~~~~
~.. ..~
=. .=
..~=*¤#¶## ............ = = ............ ##¶#¤*=~..
.....=*### =. .= ###*=.....
..~=*¤#¶## ~.. ..~ ##¶#¤*=~..
..~~=****# ~~~~ #****=~~..
......=*## ##*=......
.....=¤¤¶# 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. ##**=.....
....~~~~*# #*~~~~....
..~=*¤#¶## ##¶#¤*=~..
..~=*¤#¶## ##¶#¤*=~..
..~=*¤#¶## ##¶#¤*=~..
..~=*¤#¶## ##¶#¤*=~..