----
-.. ..-
*. .*
####%†*-.¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ * * ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨.-*†%####
##¶#%†*-.¨ *. .* ¨.-*†%#¶##
##¶#%†*-.¨ -.. ..- ¨.-*†%#¶##
#%†-.¨¨¨¨¨ ---- ¨¨¨¨¨.-†%#
##¶#%†*-.¨ ¨.-*†%#¶##
##¶#%†*-.¨ 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. ¨.-*†%#¶##
##%††--.¨¨ ¨¨.--††%##
¶%†--¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨--†%¶
¶%†-...¨¨¨ ¨¨¨...-†%¶
###¶%†*-.¨ ¨.-*†%¶###
##¶#%†*-.¨ ¨.-*†%#¶##