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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. ¨^~**%&¶##
¶%*~^¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨^~*%¶
##¶&%**~^¨ ¨^~**%&¶##
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