~~~~
~.. ..~
*. .*
#@*~.¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ * * ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨.~*@#
###§@§*~.¨ *. .* ¨.~*§@§###
§§*...¨¨¨¨ ~.. ..~ ¨¨¨¨...*§§
#@@*~~~¨¨¨ ~~~~ ¨¨¨~~~*@@#
###§@§*~.¨ ¨.~*§@§###
###§@§*~.¨ 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. ¨¨¨..*§@@§
#@§**.¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨.**§@#
###§@§*~.¨ ¨.~*§@§###
###§@§*~.¨ ¨.~*§@§###
§§§§*~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~*§§§§
#§@@*..¨¨¨ ¨¨¨..*@@§#