~~~~
~^^ ^^~
:^ ^:
@@##£=:~^¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ : : ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨^~:=£##@@
#££=:^^¨¨¨ :^ ^: ¨¨¨^^:=££#
#££:^^¨¨¨¨ ~^^ ^^~ ¨¨¨¨^^:££#
##@##=:~^¨ ~~~~ ¨^~:=##@##
@@##£=:~^¨ ¨^~:=£##@@
#=:~~~¨¨¨¨ 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. ¨¨¨¨^::£##
@#££::~~^¨ ¨^~~::££#@
#£=~~~^^¨¨ ¨¨^^~~~=£#
##££=:^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^:=££##
#@##£=:~^¨ ¨^~:=£##@#
#@##£=:~^¨ ¨^~:=£##@#