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#@¶#§$\-:¨ \: :\ ¨:-\$§#¶@#
##@¶#§$-:¨ -:: ::- ¨:-$§#¶@##
#@¶#§$\-:¨ ---- ¨:-\$§#¶@#
@##$$-¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨-$$##@
##@#§$\-:¨ The River That'S Our River Makes A ¨:-\$§#@##
#$\:¨¨¨¨¨¨ 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 ¨¨::-\\\§¶
#@¶#§$\-:¨ Behind In Our Duties. ¨:-\$§#¶@#
¶¶§\\-¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨-\\§¶¶
##@¶#$\-:¨ ¨:-\$#¶@##
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