~~~~
~~~ ~~~
:~ ~:
¨¨¨¨¨~*§¤# ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ : : ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ #¤§*~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨~~:****¤ :~ ~: ¤****:~~¨¨
¨~~:*§#### ~~~ ~~~ ####§*:~~¨
¨¨¨~~~~:*¤ ~~~~ ¤*:~~~~¨¨¨
¨~~:*§¤¤## ##¤¤§*:~~¨
¨¨¨¨¨~:*¤# 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. #§§*~~¨¨¨¨
¨~~:*§¤### ###¤§*:~~¨
¨~~:*§¤### ###¤§*:~~¨
¨¨~~:::§¤# #¤§:::~~¨¨
¨~~:*¤#### ####¤*:~~¨
¨~~:*§¤### ###¤§*:~~¨