»»»»
».. ..»
/. ./
.#....#.## ............ / / ............ .##.#.#.#.
##...###.. /. ./ #.#######.
.#..#..#.# ».. ..» ##......##
##.##.#### »»»» .#.....#.#
.##.##...# ##....###.
#.##.#..#. 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. ...#..#.#.
....##.... ..##.####.
...#.#.... .#.##...#.
..####...# ###.#..##.
.#...#..#. ..###.#.#.
##..##.### .#..#####.