~~~~
~~~ ~~~
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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. #%\~~~¨¨¨¨
¨~~\%%#### ####%%\~~¨
¨~~\%%#### ####%%\~~¨
¨~~\%%%%## ##%%%%\~~¨
¨~~\%%#### ####%%\~~¨
¨~~\%%#### ####%%\~~¨