~~~~
~^^ ^^~
*^ ^*
####%%*~^¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ * * ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨^~*%%####
####%%*~^¨ *^ ^* ¨^~*%%####
##%*^^¨¨¨¨ ~^^ ^^~ ¨¨¨¨^^*%##
####%%*~^¨ ~~~~ ¨^~*%%####
####%%*~^¨ ¨^~*%%####
####%%*~^¨ 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. ¨^~*%%####
####%%*~^¨ ¨^~*%%####
#%*~~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~~*%#
##%**~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~**%##
##%~¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨~%##
####%%*~^¨ ¨^~*%%####