¨^««««**&# #&**««««^¨
¨¨¨¨^†*&&& &&&*†^¨¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&### ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨¨«*@@&& &&@@*«¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨«†*@&& &&@*†«¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨««*@&## ¨ ¨ ¨ ##&@*««¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&### ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†**@@@# ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ #@@@**†«^¨
¨^«†*@#### « « « « « « « « « « « ####@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨¨^««**& just off the coast to the baltic sea &**««^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^†***&# there's a freshwater pond, secluded #&***†^¨¨¨
¨^«†*@@&&# among ashen and juniper. a cleft in the #&&@@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### limestone bedrock, sharp-cut from the ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨¨¨^††@& surrounding plains, a ninety degree &@††^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^††*@& drop down, down, to the midnight-black &@*††^¨¨¨¨
¨^«††††**& water. &**††††«^¨
¨¨¨¨¨^«†@# #@†«^¨¨¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&### ««««********«««« ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### ««** **«« ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### «««««** fairies live here. **««««« ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@@@&# ««** **«« #&@@@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### ««««********«««« ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨^†*@@&& they speak to the sloane, caress it, &&@@*†^¨¨¨
¨¨¨««*@@&& urge it to grow thicker, tangled, with &&@@*««¨¨¨
¨¨¨^^««*&& longer and sharper thorns. they tell it &&*««^^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^«†*&& to stay just below the grass, so that &&*†«^¨¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&### the animals what come to drink the ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨«†@& water cannot see it before it draws &@†«¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^^«*& their blood. closer to the pond, the &*«^^¨¨¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&### sloane can grow taller, being able to ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨^^^†*@& hide also in the juniper. &@*†^^^¨¨¨
¨^^^††*@&# #&@*††^^^¨
¨¨^«†††*&# the fairies will beckon the animals to #&*†††«^¨¨
¨^«†††*@&# push forward, tell them that they're #&@*†††«^¨
¨^«†*@&### almost at the water, that they may ###&@*†«^¨
¨^««««†@## drink soon. and they will tug on the ##@†««««^¨
¨^«†*@&### sloane to make sure that the thorns cut ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨^«†***& deep. when they finally find the path &***†«^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨««†*@& down between the rocks, away from the &@*†««¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨««†**& bushwork and into the cleft, they are &**†««¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^†††@@& bleeding from a thousand wounds. as &@@†††^¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&&&& they drink from the dark water, it is &&&&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨«*& in turn drinking the animals blood. &*«¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&### ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### the circle is complete, the contract ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨«†@# carried out; the animal is abandoned to #@†«¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^^^«*&# find its own way back. the bushes roots #&*«^^^¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&### drink the nutrutious water. the fairies ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«††***&# dance in the sunbeams. #&***††«^¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨«†*& &*†«¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨^†*@&#### †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ####&@*†^¨
¨¨¨¨¨^«*&# « « « « « « « « « « « #&*«^¨¨¨¨¨
¨^«†*@&### ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*&#### ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ####&*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### ¨ ¨ ¨ ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### ###&@*†«^¨
¨^«†*@&### ###&@*†«^¨
¨¨^^††*&## ##&*††^^¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨«*& &*«¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨^^«†*@@@# #@@@*†«^^¨