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.