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.