~~~~
~.. ..~
*. .*
....~*$§§# ............ * * ............ #§§$*~....
...~*$§§#@ *. .* @#§§$*~...
..~*$§§#@# ~.. ..~ #@#§§$*~..
...~*$§§#@ ~~~~ @#§§$*~...
....~*$§§# #§§$*~....
.....~*$§§ The River That'S Our River Makes A §§$*~.....
......~*$§ Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A §$*~......
.......~*$ 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. #§§$*~....
...~*$§§#@ @#§§$*~...
..~*$§§#@# #@#§§$*~..
...~*$§§#@ @#§§$*~...
....~*$§§# #§§$*~....
.....~*$§§ §§$*~.....