¤¤†††~~... ...~~†††¤¤
@¤†~...... ......~†¤@
##@¶¤*††~: :~††*¤¶@##
@@¶¤*††~:. .:~††*¤¶@@
##¶¤*††~:. .:~††*¤¶##
#@¶¤*††~:. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .:~††*¤¶@#
¤¤¤*†:.... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ....:†*¤¤¤
#@¶¤*††~:. ~ ~ ~ ~ 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. ~ ....::††*¶
#@¶¤*††~:. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .:~††*¤¶@#
¤**†~..... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .....~†**¤
¶¶**†~:::. .:::~†**¶¶
#@¶¤*††~:. .:~††*¤¶@#
##@¤*††~:. .:~††*¤@##
#@¶¤*††~:. .:~††*¤¶@#
@¤††††~~:. .:~~††††¤@