----
--- ---
†- -†
###@¤*†--¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ † † ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨--†*¤@###
##@¤*†--¨¨ †- -† ¨¨--†*¤@##
###@¤*†--¨ --- --- ¨--†*¤@###
##@¤*†--¨¨ ---- ¨¨--†*¤@##
###@¤*†--¨ ¨--†*¤@###
##@¤*†--¨¨ 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. ¨--†*¤@###
##@¤*†--¨¨ ¨¨--†*¤@##
###@¤*†--¨ ¨--†*¤@###
##@¤*†--¨¨ ¨¨--†*¤@##
###@¤*†--¨ ¨--†*¤@###
##@¤*†--¨¨ ¨¨--†*¤@##