~~~~
~-- --~
/- -/
###&%%/~-, ,,,,,,,,,,,, / / ,,,,,,,,,,,, ,-~/%%##
###&%%/~-, /- -/ ,-~/%%##
##&&%%/~-, ~-- --~ ,-~/%%&#
###&%%/~-, ~~~~ ,-~/%%##
###&%%/~-, ,-~/%%##
&%~,,,,,,, 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. ,,,,-~/%%&
###&%%/~-, ,-~/%%##
###&%%/~-, ,-~/%%##
####&%/~-, ,-~/%###
###&%%/~-, ,-~/%%##
#&%~-,,,,, ,,,,,-~%