----
--- ---
†- -†
@¤=†--¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ † † ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨--†=¤@
@==†-¨¨¨¨¨ †- -† ¨¨¨¨¨-†==@
#@¤=†††--¨ --- --- ¨--†††=¤@#
###@¤=†--¨ ---- ¨--†=¤@###
###@¤=†--¨ ¨--†=¤@###
@¤=-¨¨¨¨¨¨ 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. ¨--†=¤@###
###@¤=†--¨ ¨--†=¤@###
@¤=--¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨--=¤@
###@¤=†--¨ ¨--†=¤@###
###@¤=†--¨ ¨--†=¤@###
@=††-¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨-††=@