~~~~
~.. ..~
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¨¨¨¨~*$$¶@ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ * * ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ @¶$$*~¨¨¨¨
¨..~*$$$$& *. .* &$$$$*~..¨
¨.~*$$&@## ~.. ..~ ##@&$$*~.¨
¨.~*$$&&¶¶ ~~~~ ¶¶&&$$*~.¨
¨.~*$$&¶¶@ @¶¶&$$*~.¨
¨¨¨.**$$&@ 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 @¶¶&$$*~.¨
¨¨¨¨~*$&&& Are Left To Care For Us And The House &&&$*~¨¨¨¨
¨.~*$&¶@## And The Orchard. But It Is Hard And We ##@¶&$*~.¨
¨.~*$$$$&& Are Distracted. We Are Not As &&$$$$*~.¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.~$& Persistent As Father And Quickly Fall &$~.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.*$&¶@ Behind In Our Duties. @¶&$*.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨~$$& &$$~¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~*$$& &$$*~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~$$$&¶ ¶&$$$~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨~*$& &$*~¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨.~*$$&&&& &&&&$$*~.¨