««««
«.. ..«
*. .*
§=*«.¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ * * ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨.«*=§
@§=*«.¨¨¨¨ *. .* ¨¨¨¨.«*=§@
#@§=*«.¨¨¨ «.. ..« ¨¨¨.«*=§@#
##@§=*«.¨¨ «««« ¨¨.«*=§@##
###@§=*«.¨ ¨.«*=§@###
##@§=*«.¨¨ 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. ¨¨¨¨¨.«*=§
@§=*«.¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨.«*=§@
#@§=*«.¨¨¨ ¨¨¨.«*=§@#
##@§=*«.¨¨ ¨¨.«*=§@##
###@§=*«.¨ ¨.«*=§@###
##@§=*«.¨¨ ¨¨.«*=§@##