~~~~
~.. ..~
/. ./
###@§$/~.¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ / / ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨.~/$§@###
#@$$//~¨¨¨ /. ./ ¨¨¨~//$$@#
##@$/.¨¨¨¨ ~.. ..~ ¨¨¨¨./$@##
###@§$/~.¨ ~~~~ ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ The River That'S Our River Makes A ¨.~/$§@###
#@@§$$/~.¨ Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A ¨.~/$$§@@#
@$//~..¨¨¨ Decent Days Travel North From That ¨¨¨..~//$@
####@§$/.¨ Stands Our House In The Middle Of A ¨./$§@####
@@$$$/~.¨¨ Forgotten Apple Orchard. Our House Is ¨¨.~/$$$@@
#@$~¨¨¨¨¨¨ Built Of Dark Clay And Abandoned By A ¨¨¨¨¨¨~$@#
####§$/~.¨ Stranger. The Window Has No Glass But ¨.~/$§####
#§$~~~~.¨¨ Instead Steel Bars To Keep The Animals ¨¨.~~~~$§#
@$~~¨¨¨¨¨¨ Out. ¨¨¨¨¨¨~~$@
###@§$/~.¨ ¨.~/$§@###
#@@@§$/~.¨ Around The House Is A Thick, Thick ¨.~/$§@@@#
###@§$/~.¨ Brush Of Ferns And Bushes. There Live ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ The Animals That We Fight To Keep Away, ¨.~/$§@###
##§//....¨ 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 ¨¨..//§@@#
###@§$/~.¨ Leaves Are Teal, White And Yellow, Some ¨.~/$§@###
@@$//~..¨¨ Even The Color Of Wine. They Have Lilac ¨¨..~//$@@
#@§$~.¨¨¨¨ Flowers And In The Morning They Are Wet ¨¨¨¨.~$§@#
###@§$/~.¨ With Dew. ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ Father Is Away During The Day Doing ¨.~/$§@###
#@@$$$/~.¨ Important Things Elsewhere. He Is Weary ¨.~/$$$@@#
##§$//~¨¨¨ When He Returns Home, Each Day More So ¨¨¨~//$§##
@$//~.¨¨¨¨ Than The Next. We Learn To Cook For Him ¨¨¨¨.~//$@
#@$~~.¨¨¨¨ So That He Does Not Have To. We Tend To ¨¨¨¨.~~$@#
###@§$/~.¨ His Clothes. ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ ¨.~/$§@###
@$~.¨¨¨¨¨¨ Suddenly The Dense Bushwork Is Mirrored ¨¨¨¨¨¨.~$@
###@§$/~.¨ Inside. Stems And Leaves Appear Close ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ To The Walls And Far From The Light. We ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ Are Glad, For The Flowers Are Beautiful ¨.~/$§@###
@$$~¨¨¨¨¨¨ And Smell Good, And There Is Little ¨¨¨¨¨¨~$$@
###@§$/~.¨ Decoration In Our House. But When ¨.~/$§@###
@§$/~.¨¨¨¨ Father Comes Home He Is Angry And Cuts ¨¨¨¨.~/$§@
###@§$/~.¨ Them All Down In A Frenzy. We Are ¨.~/$§@###
#@$~¨¨¨¨¨¨ Scared Of Him Then. ¨¨¨¨¨¨~$@#
###@§$/~.¨ ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ We Are Then Tasked With Removing Any ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ Indoor Plant We See. But They Are So ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ Beautiful! We Wait Just Until Father ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ Comes Home And Until Then We Enjoy ¨.~/$§@###
#@$$~~¨¨¨¨ Them. Sometimes An Animal Will Sneak In ¨¨¨¨~~$$@#
#@$/~¨¨¨¨¨ But We Always Shoo Them Out. With Fresh ¨¨¨¨¨~/$@#
###@§$/~.¨ Cut Flowers Thrown Right Outside The ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ House He Suspects And Resents Our ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ Inaction. But He Doesn'T Have The ¨.~/$§@###
@@§§§$/~.¨ Energy To Scold Us. He Weakens Quickly. ¨.~/$§§§@@
###@§$/~.¨ It Is Not Long Before He Is Still Tired ¨.~/$§@###
##§$$~¨¨¨¨ Even In The Morning And Must ¨¨¨¨~$$§##
###@§$/~.¨ Reluctantly Leave The Outdoor Weed ¨.~/$§@###
@$/.¨¨¨¨¨¨ Cutting To Us As Well, Untrusting That ¨¨¨¨¨¨./$@
###@§$/~.¨ We Will Carry It Out. ¨.~/$§@###
@$$$~.¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨.~$$$@
###@§$/~.¨ Now He Leaves As Soon As He'S Awake And ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ Falls Asleep As Soon As He Returns. We ¨.~/$§@###
@@$$/...¨¨ Are Left To Care For Us And The House ¨¨.../$$@@
@$~..¨¨¨¨¨ And The Orchard. But It Is Hard And We ¨¨¨¨¨..~$@
####@§$/~. Are Distracted. We Are Not As .~/$§@####
####§$/~.¨ Persistent As Father And Quickly Fall ¨.~/$§####
###@§$/~.¨ Behind In Our Duties. ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ ¨.~/$§@###
###@§$/~.¨ ¨.~/$§@###
#@$$~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~$$@#
###@§$/~.¨ ¨.~/$§@###
@@$~..¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨..~$@@