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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. ##¶#¤^:«^¨
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¨^«:^¤#¶## 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.) ##¶#¤^:«^¨
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¨¨¨¨^«^¤¶¶ 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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