Chapter 2

The water was not that hot, but steam seemed to rise all in front of her. Lisa, still sobbing, looked at the cloud dancing in front of her moist eyes. The cloud slowly took the shape of a sphere, which transformed slowly into a small humanoid shape. The steam cloud expanded, until it had reached roughly the size of a full-grown human. It showed no detail, only some darker placed were eyes, mouth and other distinct features should be.

Lisa was puzzled. Her sadness and anger forgotten for the moment, she got up and looked at the strange apparition before her. What was that? Was she dreaming? Hallucinating? Was it her stress, her lack of sleep that made her see things that weren't?

Lisa startled as the humanoid cloud suddenly began to speak. It's voice sounded hollow, and it had a strange accent, but it spoke Lisa's language.

"Greetings, young maiden. Do not be afraid, I mean you no harm. My name is Bertram. I was a priest of Wotan many centuries ago...."

The spirit, Bertram, told Lisa about the magic well, his death at the stake, and his waiting for someone to make a proper sacrifice. How he waited and waited, and witnessed the changes of the land and people he once knew as the Ubii over the centuries.

"I saw the empire of Charlemagne rise and fall. The same with the Holy Roman Empire. I witnessed the introduction of gunpowder, the printing press, railroad and planes. Yes, many centuries passed. I could learn the changing language, see how Cologne became a city with over a million people.... but still there was no chance of getting into Valhalla," Bertram said and continued his story for about ten minutes.

Lisa listened with and open mouth. If this was a dream, or a hallucination, it was a vivid one. The spirit told her how finally houses were build on the spot where the sacred well once had been, and how its waters were connected to the plumbing system.

"At last my time had come, after many centuries of waiting. Soon, I knew, someone would make the proper sacrifice. And I was right. You are the one, and I finally can fulfill my vows and enter Valhalla. All I need to do is call upon the might of the god Wotan and help you. Because the well has been infused with every single piece of power Wotan could muster, it has awesome capabilities. Yes, the god is powerless now. Gods needs worshippers and also sacrifices. That gives them strength and the power to interfere with our world. When the new religion rooted the belief in Wotan and the other gods out, they couldn't do anything anymore. But the well's waters stored the divine energy, so I still can give you almost everything, fulfill almost every wish you have. But mind, only one."

Lisa was speechless. It was clear now that the apparition before her was no hallucination. It took a while before she had gathered her wits again. Somehow, she wasn't scared or thought it was a joke. She didn't have the urge to run away. The spirit in front of her made her feel he was like a friend, someone who came to help you when you felt rotten.
Lisa had a thousand questions. The most pressing of which was about the sacrifice Bertram had mentioned. She couldn't remember having sacrificed anything, certainly not to old gods in her bathroom.

"Well," the spirit said, after she had asked him about it, "Wotan helps those in need. The proof is given by tears. Tears tell a lot about the one who sheds them. You cried and your tears mixed with the sacred water of the well. Yes, the water you use to wash is from the sacred well indeed. Cheap water for the houses here, as I said. The sacrifice I mentioned are your tears, who need to be shed in the water, so Wotan can judge whether or not you are in real need. He made sure he could do that even after his "retirement". And you are in great need."

"And now I can make a wish?" Lisa asked.

"Yes, but you cannot wish for everything. I am not a djinn, after all.... I shall come back tomorrow, if you turn on the shower. Until then, I advice you do some research about my gods and especially Wotan. Then you can think of what you want. Wotan is a god of many skills. See you tomorrow."

With those words, the vapor slowly disappeared, leaving a baffled Lisa behind. It took a while before her mind had digested all this.

Later that day, Lisa was reading on the internet about the gods of the ancient Germanic tribes. She learned a lot about Wotan, but really didn't know what to wish for. Lazily clicking on all kinds of links, one of the facts she read was that Wotan’s parents were giants.
The ancient Germanic tribes told a lot of stories about giants and giantesses, feared these beings, for whom they were as real as anything else. Lisa read a couple of stories about giants and giantess as told by the ancient Germanic people before she decided to go to bed.

That night, she was dreaming about giants. In her dream, she was surrounded by huge human-like beings, laughing at her. Then one giant, a couple of times bigger than she was, turned into Hans, but his height remained.
Hans picked her up and laughed at her. But Lisa was not afraid. She said -in her dream-- that she was the girlfriend of Wotan. Then suddenly Lisa began to grow as well, until she was many times bigger than Hans. She held him, he still a giant but a dwarf compared to her, in her hand now. Lisa, in turn, laughed at him. Hans was crying and begged for mercy, dangling in her hand. Lisa knew she could do with him as she pleased. And that made her happy.

With a small shock, Lisa opened her eyes. The dream was still fresh in her mind. No doubt, it was because of the stories she had read yesterday. But somehow, she felt strange. In her mind, she still saw herself so big, holding Hans like a doll in her hand.
It was an exciting thought. Would it be possible? Wotan’s parents, after all, were giants.
After breakfast the next morning, Lisa went straight to the shower, undressing on the way. She now knew what she would wish for.