~~~~
~:: ::~
/: :/
¤§§~:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ / / ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:~§§¤
@¤§////~:¨ /: :/ ¨:~////§¤@
@@%§§§/~:¨ ~:: ::~ ¨:~/§§§%@@
@@@¤%§/~:¨ ~~~~ ¨:~/§%¤@@@
@¤%%§//~:¨ ¨:~//§%%¤@
@¤%%§/:¨¨¨ 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. ¨:~/§%¤@@@
¤%§§§~::¨¨ ¨¨::~§§§%¤
@¤¤¤%§/~:¨ ¨:~/§%¤¤¤@
@@¤§~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~§¤@@
@¤§~¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨~§¤@
@@%%%§/~:¨ ¨:~/§%%%@@