----
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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. §%;;-¨¨¨¨¨
¨^-;%%§¶@# #@¶§%%;-^¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨-%§¶ ¶§%-¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨^-;%%§¶@@ @@¶§%%;-^¨
¨¨¨¨¨--%%§ §%%--¨¨¨¨¨
¨^-;%%¶@## ##@¶%%;-^¨