat in a small hammock, suspended under the Oracle's hut. A basket of shoots sat on the pier above her, the tips of the wood hanging over just enough that she could reach them. The stilts had begun to rot, and the weight of the metal statue inside threatened to break through the floor.

She swung her legs and hoped the big fish in the water wouldn't jump up and bite her toes. Red shoots around the green, she braided the multi-colored wood through the stilts. Green and blue, red shoots around the green...

A guard glanced at her as he passed. She made a face at his back. Suddenly he turned around. She shook. The Oracle, awakened from its nap by her fear, looked out through her brown eyes.

She didn't notice it inside her head. The guard bent down and laid his huge gun over his knees.

What are you doing? His voice was loud. It hurt her ears.

I'm fixing the house. She held up a shoot. The stilts are rotted, mister.

The guard breathed heavily through his mask. Have you seen anything unusual in this sector?

She pointed down the pier. A huge monster ran that way. He was hurting people. She looked away. That's not nice.

The guard snorted and stood. His gun brushed the basket and the shoots tipped into the water. She yelped and dove in after them. Nice to see some children finally pulling their own weight, he stomped off.

She spat out filthy water and shivered. Eek! The fish! A big yellow fish swam around her legs, cutting her skin with its sharp fins. She threw the shoots onto the pier and grabbed the hammock. She screamed. The Oracle sent a wave of faint alarm through her. I am being careful! The fish charged and she punched it in the nose. It reared back and churned the water. She swung one leg up and managed to heave herself into the hammock. It swung violently as she gasped for breath. The fish circled beneath her, snapping its jaws.

Stupid, mean ol' guard, she pulled her legs under her chin. Dang ol' fish! She shook her fist at it. Red curved around her knees and down her calves. She touched the cuts with one finger. Her fingertip felt hot. She looked at it. It turned green. She held her hand out as far as she could. The fish poisoned my finger! The Oracle sent urgent waves through her. Green light erupted from beneath her nail.

Without thinking, she traced her cuts with her fingertip. The green and red flashed together into long strands of scar tissue. When the last drop of blood had disappeared, her fingertip cooled.

She stared at it for a while. The nail remained light green. She sniffed her finger. It smelled like magic. Um... thank you, Oracle.

It sent no emotion in reply and went back to sleep. She shrugged and continued to weave gingham into the rotted stilts. Red shoots around the green...

Love it? Hate it? Lemme know. Pllllllease! This isn't the end. There is no end. It will continue, fear not.