elves live in the land      
      beyond the great dam.       
   it was  built in the late  sixties.  
     the elves came to  us then.    
                      
                      
 they  were  very  manipulative,  and  we 
 came to trust them.           us 
 kids would play down at  the  water even 
 though we were not allowed.        
    sometimes the  sluice  would  close 
 entirely, and  the  river  at  the  dams 
 foot would dry up, revealing  the  rocky 
 water   garden   that  had  been  hidden 
 beneath, and we would go there.      
       before the  dam  opened again, 
 there  would be a  signal, but the elves 
 would make  us not hear it, and suddenly 
 we  would find the water rising, already 
 at our knees.                
                      
  by then  the elves  would be  gone.