----
-~~ ~~-
^~ ~^
#£#££*^-~, ,,,,,,,,,,,, ^ ^ ,,,,,,,,,,,, ,~-^*££#£#
##£££*^-~, ^~ ~^ ,~-^*£££##
#££^^-~,,, -~~ ~~- ,,,~-^^££#
#£#£**^-~, ---- ,~-^**£#£#
#*-,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,-*#
##£#£*^-~, 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. ,~-^*£#£##
£##**-,,,, ,,,,-**##£
££*^^-,,,, ,,,,-^^*££
£#£*^^^-~, ,~-^^^*£#£
#£*-~,,,,, ,,,,,~-*£#
#£^-,,,,,, ,,,,,,-^£#