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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. ##@#&%:~~¨
¨¨¨¨¨~:%§§ §§%:~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~~% #&%~~¨¨¨¨¨
¨~~:%&§#@@ @@#§&%:~~¨
¨¨¨~~:%%&§ §&%%:~~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨~:&§ §&:~¨¨¨¨¨¨