----
-.. ..-
^. .^
.......... ............ ^ ^ ............ ..........
-......... ^. .^ .........-
^-........ -.. ..- ........-^
*^-....... ---- .......-^*
%*^-...... ......-^*%
#%*^-..... 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. ..........
-......... .........-
^-........ ........-^
*^-....... .......-^*
%*^-...... ......-^*%
#%*^-..... .....-^*%#