~~~~
~~~ ~~~
;~ ~;
#¤%%;;~... ............ ; ; ............ ...~;;%%¤#
¤¤¤%%~~~~. ;~ ~; .~~~~%%¤¤¤
###¤$%;~~. ~~~ ~~~ .~~;%$¤###
¤$$;~..... ~~~~ .....~;$$¤
###¤$%;~~. .~~;%$¤###
###¤$%;~~. The River That'S Our River Makes A .~~;%$¤###
##¤¤$%;~~. Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A .~~;%$¤¤##
¤%;~~..... 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. .....~~%¤¤
###¤$%;~~. .~~;%$¤###
#¤$%~..... .....~%$¤#
###¤$%;~~. .~~;%$¤###
¤%~....... .......~%¤
###¤$%;~~. .~~;%$¤###