~~~~
~-- --~
\- -\
,,-~\%%@¶@ ,,,,,,,,,,,, \ \ ,,,,,,,,,,,, @¶@%%\~-,,
,-~\%%@¶@# \- -\ #@¶@%%\~-,
,,-~\%%@¶@ ~-- --~ @¶@%%\~-,,
,,,-~\%%@¶ ~~~~ ¶@%%\~-,,,
,,-~\%%@¶@ @¶@%%\~-,,
,-~\%%@¶@# 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. @¶@%%\~-,,
,-~\%%@¶@# #@¶@%%\~-,
,,-~\%%@¶@ @¶@%%\~-,,
,,,-~\%%@¶ ¶@%%\~-,,,
,,-~\%%@¶@ @¶@%%\~-,,
,-~\%%@¶@# #@¶@%%\~-,