----
-^^ ^^-
*^ ^*
....^-*=£& ............ * * ............ &£=*-^....
.....^-*=£ *^ ^* £=*-^.....
......^-*= -^^ ^^- =*-^......
.......^-* ---- *-^.......
........^- -^........
.........^ The River That'S Our River Makes A ^.........
.......... Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A ..........
.........^ Decent Days Travel North From That ^.........
........^- Stands Our House In The Middle Of A -^........
.......^-* Forgotten Apple Orchard. Our House Is *-^.......
......^-*= Built Of Dark Clay And Abandoned By A =*-^......
.....^-*=£ Stranger. The Window Has No Glass But £=*-^.....
....^-*=£& Instead Steel Bars To Keep The Animals &£=*-^....
...^-*=£&@ Out. @&£=*-^...
..^-*=£&@# #@&£=*-^..
.^-*=£&@## Around The House Is A Thick, Thick ##@&£=*-^.
..^-*=£&@# Brush Of Ferns And Bushes. There Live #@&£=*-^..
...^-*=£&@ The Animals That We Fight To Keep Away, @&£=*-^...
....^-*=£& For They Speak To Us To Join Them In &£=*-^....
.....^-*=£ The Luscious Caves Below Ground. They £=*-^.....
......^-*= Mean No Harm But It Is Not In Our Best =*-^......
.......^-* Interest To Do So. There Is Important *-^.......
........^- Work That Needs To Be Done, And It Cant -^........
.........^ Be Done By Animals. (Father Says This.) ^.........
.......... ..........
.........^ Every Morning Our Father Clears The ^.........
........^- Ferns And Uproots The Bushes Only For -^........
.......^-* Them To Grow Back Each Night. Their *-^.......
......^-*= Leaves Are Teal, White And Yellow, Some =*-^......
.....^-*=£ Even The Color Of Wine. They Have Lilac £=*-^.....
....^-*=£& Flowers And In The Morning They Are Wet &£=*-^....
...^-*=£&@ With Dew. @&£=*-^...
..^-*=£&@# #@&£=*-^..
.^-*=£&@## Father Is Away During The Day Doing ##@&£=*-^.
..^-*=£&@# Important Things Elsewhere. He Is Weary #@&£=*-^..
...^-*=£&@ When He Returns Home, Each Day More So @&£=*-^...
....^-*=£& Than The Next. We Learn To Cook For Him &£=*-^....
.....^-*=£ So That He Does Not Have To. We Tend To £=*-^.....
......^-*= His Clothes. =*-^......
.......^-* *-^.......
........^- Suddenly The Dense Bushwork Is Mirrored -^........
.........^ Inside. Stems And Leaves Appear Close ^.........
.......... To The Walls And Far From The Light. We ..........
.........^ Are Glad, For The Flowers Are Beautiful ^.........
........^- And Smell Good, And There Is Little -^........
.......^-* Decoration In Our House. But When *-^.......
......^-*= Father Comes Home He Is Angry And Cuts =*-^......
.....^-*=£ Them All Down In A Frenzy. We Are £=*-^.....
....^-*=£& Scared Of Him Then. &£=*-^....
...^-*=£&@ @&£=*-^...
..^-*=£&@# We Are Then Tasked With Removing Any #@&£=*-^..
.^-*=£&@## Indoor Plant We See. But They Are So ##@&£=*-^.
..^-*=£&@# Beautiful! We Wait Just Until Father #@&£=*-^..
...^-*=£&@ Comes Home And Until Then We Enjoy @&£=*-^...
....^-*=£& Them. Sometimes An Animal Will Sneak In &£=*-^....
.....^-*=£ But We Always Shoo Them Out. With Fresh £=*-^.....
......^-*= Cut Flowers Thrown Right Outside The =*-^......
.......^-* House He Suspects And Resents Our *-^.......
........^- Inaction. But He Doesn'T Have The -^........
.........^ Energy To Scold Us. He Weakens Quickly. ^.........
.......... It Is Not Long Before He Is Still Tired ..........
.........^ Even In The Morning And Must ^.........
........^- Reluctantly Leave The Outdoor Weed -^........
.......^-* Cutting To Us As Well, Untrusting That *-^.......
......^-*= We Will Carry It Out. =*-^......
.....^-*=£ £=*-^.....
....^-*=£& Now He Leaves As Soon As He'S Awake And &£=*-^....
...^-*=£&@ Falls Asleep As Soon As He Returns. We @&£=*-^...
..^-*=£&@# Are Left To Care For Us And The House #@&£=*-^..
.^-*=£&@## And The Orchard. But It Is Hard And We ##@&£=*-^.
..^-*=£&@# Are Distracted. We Are Not As #@&£=*-^..
...^-*=£&@ Persistent As Father And Quickly Fall @&£=*-^...
....^-*=£& Behind In Our Duties. &£=*-^....
.....^-*=£ £=*-^.....
......^-*= =*-^......
.......^-* *-^.......
........^- -^........
.........^ ^.........