“Come on!” yelled the messenger guy. “Follow me!”

“But game today!” another guy called to him.

“Can’t miss game!” shouted another.

“This better than game,” said the messenger guy. He turned toward Po and me. “Gods coming, too. All gods. Prometheus say so. Come on! Free snacks!”

“Free snacks?” cried all the guys.

And they ran off after the messenger guy.

“What do you think that’s about?” I asked Po.

“Got me, bro,” said Po. “But, hey, free snacks. Let’s go.”

The two of us drove our chariots to the foot of Mount Olympus.

By the time we arrived, a huge crowd of guys had gathered. A rope barrier kept them away from the actual base of the mountain. But Po and I drove our chariots around it. There didn’t seem to be a gods’ parking lot. Then I realized—all the other gods would have gotten here by astro-traveling.

Po and I pulled our chariots over next to Prometheus’s wagon. I gave Harley and Davidson a couple of carrots. I gave Cerbie some Cheese Yummies.

“All right, guard dog,” I told him. “Guard.”

Po and I walked toward the other gods. I saw Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. I spotted Zeus. And our mom, Rhea. Tons of Zeus’s kids were there. Plus a few Titans. Prometheus and Epi were clapping, trying to quiet everybody down. When he saw me, Prometheus gave a nod.

“Silence!” Epi called. “Okay! Now let’s get started.”

Gods are hard to quiet down. They all think what they have to say is incredibly important. But at last they stopped chattering.

“Thank you for coming today,” said Prometheus. He stood between two tables. A huge silvery dome sat on top of each one. Very mysterious. “As everyone knows, Zeus, King of the Universe, has decreed that for the guys, there’s no hunting.”

“Bad decree!” muttered some of the guys.

I figured Prometheus was trying to butter Zeus up, with that King-of-the-Universe bit. But why? What was he up to?

“I’ve asked you Olympians to come here today to show you how it could be a good thing for all of us if the guys went hunting,” Prometheus went on.

“What about the free snacks?” called Zeus.

“Coming right up,” said Prometheus.

Epi began circulating among us gods with a silvery platter. It held roasted meat chunks on toothpicks.

“Wild boar bits,” Epi told me.

I took one. Excellent!

After the gods were served, Epi gave snacks to the guys. They tossed them into their mouths and swallowed them down, toothpick and all.

“How are the snacks?” called Prometheus.

“Snacks good!” the guys yelled back.

“I want seconds!” yelled Zeus.

Prometheus smiled. “You could eat like this all the time, Zeus,” he said. “Because if you let the guys hunt, they could give you part of their meat each day.”

Zeus grabbed a handful of boar bits as Epi passed by. “Go on,” he said, chewing loudly. “I’m listening.”                       

“If you’re interested in this deal,” said Prometheus, “one of you gods can choose which parts of the boar or ox or whatever you get and which part the guys get.”

“Let Hades choose!” cried Po.

“Yes!” called Hera. “He’s the oldest.”

It made me feel great to be nominated. But I knew I didn’t stand a chance.

“I don’t think so!” Zeus boomed out. “King of the Universe chooses. End of discussion!”

The other gods muttered. But there was nothing they could do. Zeus ruled.

“All right, Zeus,” said Prometheus. “You choose for all the gods. You can pick this . . .” He lifted up one silvery dome. Under it was a platter holding what looked like a big pile of juicy steaks.

“Yum!” cried the guys.

Now Prometheus lifted the second silvery dome.

“Yuck!” cried the guys.

“Yuck!” cried quite a few of the gods, too.

For on that platter was what looked like pieces of boar skin with slimy raw innards piled high on top.

“All right, Zeus,” said Prometheus. “Pick your meat!”