elves live in the land     
      beyond the great dam.       
   it was  built in the late sixties.   
     the elves came to us then.     
                      
                      
 they  were  very  manipulative,  and  we 
 came to  trust them.          us 
 kids would  play down  at the water even 
 though we were not allowed.        
     sometimes  the sluice would  close 
 entirely,  and the  river  at  the  dams 
 foot would dry  up, revealing the  rocky 
 water  garden   that   had  been  hidden 
 beneath, and we would go there.      
       before the  dam opened  again, 
 there would be  a signal, but the  elves 
 would make us not  hear it, and suddenly 
 we would  find the water rising, already 
 at our knees.                
                      
   by then the  elves would  be gone.